Geography

Course detail Description

The Department of Geography has a vibrant community of scholars – most are members of one of five research groups: Urban Futures; Geocomputation; Environmental Dynamics; Risk & Society; and Contested Development. Staff research also ranges well beyond those groups and involves both individual scholarship and colleagues in other institutions, as well as the department.

These groups operate through staff-funded research and PhD student collaboration on research projects. The research themes provide the central focus of our international reputation centre on: cultural, political and social change in cities; urban governance and public policy in cities; urban sustainability; environment and development in low-income locations; monitoring and modelling of terrestrial environmental processes and investigations of the politics of environmental policy. In addition, we have thematic research specialisms in historical geography, geographies of disability, architecture and the built environment, rural development, and remote sensing of the environment.

Joint PhD programme
Exciting opportunities are now available to undertake a joint PhD programme with Hong Kong University or, for topics specifically relating to comparative urbanism, Humboldt University (Berlin, Germany) or the National University of Singapore, bringing together expertise in urban (social and/or economic) geography, physical geography, political geography, political ecology, risks and hazards.

We believe that individualised tuition from a committee of supervisors who are themselves experts in your chosen research area is the foundation for PhD programme of study.

Accordingly you will meet regularly with a primary and secondary supervisor. In the first year you will have at least three formal meetings and a minimum of two each year thereafter to discuss the biannual student training and research progress reports. In addition you will usually have more informal meetings with your primary supervisor, fortnightly in the first year, and as often as necessary thereafter to discuss work.

Contact with part-time students is generally less frequent, depending on individual circumstances, although regular progress meetings are required.

To ensure that you develop the skills necessary to complete your research programme and fulfil your career goals, the Department will provide you with research training in accordance with the specific guidelines set out by ESRC for human geography and NERC for physical geography.

During induction you will meet with your primary supervisor to assess your skills and training needs and design an individualised training programme for you, which is set out in a research plan that must be approved by the Departmental Postgraduate and Research Committee (PaRC). Although the specific training programmes provided for physical geography and human geography students differ somewhat, both use a variety of means, including lectures and practical classes, individual reading and study, and informally through discussion with other graduates.

Daanish Mustafa

Postgraduate Admissions Team, Admissions Office
tel: +44 (0)20 7848 7429
fax: +44 (0)20 7848 7200

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