An PhD is an advanced postgraduate research degree that requires original research and the submission of a substantial dissertation of 60,000 to 100,000 words. At Birkbeck, you are initially registered on an MPhil and you upgrade to a PhD after satisfactory progress in the first year or two. You need to find a suitable academic supervisor at Birkbeck, who can offer the requisite expertise to guide and support you through your research.

The MPhil/PhD in Politics is an opportunity to undertake a major piece of research under the supervision of someone with academic expertise in your field. The Department offers supervision for a wide range of research projects, from the study of public policy to social and political theory. On completing your MPhil/PhD you will have developed advanced skills in research and scholarly writing, and will be able to use these to embark on, or further, a career in research. If, like many of our students, you choose to study part time, you may have the opportunity to apply your developing research skills in your current career.

Current research spans the broad areas of: social and political theory; modern British politics and society; comparative public policy; civil society and the state; gender; public policy; nationalism and ethnicity; religion and politics; international relations, international security and terrorism; European politics; politics of development; theoretical approaches to armed conflict and international politics; and politics and society in Russia, North America and the Middle East.