PhD/MPhil Sociology

Overview

You will be joining a dynamic and cosmopolitan research community in a leading sociology department.

We will work with you to help you become a scholar with the skills to design an independent research project, generate publications that advance substantive and theoretical knowledge and understanding, and who can teach at university level.

We are particularly keen to hear from you, if you have an original research proposal in one (or several) of the following areas:

new media and the digital society
trends and developments in global news media
media, campaigning, and social change
crime and criminality
crime and popular culture
policing, criminal justice, and crime prevention
victimology
contemporary social theory (including critical theory)
contemporary cultural theory
gender, sexualities, and social change
work, employment, and socio-economic change
youth studies
cultural studies

Structure

As a Sociology student on our graduate research programme, you are initially registered for an MPhil award. Progression to PhD registration is not automatic, but contingent on the satisfactory outcome of a review process. This takes place towards the end of the first year of your registration for full-time candidates.

You will submit a substantial formally constructed upgrade or transfer document for assessment to an academic panel and present at the annual research colloquium.

Subject to demonstrating – both in writing and presentation – the intellectual and methodological ability and motivation to complete a PhD and providing a viable timetabled plan for timely completion of the research, you will be upgraded to PhD status.

Your progress is periodically assessed during years two and three of research. This also ensures that you are receiving appropriate levels of supervision, training, and practical support.