Political Research

This programme serves both as preparation for PhD research, by enhancing relevant general social science skills, and as a free standing programme in research methods training. The course exploits teaching skills available within the School of Social Science as well as political science specialisms within the Department of Politics and International Relations.

Regulations and structure.

1. The School offers two postgraduate research degrees: the two-year M. Phil. and the three-year PhD.

2. All postgraduate research students in the School will be registered in the first instance for the appropriate M. Res. programme with a view to transferring to M. Phil. or PhD at the end of the first (that is M. Res.) year.

3. Students who have adequate prior training in research methods at postgraduate level may be exempted from the M. Res. programme and embark immediately on the PhD.

4. Students who do not qualify for a complete exemption may nonetheless be exempted from specific courses in the School and Department training programmes if they satisfy the relevant department PG advisor that they already possess an appropriate qualification or have relevant professional experience.

5. Each M. Res. has a common structure of three components:

(a) The School element which teaches generic research skills;

(b) The Department element which teaches discipline-specific skills;

(c) A dissertation (normally 12-15k words).

In the case of those students intending to transfer to an MPhil or PhD we expect that the taught components and the dissertation will be tailored to a student's intended eventual research topic.

6. There is structure of subordinate qualifications which may be claimed at appropriate 'early exit' points. Students who complete only the School modulesw ill be awarded a Certificate in Research Methods. Those who complete the School and Discipline modules will be awarded a Diploma.

7.1 The final decisions about transferring from one programme to another are made by the student's supervision committee after the dissertation is completed.

7.2 Those decisions will be based on the quality of student's work to date and the supervision committee's assessment of the student's future progress.

7.3 If good reason (such as applying for funding) require an earlier decision the committee may make a provisional judgement on the basis of drafts.

7.4 Where the supervision committee expects that a student will not be permitted to transfer, the student should be warned before work on the dissertation commences.

8. The options for PG students are as follows:

8.1 Complete the M. Res., be awarded that degree, and leave the University.

8.2 Complete the M. Res., be awarded that degree, and apply to stay at the University for an M. Phil. (normally taking a further two years though earlier submission is possible) or a PhD (normally taking a further three years but completion within a further two years is possible).

8.3 Students who are taking the M. Res. programme intending it to be a preliminary to an M. Phil. or PhD programme, at the end of the M. Res. year, apply for transfer to an M. Phil or PhD. If that application is supported by the student's supervision committee and accpeted by the University, the new status may be back-dated to the start of the M. Res. year. In such cases the M. Res. is not formally awarded but an academic transcript will indicate courses taken and grades achieved.

9. Each student will have a supervision committee that consist of two supervisors, the department's PG advisor and the head of department.

10. In addition to deciding student transfer applications, the supervision committee will advise candidates on submission dates and recommend external examiners.

11. The M. Res. programme can be taken part-time over 24 months.

12. Unless exempted by virtue of qualification or experience from the whole programme or from components, part-time students will be expected to complete the same programme as full-time students.

13. The School Programme is coordingated by the School M. Res Coordinator (currently Tony Glendinning).

14. Each department will nominate a coordinator for its M. Res.

15. With the approval of the School M. Res. Coordinator, postgraduate students and staff may register for individual modules in the School programme.