To apply for an MPhil and PhD degree, we will need to assess your complete research application,

You will need

• an application form,
• a 4-6 page (approximately 2,000 words) research proposal (see below for brief guidance)
• an example of previous written work (see below for brief guidance)
• two academic references
• full transcripts of your undergraduate and/or Masters degrees. 
   

Application and reference forms for postgraduate research degrees are available to download and print from this web page. If you experience any difficulty with this, contact us and we will send you the forms by email. Alternatively, if you let us have your postal address, we can send you printed forms as part of a full information pack (see below for our contact details). Enquiries about specific courses should be addressed to the Postgraduate Admissions Office.  It is not possible to apply for these courses online.

Forms

Your 4-6 page (approximately 2,000 words) research proposal

Research applicants are required to submit a 4-6 page research proposal.  This should describe, as clearly and concisely as possible, your preliminary ideas of your research area, indicating the focussed area of study, objectives and hypotheses, methodology, and a short bibliography.  Research questions should be realistic and manageable, and you should demonstrate that you have access to primary and secondary sources of data, and that the research thesis can be completed within a reasonable timescale.  Your proposal will be circulated to members of faculty working in your area of interest, and is an extremely important part of your application.

Click here for a list of topics of particular current interest to members of staff.

Although you might approach a member of staff beforehand to ascertain initial interest, you may not send them the proposal to request its further development and improvement.  In other words, the research proposal circulated as a part of your application must be your own work.  

While we acknowledge that your proposal will be improved after your arrival here, the 4-6 pages should be written to reflect your best thinking on the topic.  Proposals that get rejected tend either not to be of interest to academic staff, or are poorly written, or are excessively descriptive, or are unclear in terms of the objectives of the research and how the objective links with a particular problem or discourse or theory.

Example of previous written work

Along with the research proposal we also require research applicants to submit an example of previus written work, this can be part of their masters dissertation, journal article published, working papers, research reports, etc.

Completed forms should be sent to the following address: