A PhD is a doctoral degree based on a significant and original individual research project which culminates in an in-depth thesis (or alternative form of submission as below) which is relative to an area of staff expertise. You can complete your PhD on a full or part time basis, on campus or by distance (if the nature of the research allows). There are no classes to attend as the PhD is based on research. You can choose to follow a full- or part-time PhD. In general, a full-time programme takes three to four years a part-time programme takes five to six years. Full-time students are expected to spend around 35 hours per week on self-study and part-time students 12 hours. There are various ways of achieving a PhD, depending on your research experience and / or publication history to date.