Social Sciences

This Program covers study towards the PhD undertaken in the School of Social Sciences, the Social Policy Research Centre, and the Centre for Social Research in Health. Staff of the School of Social Sciences conduct research in the broad areas of sociology and anthropology, criminology, politics and international relations, social work, policy studies, and development studies; of the Social Policy Research Centre in social policy; and of the Centre for Social Research in Health in social aspects of health and health care, including HIV, sexual health, viral hepatitis, drug use, Aboriginal health and related areas of education, health and wellbeing. For details on the disciplinary and cross-disciplinary areas of research in which these academic units offer PhD supervision, visit the School or Centre websites.
The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree is offered in all faculties of the University of New South Wales and encourages initiative and originality in research. Candidates should make a significant contribution to knowledge in their field.
As a general guide, the UNSW entry requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy are as follows:

• A candidate for the degree shall have been awarded an appropriate degree of Bachelor with Honours from the University of New South Wales or a qualification considered equivalent from another university or tertiary institution at a level acceptable to the Research Committee of the appropriate Faculty.
• Candidates may be admitted to the PhD program after one year's full-time enrolment in a Masters by Research program, if they meet the PhD entry requirements and with the approval of the Faculty Higher Degree Committee.
• In exceptional cases an applicant who submits evidence of such other academic and professional qualifications as may be approved by the Committee may be permitted to enrol for the degree.

This program involves a minimum of three years full-time study. Students undertake supervised research leading to the production of the thesis. 
The length of a doctoral thesis normally should not exceed 100,000 words of text and should be submitted for examination within 4 years of full-time study.

1. IELTS Academic version only 6.5 overall (min. 6.0 in each subtest)
2. TOEFL Internet-based Test (iBT) 90 overall (min.23 in writing, 22 in reading, listening and speaking)
3. TOEFL Paper-based Test  (PBT) 577 overall (min. 5.0 in TWE)
4. Electronic transcripts*: Applicants need to provide a scanned or electronic copy of transcripts for all tertiary degrees completed or attempted, including current degrees. For those students undertaking a research degree which does not have specific scores, an enrolment summary will be required to show which semesters the applicant was enrolled. All pages of one transcript, including the original language copy, should be provided in one document.
5. Grading systems*: These are explanations of what specific scores/grades mean at a specific University/Institution. These must be provided for each University the applicant has attended.
6. Curriculum Vitae (CV)*: This must include details of previous research, such as a summary of all research outputs and experience, including publications, conference presentations, etc. Work samples such as abstracts may be attached as appendices to the CV.
7. Research Proposal*: Please see Step 2
8. Supervisor Contact*: Please see Step 2
9. Testamurs: These are certificates of completion for prior degrees. If you are currently studying, the testamur for this degree can be submitted at a later date. Your application can be provisionally assessed without these. All pages of one testamur, including the original language copy, should be provided in one document.
10. Current/Final semester results: This is only required for any students still undertaking a tertiary degree. These are not required until you have completed all requirements of your current degree, including any thesis components. Once you have completed, you will need to submit your final transcript and any examiners reports (if applicable).