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Sociology Seminar

PhD in Sociology

The PhD in Sociology offers a world-class programme of research study in sociology supervised by experts in their respective fields. The Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge is ranked first for Sociology in the  Guardian's Best Universities league table  and first for Sociology in the  Complete University Guide League Table 2024 . And the  QS World University rankings  list our departments as 2nd out of over 500 Sociology Departments across the world in 2023.

In the first year you are encouraged to take research methods courses offered by the Department and the  Social Science Research Methods Programme (SSRMP)  to build the methodological grounding of your individual research projects. 

The Department also offers a programme of seminars covering transferable skills such as academic writing, presentation skills and in-depth information about how to progress the PhD and the academic career. PhD students are supported by their supervisor and a faculty adviser.

Watch our open day video

The Programme

The course aims to provide all students with the skills they need to be professional researchers and academics. There is an organised programme of courses for first-year PhD students, which has three major components:

  • Basic academic and research skills, designed to provide the essential tools of academic work
  • The core training programme, which covers issues of social science research in general
  • Issues of research specific to particular disciplines or areas of interest, and research design, including the integration of methodological, theoretical and substantive issues

The standard period for PhDs is 3-4 years full-time or 5-7 years part-time.    Click here for further information about part-time PhD studies .

Part-time PhD

The part-time PhD course is 5-7 years in length. 

  • Part-time research students are expected to be in Cambridge for around 45 days per year, spread throughout the year, for lectures, supervision and other training.
  • International students who require a student visa to study in the UK are expected to apply for the full-time programme. This is owing to the restrictions of a part-time student visa. The University will only sponsor a student visa for the part-time option if the reason for studying part-time is due to a disability. Further information is outlined on the  International Students webpages.

Meet our Candidates

 

(Graduated 2019)

What you can do with your PhD

Students who complete graduate programmes in Sociology have the opportunity to develop the analytical and writing skills to help them succeed in academia but also in careers such as health and social care, marketing and public relations, politics, and education, amongst others.

Postgraduate applicants are required to nominate a supervisor as part of their application. Find a list of the research areas and availabilty of our supervisors here.

Browse the essential information for applying to Sociology, including deadlines, entry requirements, the reseach proposal, nominating a supervisor, and our interview policy.

Check the financial considerations for postgraduate study at Cambridge, including fees and funding, accomodation and living costs, as well as career opportunities.

Find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions regarding our postgraduate programmes, regarding applications, coronavirus guidance, course start dates, funding, references and more.

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Human, Social, and Political Sciences, BA (Hons)

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Human, Social, and Political Sciences (HSPS) at Cambridge

Human, Social, and Political Sciences at Cambridge includes politics and international relations, social anthropology and sociology.  

You can specialise in one or two subjects, but you can also explore a variety of other subjects too.    

Human, Social, and Political Sciences at Cambridge

You can tailor this course from the very start and study specific subjects that interest you. 

You’ll study three core disciplines, taught by globally respected departments: 

  • Politics and International Relations, where you explore politics within and between countries, covering issues from human rights and democracy to financial crises and international conflict
  • Social anthropology, where you investigate ‘what it is to be human’ by studying social and cultural diversity – how people live, think and relate to each other around the world
  • Sociology, where you analyse multiple forms of power and inequality, and how they impact on the social, cultural, political and economic dimensions of people’s lives

You may also be able to choose other Human, Social, and Political Sciences subjects, or subjects from other courses.

Teaching and facilities

You’ll be taught by experts with a worldwide reputation for teaching and research. 

Facilities 

The Faculty of Human, Social, and Political Science facilities include: 

  • two faculty libraries 
  • Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology 
  • computing facilities 
  • multimedia-equipped teaching rooms 
  • rare collection of ethnographic films 

You'll also have access to the impressive Cambridge University Library, one of the world’s oldest university libraries.

Watch the video to find out what a day in the life of a Cambridge HSPS student is like:

Course costs

When you go to university, you’ll need to consider two main costs – your tuition fees and your living costs (sometimes referred to as maintenance costs).

Your living costs will include costs related to your studies that are not covered by your tuition fees. There are some general study costs that will apply for all students – you can find details of these costs here .

There are no compulsory additional course costs for Human, Social, and Political Sciences. If you have any queries about resources/materials, please contact the Department.

Your future career

You’ll graduate with analytical and critical skills, intellectual versatility, multicultural sensitivity and an international outlook. These skills are widely sought after by employers.  

Recent graduates have gone onto careers in: 

  • research, both academic and policy research 
  • Civil Service, including the Foreign Office 
  • journalism 
  • management consultancy 
  • national and international non-governmental organisations and development agencies 
  • publishing 
  • health management 
  • public relations 

Teaching is provided through lectures, seminars and small-group supervisions.  

You will usually have 8 hours of lectures, and one or two supervisions each week during the first year.

Assessment is mostly through examinations. Some papers are assessed by coursework. 

In the third year you can replace one paper with a 10,000 word dissertation. 

You won't usually be able to resit any of your exams.

Year 1 (Part IA)

You take 4 papers.  

  • 3 papers must be from the core subjects – politics, international relations, social anthropology, and sociology 
  • 1 paper can be another core subject paper, or you can choose an archaeology, biological anthropology or psychology option 

Years 2 and 3 (Part II) 

You choose one of 3 single-subject tracks or one of 5 two-subject tracks. 

The 3 single-subject tracks are: 

  • Politics and International Relations  
  • Social Anthropology 

The 5 two-subject tracks are: 

  • Politics and Sociology 
  • Social Anthropology and Politics 
  • Social Anthropology and Religious Studies (Modern Religion) 
  • Sociology and Criminology 
  • Sociology and Social Anthropology 

It’s not possible to change tracks unless you switch from a two-subject track to one of the subjects within it. 

For further information about this course and the papers you can take see the Faculty of Human, Social and Political Sciences website.

Changing course

It’s really important to think carefully about which course you want to study before you apply. 

In rare cases, it may be possible to change course once you’ve joined the University. You will usually have to get agreement from your College and the relevant departments. It’s not guaranteed that your course change will be approved.

You might also have to:

  • take part in an interview
  • complete an admissions test
  • produce some written work
  • achieve a particular grade in your current studies
  • do some catch-up work
  • start your new course from the beginning 

For more information visit the course website .

You can also apply to change to:

  • Management Studies at the Judge Business School

You can't apply to this course until you're at Cambridge. You would usually apply when you have completed 1 year or more of your original Cambridge course.

You should contact your College’s Admissions Office if you’re thinking of changing your course. They will be able to give you advice and explain how changing courses works.

Minimum offer level

A level: A*AA IB: 41-42 points, with 776 at Higher Level Other qualifications : Check which other qualifications we accept .

Subject requirements

While we don't ask for any specific subjects to apply to Human, Social, and Political Sciences, Colleges normally require A*/7 in an essay-based subject.     

We’d also recommend certain subjects for a strong application:  

  • English (language or literature) 
  • Languages (ancient or modern)    

You can find more information about the subjects our typical entrants have studied below. 

See Entrance requirements  and  Choosing your post-16 subjects  for additional guidance and conditions of entry. 

What HSPS students have studied

Most HSPS students (who had studied A levels and started at Cambridge in 2018, 2019 and 2023) achieved at least A*A*A (69% of entrants).

Most had studied at least one of the subjects recommended above.

The rest had usually taken at least one of:

  • Classical Civilisation, Further Mathematics, Geography, Politics, Law, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, Religious Studies, sciences (Biology, Chemistry or Physics) or Sociology.
  • Government & Politics
  • Mathematics

The majority of students who studied IB achieved at least 43 points overall.

This information shows some of the common subjects our applicants have studied. Although these are common subject combinations, this doesn't mean they're favoured. 

When you're choosing your post-16 subjects, it's most important to check whether any subjects are required for your course. You can also check our guidance on choosing your high school subjects for more information.

Admission assessment

There is an admission assessment at some Colleges for this course. You do not need to register in advance.

Check the College admission assessments page for more information.

Submitting written work

Applicants to all Colleges are required to submit 2 pieces of written work prior to interview. 

Offers above the minimum requirement

The minimum offer level and subject requirements outline the minimum you'll usually need to achieve to get an offer from Cambridge.

In some cases, you'll get a higher or more challenging offer. Colleges set higher offer requirements for a range of reasons. If you'd like to find out more about why we do this, check the information about offers above the minimum requirement  on the entry requirements page.

Some Colleges usually make offers above the minimum offer level. Find out more on our qualifications page .

All undergraduate admissions decisions are the responsibility of the Cambridge Colleges. Please contact the relevant  College admissions office  if you have any queries.

Discover your department or faculty

  • Visit the faculty of Human, Social, and Political Sciences website - The Faculty of Human, Social and Political Sciences website has more information about this course, facilities, people and research.

Explore our Colleges

  • Find out how Colleges work - A College is where you’ll live, eat and socialise. It’s also where you’ll have teaching in a small group, known as supervisions.
  • How to choose a Cambridge College that's right for you - If you think you know which course you’d like to study, it’s time to choose a College.

Visit us on an open day

  • Book an open day - Get a feel for the city and the University.
  • Find an event - We offer a range of events where you can find out more about Cambridge, Colleges, and your course. Many of our events have hybrid options so you can join us virtually.

Find out how to apply

  • Find out how to apply and how our admissions processes work - Our admissions process is slightly different to other universities. We’ve put together a handy guide to tell you everything you need to know about applying to study at Cambridge.
  • Improve your application - Supercurricular activities are a great way to engage with your chosen subject outside of school or college.

Discover Uni data

Contextual information.

Discover Uni allows you to compare information about individual courses at different higher education institutions.  This can be a useful method of considering your options and what course may suit you best.

However, please note that superficially similar courses often have very different structures and objectives, and that the teaching, support and learning environment that best suits you can only be determined by identifying your own interests, needs, expectations and goals, and comparing them with detailed institution- and course-specific information.

We recommend that you look thoroughly at the course and University information contained on these webpages and consider coming to visit us on an Open Day , rather than relying solely on statistical comparison.

You may find the following notes helpful when considering information presented by Discover Uni.

  • Discover Uni relies on superficially similar courses being coded in the same way. Whilst this works on one level, it may lead to some anomalies. For example, Music courses and Music Technology courses can have exactly the same code despite being very different programmes with quite distinct educational and career outcomes. Any course which combines several disciplines (as many courses at Cambridge do) tends to be compared nationally with courses in just one of those disciplines, and in such cases the Discover Uni comparison may not be an accurate or fair reflection of the reality of either. For example, you may find that when considering a degree which embraces a range of disciplines such as biology, physics, chemistry and geology (for instance, Natural Sciences at Cambridge), the comparison provided is with courses at other institutions that primarily focus on just one (or a smaller combination) of those subjects.You may therefore find that not all elements of the Cambridge degree are represented in the Discover Uni data.
  • Some contextual data linked from other surveys, such as the National Student Survey (NSS) or the Destination of Leavers in Higher Education (DLHE), may not be available or may be aggregated across several courses or several years due to small sample sizes.  When using the data to inform your course choice, it is important to ensure you understand how it has been processed prior to its presentation. Discover Uni offers some explanatory information about how the contextual data is collated, and how it may be used, which you can view here: https://discoveruni.gov.uk/about-our-data/ .
  • Discover Uni draws on national data to provide average salaries and employment/continuation data.  Whilst starting salaries can be a useful measure, they do not give any sense of career trajectory or take account of the voluntary/low paid work that many graduates undertake initially in order to gain valuable experience necessary/advantageous for later career progression. Discover Uni is currently piloting use of the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data to demonstrate possible career progression; it is important to note that this is experimental and its use may be modified as it embeds.

The above list is not exhaustive and there may be other important factors that are relevant to the choices that you are making, but we hope that this will be a useful starting point to help you delve deeper than the face value of the Discover Uni data.

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Postgraduate courses

Postgraduates join an active community of hundreds of historians, exploring the past, debating their research in our extraordinarily broad seminar series, and honing their analytic skills.

MPhil in American History

American History at the University of Cambridge is a dynamic field which covers the history of what is now the United States from the colonial period to the modern era. The MPhil in American History enables students to develop expertise in this ever expanding field of historical scholarship, drawing on established strengths in histories of enslavement, the growth of cities, modern politics, international relations and conflicts over land.

MPhil in Early Modern History

The MPhil in Early Modern History provides intensive training in the history of early modern Britain, Europe and the wider world to enable its students to explore the latest historical literature and produce their own substantial piece of historical research.

MPhil in Economic and Social History

The MPhil in Economic and Social History, taught over 11 months, provides an extremely thorough training in statistical and social science methodology, while building on other strengths such as an emphasis on global interconnections, understanding causation and integrating economic, social and cultural phenomena.

MPhil in Medieval History

Cambridge University's 800-year history makes it a uniquely rich place to be a medievalist. We have a wealth of medieval buildings and traditions, as well as countless manuscripts and printed books held by our many libraries.

The MPhil in Medieval History forms an integral part of the teaching and research here at the History Faculty (widely regarded as one of the best in the world). The course provides students with intensive training in medieval concepts and methods, as well as skills in Latin and Palaeography, to turn them into innovative, cutting edge medieval scholars.

MPhil in Modern British History

British History at the University of Cambridge combines the study of the interacting nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, set within the contexts of the European continent and the British Empire.  It draws on established strengths across the Faculty in political thought, political history, gender history, social and cultural history and global history to consider Britain’s modern experience since around 1750 in the light of broader geographical and analytical perspectives. 

MPhil in Modern European History

The course covers Europe from roughly the middle of the eighteenth century to the present. The principal countries studied are France, Germany, Russia, Italy and Spain. It offers an introduction to key themes and selected topics in Modern European History, as well as intensive methodological and historiographical training. Particular attention is paid to the production of an independently conceived, lengthy piece of original research.

MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History

The MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History is aimed at students who have an interest in both the theory and history of political thought, understood in global perspective. It also welcomes students whose previous study had a more specialised historical or theoretical (or philosophical) bent. It encourages dialogue between different approaches, as well as offering intensive training in methodologies and traditions of political thought and intellectual history.

MPhil in World History

World History at the University of Cambridge combines the study of global and imperial history with the study of Asian, African, Latin American and Pacific histories. It draws upon the expertise of faculty members in each of these areas, as well as in Middle Eastern, Oceanic and American history. The MPhil in World History enables students to develop strong expertise and research skills in this rich and expanding field of historical scholarship.

PhD in History

The Cambridge PhD is designed as structured, flexible and individual preparation for becoming a professional researcher. It will help students develop the core skills needed by arts, humanities or social sciences professional researcher of the future, which are valued by both academic and non-academic employers.

MSt in History

This two-year, part-time Master’s programme is designed for those who wish to study at postgraduate level and are keen to develop high-level skills in historical research. It is run by the Institute of Continuing Education.

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Choosing postgraduate study

The Faculty of History is internationally renowned for its research and the originality and significance of work done by its academics. Your study will benefit from the breadth of the Faculty, which spans history from around the globe, from the ancient world to the present.

At the heart of our approach is your work with a supervisor. You may wish to nominate one during your application process (although it is not guaranteed the person will be able to accept you). Our people pages will help you locate a specialist in your field.

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How to apply & deadlines.

Applications for Postgraduate study are managed centrally in Cambridge.  You should make your application to the Graduate Admissions Office, and check the relevant deadlines for course and funding applications

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Theses & dissertations: home, access to theses and dissertations from other institutions and from the university of cambridge.

theses

This guide provides information on searching for theses of Cambridge PhDs and for theses of UK universities and universities abroad. 

For information and guidance on depositing your thesis as a cambridge phd, visit the cambridge office of scholarly communication pages on theses here ., this guide gives essential information on how to obtain theses using the british library's ethos service. .

On the last weekend of October, the British Library became the victim of a major cyber-attack. Essential digital services including the BL catalogue, website and online learning resources went dark, with research services like the EThOS collection of more than 600,000 doctoral theses suddenly unavailable. The BL state that they anticipate restoring more services in the next few weeks, but disruption to certain services is now expected to persist for several months. For the latest news on the attack and information on the restoration of services, please follow the BL blog here:  Knowledge Matters blog  and access the LibGuide page here:  British Library Outage Update - Electronic Legal Deposit - LibGuides at University of Cambridge Subject Libraries

A full list of resources for searching theses online is provided by the Cambridge A-Z, available here .

University of Cambridge theses

Finding a cambridge phd thesis online via the institutional repository.

The University's institutional repository, Apollo , holds full-text digital versions of over 11,000 Cambridge PhD theses and is a rapidly growing collection deposited by Cambridge Ph.D. graduates. Theses in Apollo can be browsed via this link . More information on how to access theses by University of Cambridge students can be found on the access to Cambridge theses webpage.   The requirement for impending PhD graduates to deposit a digital version in order to graduate means the repository will be increasing at a rate of approximately 1,000 per year from this source.   About 200 theses are added annually through requests to make theses Open Access or via requests to digitize a thesis in printed format.

Locating and obtaining a copy of a Cambridge PhD thesis (not yet available via the repository)

Theses can be searched in iDiscover .  Guidance on searching for theses in iDiscover can be found here .   Requests for consultation of printed theses, not available online, should be made at the Manuscripts Reading Room (Email:  [email protected] Telephone: +44 (0)1223 333143).   Further information on the University Library's theses, dissertations and prize essays collections can be consulted at this link .

Researchers can order a copy of an unpublished thesis which was deposited in print form either through the Library’s  Digital Content Unit via the image request form , or, if the thesis has been digitised, it may be available in the Apollo repository. Copies of theses may be provided to researchers in accordance with the  law  and in a manner that is common across UK libraries.  The law allows us to provide whole copies of unpublished theses to individuals as long as they sign a declaration saying that it is for non-commercial research or private study.

How to make your thesis available online through Cambridge's institutional repository

Are you a Cambridge alumni and wish to make your Ph.D. thesis available online? You can do this by depositing it in Apollo the University's institutional repository. Click here for further information on how to proceed.    Current Ph.D students at the University of Cambridge can find further information about the requirements to deposit theses on the Office of Scholarly Communication theses webpages.

university of cambridge phd politics

UK Theses and Dissertations

Electronic copies of Ph.D. theses submitted at over 100 UK universities are obtainable from EThOS , a service set up to provide access to all theses from participating institutions. It achieves this by harvesting e-theses from Institutional Repositories and by digitising print theses as they are ordered by researchers using the system. Over 250,000 theses are already available in this way. Please note that it does not supply theses submitted at the universities of Cambridge or Oxford although they are listed on EThOS.

Registration with EThOS is not required to search for a thesis but is necessary to download or order one unless it is stored in the university repository rather than the British Library (in which case a link to the repository will be displayed). Many theses are available without charge on an Open Access basis but in all other cases, if you are requesting a thesis that has not yet been digitised you will be asked to meet the cost. Once a thesis has been digitised it is available for free download thereafter.

When you order a thesis it will either be immediately available for download or writing to hard copy or it will need to be digitised. If you order a thesis for digitisation, the system will manage the process and you will be informed when the thesis is available for download/preparation to hard copy.

university of cambridge phd politics

See the Search results section of the  help page for full information on interpreting search results in EThOS.

EThOS is managed by the British Library and can be found at http://ethos.bl.uk . For more information see About EThOS .

World-wide (incl. UK) theses and dissertations

Electronic versions of non-UK theses may be available from the institution at which they were submitted, sometimes on an open access basis from the institutional repository. A good starting point for discovering freely available electronic theses and dissertations beyond the UK is the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) , which facilitates searching across institutions. Information can also usually be found on the library web pages of the relevant institution.

The DART Europe etheses portal lists several thousand full-text theses from a group of European universities.

The University Library subscribes to the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses  (PQDT) database which from August 31 2023 is accessed on the Web of Science platform.  To search this index select it from the Web of Science "Search in" drop-down list of databases (available on the Documents tab on WoS home page)

PQDT includes 2.4 million dissertation and theses citations, representing 700 leading academic institutions worldwide from 1861 to the present day. The database offers full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997 and strong retrospective full text coverage for older graduate works. Each dissertation published since July 1980 includes a 350-word abstract written by the author. Master's theses published since 1988 include 150-word abstracts.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The University Library only subscribes to the abstracting & indexing version of the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database and NOT the full text version.  A fee is payable for ordering a dissertation from this source.   To obtain the full text of a dissertation as a downloadable PDF you can submit your request via the University Library Inter-Library Loans department (see contact details below). NB this service is only available to full and current members of the University of Cambridge.

Alternatively you can pay yourself for the dissertation PDF on the PQDT platform. Link from Web of Science record display of any thesis to PQDT by clicking on "View Details on ProQuest".  On the "Preview" page you will see an option "Order a copy" top right.  This will allow you to order your own copy from ProQuest directly.

Dissertations and theses submitted at non-UK universities may also be requested on Inter-Library Loan through the Inter-Library Loans department (01223 333039 or 333080, [email protected] )

  • Last Updated: Dec 20, 2023 9:47 AM
  • URL: https://libguides.cam.ac.uk/theses

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The recently established Cambridge Political Psychology Lab attempts to apply insights from psychology to understand real world political decision making. This ranges from computational social psychology approaches (such as the anaysis of the distribution and impact of regional variability in psychological traits, as illustrated above in the maps from James Ackland's work), to experimental psychological studies of cognitive biases, to the impact of different voting systems on the psychology of political decision making. The lab is focused on the empirical study of individual voters (not politicians). The immediate goal of the research program is to put psychological theory and methods to the test in this complex real world domain. The longer term ambition is to help us to think about how the democratic progress can be improved through a better understanding of human psychology. 

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The Cambridge MPP is an interdisciplinary graduate degree intended for individuals who are developing careers as leaders in policymaking.

Whether that is formulation and implementation of policy within the local or national government, the not-for-profit sector, an NGO, or within the private sector. 

Our course aims to promote and strengthen the interconnections between science, research and innovation in public policy. Integral to these aims, the MPP will promote better awareness within policy circles of scientific developments and emerging technologies, which in turn will encourage long-term thinking and better strategic planning.   

We provide students with a range of opportunities to develop their academic and practical understanding of public policy through a broad set of lectures, seminars, exercises and simulations. 

We aim to accelerate your understanding of policymaking and to assist you in making a significant impact in public service.

If you have any additional questions and to apply, please take a look at the postgraduate admissions MPP page , or you may email the Course Coordinator.

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The MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History is aimed at students interested in both the theory and history of political thought (including those wider intellectual idioms which provide the context for its development). It also welcomes students whose previous study had a more specialised historical or theoretical (or philosophical) bent, provided that while doing this course, they are willing to engage with both approaches to research.

The MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History attracts students from all over the world, and its training provides an ideal foundation for doctoral research not only in the United Kingdom but around the world.

The MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History combines taught and research elements over a nine-month full-time programme, though priority is given to pursuing the individual student's research in a dissertation of 15,000-20,000 words. Classes are provided in core methodology and the reading of selected texts and in an option course on selected concepts: these are intended to be 'exemplary', offering opportunities to explore different methods used in the field, different approaches to reading texts, and a variety of political concepts.

The MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History offers students a rounded and flexible master's programme that provides them with an introduction to all three of the fields contained within its scope (History of Political Thought, Political Theory, Intellectual History), while allowing them to specialise in their own area of particular interest. It offers a thorough training in the key techniques of higher-level academic study and research. It is an inter-faculty programme linking History, Politics, and Classics. The teaching staff and examiners, as do students on the course, have diverse disciplinary backgrounds.

Throughout the course, students will be supervised by a dedicated member of staff, who will guide their research towards the completion of an original historical subject chosen and developed by them. In addition, students will benefit from Cambridge's vibrant research environment, attending and participating in seminars, guest talks, workshops and other events throughout the year.

Learning Outcomes

Students on the MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History will be provided with an in-depth study of some of the key areas of research in political thought and intellectual history. All students will have a Supervisor who will guide them through the course requirements and, most crucially, the dissertation.

In this manner, all students are provided with the historiographical knowledge and analytical skills necessary to understand and evaluate existing research and to pursue research in their own fields of intellectual interest. Through individual supervisions and group classes, students are introduced to the more specialised and intensive nature of research required at a postgraduate level.

By the end of the programme, students will have acquired:

  • an enhanced understanding of the history of political thought as well as an appreciation of the broader theoretical approaches and intellectual idioms that inform its study
  • the analytical capacity to pursue independent study of primary texts in the history of political thought and to evaluate the findings of secondary commentators
  • the ability to situate their own research findings within the context of previous and current interpretative scholarly debates in the field of political thought and intellectual history

The Faculty's MPhil programmes provide excellent preparation for doctoral study, and many of our MPhil students choose to stay at Cambridge to pursue a PhD.

