The course aims to provide all students with the skills they need to be professional researchers and academics. There is an organised programme of courses for first-year PhD students, which has three major components:

1. Basic academic and research skills, designed to provide the essential tools of academic work;
2. The core training programme, which covers issues of social science research in general;
3. Issues of research specific to particular disciplines or areas of interest, and research design, including the integration of methodological, theoretical and substantive issues.

You will be expected to participate fully in the core training programme, and in the departmental seminar series. At the beginning of your third term, your progress is examined on the basis of a 10,000-word piece of written work to determine whether you can proceed to a full programme of PhD research.

Part-time PhD studies are possible for home/EU students only. Part-time applicants must contact a potential supervisor before applying.

All first year PhD students attend the 1st year PhD research seminars in Michaelmas and Lent Term offering talks on transferable skills such as publication, careers advice and academic writing and the opportunity for each student to make a presentation based on their research plans.

Placements

The Department of Sociology has no placements.

Feedback

The Department provides feedback on the progress of the PhD in the form of yearly progress paper assessments and interviews.

Assessment

Thesis

A PhD dissertation must not exceed 80,000 words, and will normally be near that length. The word limit includes appendices but excludes footnotes, references and bibliography. Footnotes should not exceed 20% of the dissertation. Discursive footnotes are generally discouraged, and under no circumstances should footnotes be used to include material that would normally be in the main text, and thus to circumvent the word limits. Statistical tables should be counted as 150 words per table. Only under exceptional circumstances, and after prior application, will the Degree Committee allow a student to exceed these limits. Applications should be made in good time before the date on which a candidate proposes to submit the dissertation, made to the Graduate Committee. A candidate must submit, with the dissertation, a statement signed by her or himself attesting to the length of the dissertation. Any dissertation that exceeds the limit will be referred back to candidate for revision before being forwarded to the examiners.

• Magistr (Master's Degree) at Pass level. Diploma Specialista (completed post-1991) with a minimum overall grade of good or 4/5 Bachelor's from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and other prestigious institutions with an overall grade of 4/5 Bologna Bachelor's from other institutions with an overall grade of 5/5, Excellent
• Diploma Specialista (completed post-1991) with a minimum overall grade of Excellent or 5/5 Bachelor's from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and other prestigious institutions with an overall grade of 5/5
• IELTS (Academic) 7.5
• TOEFL Internet Score 110
• £50 application fee
• First Academic Reference
• Second Academic Reference
• Transcript
• Research Proposal. 2000 words
• Sample of Work. Optional
• Personal Reference

• Global Education
• Gates Cambridge Scholarships