The MPhil (Master of Philosophy) degree is a three year full-time or six year part-time programme of research on a topic that is linked to one of the Department’s research groups under the supervision of one of our academic staff who is a specialist in the research field. It differs from the PhD (see above) in that there is no expectation of ‘novelty’. Rather, the MPhil degree is based around excellent research that furthers knowledge but that additional knowledge does not have to be novel. This has to be demonstrated by reviewing the research literature mainly during the first 6 months or so to establish a specific area of interest where there is scope for moving knowledge forwards. Then some way of exploring that area formally is established, usually through experimentation, and this phase lasts generally well into the second year. The writing of the thesis generally starts during the last 3-6 months of the second year.