Students wishing to continue to the PhD are normally expected to achieve an overall average of 70 in their MPhil with marks of at least 70 in their dissertation.

Admission to the PhD is always subject to the availability of a suitable Supervisor.

The University hosts and attends fairs and events throughout the year, in the UK and across the world. We also offer online events to help you explore your options:

Discover Cambridge: Master’s and PhD study webinars - these Spring events provide practical information about applying for postgraduate study.

Postgraduate Virtual Open Days - taking place in November each year, the Open Days focus on subject and course information.

For more information about upcoming events visit our events pages .

Key Information

9 months full-time, study mode : taught, master of philosophy, faculty of history, course - related enquiries, application - related enquiries, course on department website, dates and deadlines:, michaelmas 2025.

Some courses can close early. See the Deadlines page for guidance on when to apply.

Funding Deadlines

These deadlines apply to applications for courses starting in Michaelmas 2025, Lent 2026 and Easter 2026.

Similar Courses

  • Latin American Studies PhD
  • Latin American Studies (by thesis only) MPhil
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  • Economic and Social History MPhil

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  2. Doctor of Philosophy in Contemporary Political Philosophy, Ph.D

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  3. CRUK CI University of Cambridge PhD International Studentships in UK

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  2. A week as a Cambridge PhD student

  3. Scholarship in Cambridge University for PHd in Law

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  5. My Cambridge PhD Experience│ 'There's a difference between Imposter Syndrome & a Skills Deficit''

  6. The Cambridge Professor Who Learned To Read At 18

COMMENTS

  1. Prospective PhD in Politics and International Studies

    Supervision. Full-time candidates on the course are expected to devote themselves fully to their studies. Full-time students must spend at least three terms resident in Cambridge. Part-time students are required to attend Cambridge and undergo formal supervision with their supervisor at a frequency agreed upon between the supervisor and student and determined by the nature of the research project.

  2. PhD in Politics and International Studies

    PhD in Politics and International Studies. For full-time students, the first year of the PhD is spent in Cambridge, with two major activities: firstly, developing a research topic with the guidance of a Supervisor, and secondly, training in research methods. The development of the topic often involves extensive reading into relevant literatures ...

  3. PhD in Politics and International Studies

    The Cambridge Review of International Affairs (CRIA) is a peer-reviewed international relations, law and political economy journal, edited under the auspices of the Centre of International Studies, University of Cambridge. It is published four times a year by Routledge (Taylor & Francis) and is circulated to more than 5,000 libraries world-wide.

  4. Programme description

    This is a research degree and is completed through the submission of a thesis of up to 80,000 words. As a full-time programme, it is completed in a period of between three and four years - that is, between nine and twelve university terms. The first year of the PhD is spent in Cambridge, with two major activities: firstly, developing a ...

  5. Department of Politics and International Studies

    Politics and International Studies - PhD. The PhD programme at POLIS offers the opportunity for detailed research on a specific topic, within the broad field of Politics and International Studies, fostered under the supervision of leading experts. ... The University of Cambridge Centre for Gender Studies (UCCGS) offers a full-time and part-time ...

  6. MPhil in Politics and International Studies

    The University hosts and attends fairs and events throughout the year, in the UK and across the world. We also offer online events to help you explore your options: Discover Cambridge: Master's and PhD study webinars - these Spring events provide practical information about applying for postgraduate study.

  7. Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge

    The Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge (abbreviated POLIS) is the department at the University of Cambridge responsible for research and instruction in political science, international relations and public policy. It is part of the Faculty of Human, Social, and Political Science .

  8. The PhD

    PhD in Sociology The PhD in Sociology offers a world-class programme of research study in sociology supervised by experts in their respective fields. ... marketing and public relations, politics, and education, amongst others. supervision.jpg. ... University of Cambridge Free School Lane Cambridge CB2 3RQ. Tel: 01223 (3)34520.

