Course summary

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2024). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas. The DPhil in Politics is intended for students who would like to undertake detailed research in preparation for an academic career in political science or political theory. You are required to have a good general knowledge, to master's level, of the field within which your research falls and of the methods appropriate to the study of this field. You will spend the first year developing the thesis topic and working on your research design. You will attend relevant lectures, seminars and classes; and, if you are a Probationer Research Student (PRS) prepare your transfer to DPhil status. If you are a comparative politics student you will take and be assessed on the Research Design in Comparative Political Science course, and you are recommended to complete and be assessed on one other methods course (either a statistics course in Michaelmas term or one of the courses in Hilary term). You should discuss your research training needs with your supervisor and agree suitable research training to assist your research. You will be expected to participate in relevant workshops and research groups - most notably the Oxford Politics Research Colloquium, which involves research presentations by faculty, senior researchers, academic visitors and DPhil students. If you are a student in political theory you will be expected to participate in relevant seminars and research groups, such as the Oxford Political Thought Seminar and the Nuffield Political Theory Workshop. The Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR) also hosts the Oxford Political Theory Network (OPTN), which brings together academics, students and visitors within the Oxford community in collaborative research activity such as conferences, workshops and other academic events. The OPTN organises the annual Oxford Graduate Conference in Political Theory, which provides an opportunity for you to present your own research, and its popular visitors’ programme has enabled many political theorists of international repute to participate in the stimulating intellectual community at Oxford. You will also attend a series of research design workshops.