An MPhil/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. Find out more about undertaking a research degree at Birkbeck. Birkbeck supports sociologically oriented research across a number of departments, which takes a wide variety of forms depending on topic. It is frequently interdisciplinary in focus, but the common thread is a distinctively sociological perspective. Research students benefit not only from the advisory insight of leading academics, but also from a wider culture of support and advice from staff and other students undertaking social research. The Birkbeck Institute for Social Research is a considerable resource, and provides a focus for social research across Birkbeck as a whole. It is a hub for the dissemination and discussion of critical and socially engaged social science in London and beyond. The Birkbeck Graduate Seminar, run by BISR, brings together PhD students working on empirical social research theses and aims to support and enhance the supervision students receive.