  9. Human, Social, and Political Sciences, BA (Hons)

    Human, Social, and Political Sciences at Cambridge includes politics and international relations, social anthropology and sociology. You can specialise in one or two subjects, but you can also explore a variety of other subjects too. Number 1 in the UK for Sociology and Social Policy (The Guardian University Guide 2024)

  10. People

    PhD Student. UK Union Programme. Taif Alkhudary. PhD Student. Moez Hayat. PhD Student. Say Jye Quah. PhD Student. Contact. The Centre for Geopolitics Fitzwilliam House 32 Trumpington Street Cambridge CB2 1QY [email protected]. Newsletter. Stay up to date with all the latest Centre for Geopolitics news and activity. Sign up to our ...

  11. How to Apply

    a masters degree in a subject relevant to your PhD application, with a distinction-level result or GPA of at least 3.85, either completed or expected (for those still on the course) The following must be submitted with your application*: A detailed research proposal. This should be no more than 2,500 words (including footnotes and titles, but ...

  12. MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History

    The MPhil is inter-Faculty: History, Politics, and Classics are the participating departments. The teaching staff, and examiners, have diverse disciplinary backgrounds, as do students on the course. After completion of the MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History, students should have: Acquired the ability to situate their own ...

  13. Doctor of Philosophy

    The degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is the University's principal research degree for graduate students and is available in all faculties and departments. A Cambridge PhD is intellectually demanding and you will need to have a high level of attainment and motivation to pursue this programme of advanced study and research. In most faculties ...

  14. Centre for Geopolitics

    Contact. The Centre for Geopolitics Fitzwilliam House 32 Trumpington Street Cambridge CB2 1QY [email protected]

  15. Postgraduate Study

    Choosing postgraduate study. The Faculty of History is internationally renowned for its research and the originality and significance of work done by its academics. Your study will benefit from the breadth of the Faculty, which spans history from around the globe, from the ancient world to the present. At the heart of our approach is your work ...

  16. Course Details

    POL1: The modern state and its alternatives. POL2: International conflict, order and justice. Plus a core interdisciplinary paper in Evidence and Argument. Second year: Four papers. POL3: International Organisation. POL4: Comparative Politics. POL7: The History of Political Thought to c.1700. OR. POL8: The History of Political Thought from c ...

  17. Theses & Dissertations: Home

    Finding a Cambridge PhD thesis online via the institutional repository. The University's institutional repository, Apollo, holds full-text digital versions of over 11,000 Cambridge PhD theses and is a rapidly growing collection deposited by Cambridge Ph.D. graduates.Theses in Apollo can be browsed via this link.More information on how to access theses by University of Cambridge students can be ...

  18. The Cambridge Political Psychology Lab

    The recently established Cambridge Political Psychology Lab attempts to apply insights from psychology to understand real world political decision making. This ranges from computational social psychology approaches (such as the anaysis of the distribution and impact of regional variability in psychological traits, as illustrated above in the ...

  19. Directory

    PhD in Politics and International Studies overview; PhD fund; POLIS Carers fund; The Lisa Smirl PhD Prize; Fieldwork Funding; PhD in Development Studies; PhD in Latin American Studies; PhD in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies; MSt in International Relations; MPhil in Politics and International Studies. MPhil in Politics and International ...

  20. MPhil in Sociology (Political and Economic Sociology)

    The Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge is ranked first for Sociology in the Guardian's Best Universities league table and first for Sociology in the Complete University Guide League Table 2023.The UK's 2021 Research Excellence Framework ranks our department second overall in the UK, and joint first for the research environment. . And the QS World University rankings list ...

  21. Cambridge 2023 PhD in Politics and International Studies

    Welcome to everyone who has applied to a PhD programme in Politics and Interantional Studies. Let's dicuss on adimission process, GPA/research proposal/References, research interests, preferred colleges, when you applied/your current status on the Cambridge portal, etc I applied in mid-November. My current status is still on " Under review by department-Your application is under review by the ...

  22. MPhil in Public Policy

    The Cambridge MPP is an interdisciplinary graduate degree intended for individuals who are developing careers as leaders in policymaking. Whether that is formulation and implementation of policy within the local or national government, the not-for-profit sector, an NGO, or within the private sector. Our course aims to promote and strengthen the ...

  23. MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History

    The MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History combines taught and research elements over a nine-month full-time programme, though priority is given to the pursuit of the individual student's research. Classes are provided in methodology, in the reading of selected texts, and in selected concepts: these are intended to be "exemplary ...