Programme description
I was first attracted to The University of Manchester for its high-quality academic and research-intensive environment for politics and international relations,
ranked in the top ten in the UK, and for the opportunity to work with my supervisors, Dr Laura McLeod and Prof Georgina Waylen.
Marion Greziller / PhD Politics student
Our Politics PhD programme is a three-year (full-time) programme of study that enables you to carry out a piece of in-depth research in the area that most interests you.
You will benefit from a global reputation, lively PhD student body, multiple research seminar series, and expertise in a diverse set of areas of politics grouped in our six research clusters .
Politics is the biggest postgraduate community in our School and we welcome PGRs from all around the world, forming a vibrant community both socially and academically.
Politics at The University of Manchester is one of the top politics departments in the country and globally, offering many career opportunities for our PGRs, such as:
- networking, internally and externally;
- support for diverse research methods and approaches;
- overseas and fieldwork visits;
- internships;
- career development.
For further information on this programme, see our Politics page.
Special features
We host:
- The British Election Study , the largest quantitative data source in politics in Britain.
- The Manchester Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence , an interdisciplinary forum for the promotion research and teaching in Europe.
- The Manchester China Institute, an inter-disciplinary centre promoting a greater understanding of China and globalisation in the modern world.
- MOBILISE a €2 million ORA project studying protest and migration in Eastern Europe, Latin America and MENA.
- Digital Campaigning and Electoral Democracy (DiCED) a €2.4 million ERC project studying the role of digital technology in modern political campaigns.
All PGRs students join research clusters, providing you with a supportive intellectual network and opportunities to draw on the wide range of expertise in our department.
These include:
- Manchester Centre for Political Theory (MANCEPT)
- Comparative Politics
- Global Political Economy
- Democracy and Elections
- Critical Global Politics
Additional programme information
Humanities Doctoral Academy
Our Humanities Doctoral Academy combines the strengths of our four schools to bring expertise, knowledge, support and high-quality services for postgraduate researchers.
We are a community of academic leaders and postgraduate researchers across all levels in the Faculty of Humanities. The Doctoral Academy Hub houses our specialist professional service teams who support postgraduate researchers throughout the programme journey. This includes admissions, registration, student experience, progression, examination, and graduation. We collaborate closely with other University directorates including Manchester Doctoral College, Researcher Development team, and the corresponding Doctoral Academies in the Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health. Together we provide the best experience and support for your studies and research.
EDI
Equality, diversity and inclusion is fundamental to the success of The University of Manchester, and is at the heart of all of our activities.
We know that diversity strengthens our research community, leading to enhanced research creativity, productivity and quality, and societal and economic impact.
We actively encourage applicants from diverse career paths and backgrounds and from all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation and transgender status.
All appointments are made on merit.
The University of Manchester and our external partners are fully committed to equality, diversity and inclusion.
Teaching and learning
When you become a postgraduate researcher, you will join a diverse and vibrant community of doctoral students from nearly 100 different countries, all studying within the Faculty of Humanities.
You will be assigned to a specific research grouping that complements your research interests and have access to a variety of interdisciplinary research institutes.
Our working environments are often spacious and open-plan, giving you plenty of opportunities to communicate with colleagues and staff within the School, and you will have your own desk space as well as access to our fantastic range of libraries on campus.
All of our academic supervisors are research active and will support you to work on challenging research problems and develop rigorous, creative and original research.
You can expect to meet with your supervisor at least once a month to discuss progress on your project.
As a postgraduate researcher, you'll have access to a large and diverse community of internationally recognised academic experts offering an environment that will stimulate intellectual debate and development.
We provide additional financial support for a number of activities related to your PhD, including:
- presenting at international conferences;
- attending workshops that provide relevant professional opportunities;
- conducting fieldwork in the UK and overseas.
Graduate Teaching Assistants
You can also get hands-on, paid teaching experience as a Graduate Teaching Assistant.
Graduate Teaching Assistants in the School of Social Sciences are valued members of the teaching team. As such, we take pride in the opportunities provided for the professional development of graduate teaching assistants.
Our training includes preparation for application to the Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. This brings a range of benefits as follows:
- consolidates your personal development and emphasises your professional practice in HE;
- entitlement to use post-nominal letters - AFHEA;
- provides a valuable measure of success and is increasingly sought by employers across the education sector as a condition of appointment and promotion;
- recognised and valued by a growing number of international institutions.
For more information, see the Associate Fellowship HEA .
Programme unit list
The programme unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this programme of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| PhD Research Design | POLI70080 | 0 | Mandatory |
| PhD Seminar | POLI70092 | 0 | Mandatory |
| Comparative Political Analysis | POLI60301 | 15 | Optional |
| Tools and techniques of applied quantitative analysis | POLI60341 | 15 | Optional |
| Philosophy of Politics Research | POLI70771 | 15 | Optional |
| Qualitative Research Methods | SOCS60230 | 15 | Optional |
| Introduction to Quantitative Methods | SOST70511 | 15 | Optional |
Related research
REF 2021
In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF2021) Politics was assessed as part of The University of Manchester's 'Politics and international studies' submission.
The University of Manchester was ranked in the top 10 in the UK in terms (by grade point average) among the 56 departments assessed under Unit of Assessment 19. 96% of our research was judged to be in the highest two categories (4*) 'world-leading' or (3*) 'internationally excellent'.
Our research environment was also judged to be strong, with 100% judged to be (4*) 'world-leading' or (3*) 'internationally excellent'.
Read more about our Politics research at Manchester.
What our students say
See the profiles of our current cohort of PGRs .
Find out more about what it's like to undertake a postgraduate research degree at Manchester on our Humanities PGR blog .
Facilities
The School of Social Sciences is based in a purpose-built building which allows 24/7 access.
There is shared workspace available for PGRs within the discipline area and also a dedicated area in the atrium with computer terminals.
The University of Manchester Library
Manchester is home to one of the UK's five National Research Libraries - one of the best-resourced academic libraries in the UK and widely recognised as one of the world's greatest research libraries.
Find out more about libraries and study spaces for postgraduate research students at Manchester.