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Postgraduate Study

4 courses offered in the Department of Politics and International Studies

Awaiting Approval

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The MPhil in Politics and International Studies is a nine-month full-time course offered by the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS). It is designed to meet the needs of all those who wish to enhance their understanding of international relations and politics at a postgraduate level. It is appropriate for those who wish to embark upon an academic career, in the first instance through pursuing doctoral research, but also for those looking to embark on careers in the media, politics, law, public administration, the civil service, finance, teaching, and the charity sector.

The programme aims to offer advanced engagement with various aspects of the academic study of Politics and International Studies. It will provide you with a critical understanding of a range of issues involved in the study of these disciplines, primarily through a mixture of lectures and research-driven seminars.

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The PhD programme at POLIS offers the opportunity for detailed research on a specific topic, within the broad field of Politics and International Studies, fostered under the supervision of leading experts. The pages here give you further information about the PhD programme, how to apply, and information on obtaining funding for the PhD. If you have questions that are not covered in the material here, please look at the pages on the POLIS website.

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The MPhil in Public Policy (MPP) is a multidisciplinary, practice-oriented course hosted by the Department of Politics and International Studies. MPP students will come to the course with two to five years of work experience and a desire to build careers in public policy, in government or in the private and third sectors. The programme provides students with a thorough intellectual grounding and practical experience in the processes of policymaking, as well as an understanding of the range of knowledge and skills they need to be effective in the world of policy.

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7 courses also advertised in the Department of Politics and International Studies

From the Centre of African Studies

The MPhil in African Studies is designed both as a freestanding qualification for students who want to enhance their understanding of the social, cultural, political and economic history and present condition of Africa, and as an excellent introduction for those who want to go on to further primary research. It will introduce students to the latest research topics, methods and debates in African studies at an advanced level and provide intensive research and language training for those who wish to go on to prepare a doctoral dissertation. There are a number of elements to the course: a taught element, intensive language training, seminars and a dissertation. Full details of the content of the course can be found on the Centre's website.

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From the Centre of Development Studies

The MPhil in Development Studies is an incisively interdisciplinary course that gives students a firm grounding in the political economy of development while drawing on theories and methodologies from political science, sociology, economics and anthropology. Our guiding principle is that no important issue in development – such as poverty and inequality,  the role of institutions, gender relations, technology, war and human rights, colonial histories and decolonisation projects – can be properly understood without a reflexive and interdisciplinary perspective.

The MPhil course consists of one core paper  ‘Intellectual Traditions of Development’ taught in Michaelmas term and a range of optional papers (6 to 8) from which students must choose two, offered in Lent Term. The course also consists of a supervised dissertation of 15-20,000 words.

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From the Centre of Development Studies

The Development Studies PhD course is largely a full-time course which lasts for a minimum of nine terms (three years), and up to a maximum of 12 terms (four years). First-year students are known as NOTAFs (not at first registered). All first-year students (both full-time and part-time) must complete a mandatory methods course. All students are required to submit a First Year Report and pass a first-year assessment viva before holding PhD student status.

Following the completion of the first-year assessment (or second-year in case of part-time students), the majority of PhDs will commence fieldwork to conduct research for their thesis. This may include research at archives and libraries, conducting interviews, etc. Ethical approval is required prior to commencing research. Leave to Work Away and Risk Assessment forms need to be approved within the Centre of Development Studies and by the Ethics, Risk and Fieldwork Committee in the Department of Politics and International Studies. 

Research material is collated, often in the third year, with drafts of a thesis discussed with the student's supervisor. Students are required to submit their thesis by the submission deadline. A viva is then conducted between the student and two examiners, and upon successful completion, or completion of corrections, the student is then required to submit a final hardbound thesis to finalise the programme.

A part-time PhD route is available and proceeds in a similar sequence but over a longer duration, with a maximum allowed length of seven years.

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From the Centre of Latin American Studies

The Centre of Latin American Studies (CLAS) offers a full-time and a part-time PhD programme. The Centre currently has approximately 15 PhD students at different stages of the programme, working in a range of areas.

Full-time PhD students are required to be resident in Cambridge for the duration of their degrees, with the exception of extended fieldwork trips. It is important to note that the part-time PhD at Cambridge is not a distance-learning course. Part-time students are expected to fully engage with the Faculty, to integrate into the research culture of the University and to attend the University on a regular basis for supervision, study, skills training, research seminars and workshops.

The students form a lively academic and social community, playing a full part in the Centre's activities, meeting regularly to present their latest research to each other and organizing seminars and conferences with the Centre's support. 

Further information, including current and past student profiles, is available on the Centre's website.

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From the Centre of South Asian Studies

This is a postgraduate course with a substantial research component, which runs for nine months covering the three terms (Michaelmas, Lent and Easter). It is designed to enhance the understanding of social, cultural, political and economic history; and the present geopolitical and policy environment in South Asia. It provides intensive research and language training for those who wish to go on to prepare a doctoral dissertation, but it is also a freestanding postgraduate degree course in its own right. Teaching and learning for the course take place in the Centre of South Asian Studies and the various humanities and social science faculties and departments.

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From the Centre for Gender Studies

The University of Cambridge Centre for Gender Studies (UCCGS) offers a full-time and part-time PhD programme in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies. Through lectures, seminars, workshops, public events, and especially work with a supervisor from any department or faculty at the University of Cambridge, students will develop both general knowledge of the field(s) of gender studies as well as specific knowledge related to their own research project. Students will  gain advanced methodological training suitable to conduct their own research from both in-house seminars and workshops and from supporting programmes around Cambridge. PhD students receive training in a wide variety of academic skills such as engagement with other scholars in seminars, and preparation for academic publishing and the job market. They will also have the opportunity to gain teaching skills, to organise their own conferences, and to participate in various forms of public engagement and other aspects of academic life as part of a lively and supportive community of scholars from UCCGS, and around the University and beyond. 

Further information, including current and past student profiles, is available on the Centre's website.

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From the Centre for Gender Studies

The MPhil in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies provides rigorous advanced training in the multi-disciplinary study of gender. The course is designed for those students who wish to prepare for PhD or further research and also, for those who want to enhance their understanding of 'gender' by undertaking a 9-month MPhil only.

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Professor Jason Sharman
Head of Department

  • 26 Academic Staff
  • 6 Postdoctoral Researchers
  • 283 Graduate Students
  • 300 Undergraduates

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