MPhil Criminology

COURSE OVERVIEW

When you join our thriving community of postgraduate research students, you’ll become part of a supportive and friendly environment where we are dedicated to understanding some of society’s most challenging issues.

A research degree in Criminology gives you the chance to pursue a project based around your own passions and interests, leading to a qualification which can open the door to an academic career or boost employment prospects in a range of other fields.

Your research degree will typically last from three years (full-time) to six years (part-time) for a PhD, or two years (full-time) to four years (part-time) for an MPhil.

We have a wide range of expertise, and we invite applications for research degrees in the following areas:

• Cybercrime and Terrorism
• Medical Law
• Neurocriminology and Bioethics
• Probation and Offender Management services
• Sentencing and Courts
• Sex Work
• Violent and Sex Offenders
• Youth Justice

Programme Summary

This MPhil in Criminology at Swansea will enable you to undertake a substantial project led by your own interests. It is a highly respected qualification which can present a career in academia or a wider scope for employment in fields such as education, government or the private sector. A thesis of 60,000 words will be submitted for assessment demonstrating original research with a substantive contribution to the subject area. The Masters is examined following an oral examination of the thesis (a viva voce examination or viva). You will acquire research skills for high-level work and skills and training programmes are available on campus for further support. There will be an opportunity to deliver presentations to research students and staff at departmental seminars and conferences.

Programme Aims

This Masters programme will provide students with:

1. The opportunity to conduct high quality postgraduate research in a world leading research environment.
2. Key skills needed to undertake advanced academic and non-academic research including qualitative and quantitative data analysis.
3. Advanced critical thinking, intellectual curiosity and independent judgement.

Assessment

Students for the Masters in Criminology are examined in two parts.

The first part is a thesis which is an original body of work representing the methods and results of the research project. The maximum word limit is 60,000 for the main text. The word limit does not include appendices (if any), essential footnotes, introductory parts and statements or the bibliography and index. The second part is an oral examination (viva voce).