PhD Politics / Overview

Candidates MUST normally have;

• Bachelors (Honours) degree (or overseas equivalent) at 2:1 level or above in a cognate subject, and
• Normally a Masters degree at 65% overall average with minimum 65% in dissertation and with no mark below 55% (or overseas equivalent) in a relevant cognate subject, preferably one with a substantial research methods component. Transcripts will be carefully scrutinised to ensure that applicants have the required background.
• Cognate subjects include: politics, anthropology, economics/political economy, geography, history, languages/cultures, law and sociology.
• Note; due to the volume of applications received each year, and limited spaces, regrettably offers cannot be made to all applicants who satisfy the academic entry criteria.
• All applicants who pass the initial assessment stage will be interviewed before any offer is confirmed.

Having an expert supervisor is extremely important for success in Research degree programmes and part of the application process is that we seek suitable supervision. With 74% of our research output ranked as world and nationally leading at the last REF (2014), we boast a number of exceptional scholars available for supervision. The best way to find a suitable supervisor is to look at the websites of the research clusters in Politics.

Feel free to make direct contact with any academics to discuss your proposed research topic. Please note that such contact can only be informal and no decision can be made on your application until it is submitted and processed through the Postgraduate Admissions Office. If you make a positive contact with an academic, please make sure to include their name on your application form when you submit it.

Expert supervision is key to research degree programmes. We cannot provide supervision across all areas and we are therefore sometimes unable to offer admission to excellent applicants.