Overview

The discipline of Planning is now located in the School of Natural and Built Environment. In recent years the performance of the discipline has been quite exceptional in a range of surveys, e.g. National Student Survey, Times Higher Education Survey and Guardian League Table. Given this, Planning at Queen’s is very highly ranked within the UK's Russell Group Universities.

Our research programme is based on the concept of spatial planning and whilst our empirical work is partly grounded in the region, it is built on strong international, interdisciplinary and theoretical references. Our particular strength is the staff team who have built a track record in scholarly and applied research and a wide-ranging portfolio of publications, research grants and Doctoral studentships. Planning academics have built an international reputation and attracted a stream of major research funding linked to our main areas. We value the connection between our research and teaching programmes and the application of our empirical work in a learning environment, and continues to innovate and develop teaching programmes to reflect a rapidly changing market place, problem and policy context and changes in professional standards.

Career Prospects

Introduction

Many of our PhD graduates have moved into academic and research roles in Higher Education while others go on to play leading roles in educational practice, the public sector or within NGO’s. Queen's postgraduates reap exceptional benefits. Unique initiatives, such as Degree Plus and Researcher Plus bolster our commitment to employability.

Learning Outcomes

A research degree offers students an opportunity to foster their capacity for independent research and critical thought. It also allows students to explore an area of interest and so understand and solve theoretical and practical problems within the field.

Undertaking a research degree also enhances a student’s written and oral communication skills, and a PhD is almost always a formal requirement for an academic post.

Assessment

Assessment processes for a research degree differ from taught degrees. Students will be expected to present drafts of their work at regular intervals to their supervisor who will provide written and oral feedback; a formal assessment process takes place annually.

This Annual Progress Review requires students to present their work in writing and orally to a panel of academics from within the School. Successful completion of this process will allow students to register for the next academic year.

The final assessment of the doctoral degree is both oral and written. Students will submit their thesis to an internal and external examining team who will review the written thesis before inviting the student to orally defend their work at a Viva Voce.