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Course information

Department

Politics and International Relations

Length

3-4 years full-time or 4-6 years part-time

Course overview

We accept students into the Department of Politics and International Relations on the basis of a match between your proposed research and the current research interests of a potential supervisor as well as an assessment of qualifications and suitability for a research degree.

Initial discussions about supervision are therefore on the basis of a brief research proposal prepared by prospective students before a formal application is made.

If you'd like to come and discuss your research with the Director of Postgraduate Studies and/or with a potential supervisor, please contact Dr Nick Taylor to make an appointment.

Registration and study

  • Initially, you register for a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) programme to train you in the research methods necessary to complete a PhD.
  • You can apply to upgrade to PhD registration when you have satisfactorily completed an agreed part of the research and training programme; this usually happens before 18 months if you are studying full-time, or before 36 months if part-time.
  • You should aim to complete and submit your PhD thesis within an agreed period, usually three to four years for full-time students, and four to six years for part-time.
  • If you decide not to upgrade to PhD registration, you can submit your thesis for an MPhil after two years if you are studying full-time, or after three years if part-time.
  • With the agreement of your supervisor, you can change your registration from full to part-time or vice versa. North American applicants especially should note that the British system does not include preparatory taught classes or examinations as part of the MPhil/PhD programme, except for an initial module in research methods.

Contact the department

If you have specific questions about the degree, contact Dr Nick Taylor.

Structure

Research supervision

You're assigned members of staff qualified to supervise your research throughout your period of registration. Please see our staff page for details of the teaching staff and their research interests.

You usually have a single supervisor, although in some cases joint supervision is agreed, and two members of staff are involved in the supervision.

Supervision involves regular meetings throughout the period of study, and ideally involves the development of an intensive intellectual relationship between you and your supervisor, from which both parties gain.

Research training

All research students who have not completed an MRes or MPhil degree will have to attend modules on quantitative and qualitative research methods held in their first year of study.

A College-wide programme of research training is also provided, which involves an induction module (which all students should attend), introduction to information technologies and the use of library and bibliographic resources, basic training in quantitative research methods, and sessions on research planning, presentation skills and ethics.

Optional elements

There are seminars held within the Department, which you can attend. Also, you may, after consultation with your supervisor, audit the appropriate postgraduate options from any of the taught MA/MRes programmes offered in the Department. This involves participating in seminar discussions and/or writing coursework, but not being formally assessed for the course.

Assessment

Examination of the MPhil and PhD is by a thesis (60,000 words maximum for an MPhil and 100,000 words maximum for a PhD) and a viva voce.

Between 2020 and 2022 we needed to make some changes to how programmes were delivered due to Covid-19 restrictions. For more information about past programme changes please visit our programme changes information page.

Entry requirements

You should normally have (or expect to be awarded) a taught Masters in a relevant subject area, of at least a high merit standard. We normally also expect an undergraduate degree of at least upper second-class standard. 

You might also be considered for some programmes if you aren’t a graduate or your degree is in an unrelated field, but have relevant experience and can show that you have the ability to work at postgraduate level.

International qualifications

We accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the qualifications we accept from around the world.

If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 7.0 with a 7.0 in writing and no element lower than 6.5 to study this programme. If you need assistance with your English language, we offer a range of courses that can help prepare you for postgraduate-level study.

Fees, funding & scholarships

Annual tuition fees

These are the fees for students starting their programme in the 2023/2024 academic year.

  • Home - full-time: £4712
  • Home - part-time: £2356
  • International - full-time: £16610

If your fees are not listed here, please check our postgraduate fees guidance or contact the Fees Office, who can also advise you about how to pay your fees.

It’s not currently possible for international students to study part-time under a student visa. If you think you might be eligible to study part-time while being on another visa type, please contact our Admissions Team for more information.

If you are looking to pay your fees please see our guide to making a payment.

Additional costs

In addition to your tuition fees, you'll be responsible for any additional costs associated with your course, such as buying stationery and paying for photocopying. You can find out more about what you need to budget for on our study costs page.

There may also be specific additional costs associated with your programme. This can include things like paying for field trips or specialist materials for your assignments.

Funding opportunities

Find out more about postgraduate fees and explore funding opportunities. If you're applying for funding, you may be subject to an application deadline.

Departmental awards
The Department of Politics and International Relations regularly offers postgraduate bursaries for this programme. Find out more about our departmental awards. We also offer a Research studentship funded by the London Borough of Lewisham.

AHRC & ESRC funding
Students applying for this programme are eligible to apply for AHRC studentships and ESRC doctoral training studentships, which cover fees and a maintenance allowance for the duration of the programme. 

Find out more about AHRC and ESRC studentships in the Department of Politics and International Relations.

How to apply

Apply now

You apply directly to Goldsmiths using our online application system. 

Before submitting your application you'll need to have: 

  • Details of your education history, including the dates of all exams/assessments
  • The email address of your referee who we can request a reference from, or alternatively an electronic copy of your academic reference
  • Contact details of a second referee
  • A personal statement – this can either be uploaded as a Word Document or PDF, or completed online

          Please see our guidance on writing a postgraduate statement

  • If available, an electronic copy of your educational transcript (this is particularly important if you have studied outside of the UK, but isn’t mandatory)
  • Details of your research proposal

You'll be able to save your progress at any point and return to your application by logging in using your username/email and password.

Before you apply for a research programme, we advise you to get in touch with the programme contact, listed above. It may also be possible to arrange an advisory meeting.

Before you start at Goldsmiths, the actual topic of your research has to be agreed with your proposed supervisor, who will be a member of staff active in your general field of research. The choice of topic may be influenced by the current research in the department or the requirements of an external funding body. 

If you wish to study on a part-time basis, you should also indicate how many hours a week you intend to devote to research, whether this will be at evenings or weekends, and for how many hours each day.

Research proposals

Along with your application and academic reference, you should also upload a research proposal at the point of application. 

This should be in the form of a 2,000-word statement of the proposed area of research and should include: 

  • delineation of the research topic
  • why it has been chosen
  • an initial hypothesis (if applicable)
  • a brief list of major secondary sources

When to apply 

We accept applications from October for students wanting to start the following September. 

We encourage you to complete your application as early as possible, even if you haven't finished your current programme of study. It's very common to be offered a place conditional on you achieving a particular qualification. 

If you're applying for external funding from one of the Research Councils, make sure you submit your application by the deadline they've specified. 

Selection process 

Admission to many programmes is by interview, unless you live outside the UK. Occasionally we'll make candidates an offer of a place on the basis of their application and qualifications alone.

Find out more about applying.

Facilities

You have access to Goldsmiths’ Graduate School based in the Whitehead Building. There are PCs and Macs, a kitchen space and a quiet workspace. The School also hosts a series of seminars and other activities during the year, which are open to all postgraduate research students and staff in Goldsmiths. 

Staff in the Graduate School oversee research students’ progress and well-being and coordinate the generic training courses for postgraduate research students.

Staff

Find out about staff in the Department of Politics.

Careers

Careers

Central and local government; management and personnel work; finance; the media; teaching, lecturing and research; health service administration. Many of our graduates undertake professional training in law, accountancy, journalism, business administration, teaching, social work or nursing.

Skills

You'll develop:

  • a critical awareness of social and political issues and processes
  • originality in engagement with the discipline of political science
  • communication and presentation skills

Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths.

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