DPhil in Migration Studies

As a DPhil student you will undertake your own original research project under the guidance of your supervisor. Academics from SAME and ODID can offer supervision in a wide range of subjects. Examples include migrant integration, identity formation, transnationalism, urban change, diasporas, humanitarianism, asylum and refugees, citizenship, health and wellbeing.

You will also benefit from long established research and teaching programmes on migration, each with particular focus on collaborating with non-academics and generating research ‘impact’. The DPhil programme offers the opportunity to link research training to research practice at the two research centres: The Centre on Migration Policy and Society (COMPAS) and the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC).

Course structure

In the first year you will attend weekly PRS seminars which provide training in research skills and writing as well as research presentation and critique. You will also attend the weekly ‘work-in-progress’ seminar at COMPAS and present your research in each. During this period, you will develop and begin work on your thesis topic. You will also take at least two ‘research methods modules’ courses chosen to complement your research interests from the wide range offered in the school. You will meet at least monthly with your supervisor, and can use the many research training opportunities on offer in the Social Sciences Division and elsewhere in the University (eg the Language Centre, IT Learning Centre). These requirements are spread over the first two years in the case of part-time students. You will also have the opportunity to attend lectures, seminars and classes in your general topic area.

You are likely to have already completed appropriate research training at master’s degree level, either within Oxford or another university. There is a joint Quantitative Research Methods for Migration Studies course for master's-level students on the MSc in Migration Studies and MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, and separate courses in qualitative methods. Graduates who have followed this route will therefore have completed the necessary training. Students new to Oxford can attend these research method courses if necessary. Supervisors will conduct a Training Needs Analysis to discuss the required skills and identify any gaps.

If studying full-time you will spend your second year, or if part-time, your third and fourth years, gathering data as part of your original research. While fieldwork is not a formal requirement most students undertake fieldwork of some form. Its nature varies considerably depending upon the research area and topic focus, from living with another population, to data gathering and analysis, for example. Its location will be dictated by the research focus and could be in Oxford or, in principle, anywhere in the world (subject to health and safety considerations). 

In your third year if full-time, or fifth and sixth years if part-time, you will write your research thesis, and will be encouraged to regularly attend weekly ‘work-in-progress’ seminars in which you present your developing work to your peers and staff for feedback. Throughout the course DPhil students are strongly encouraged to attend the many research seminars, presentations and lectures on offer within the department and elsewhere in the University.

Programmes of research seminars are available from both departments, some specifically for research students and others featuring talks by invited speakers, often from outside the university.

Attendance

The full-time programme is studied over three to four years. The part-time programme has the same requirements, but is studied over six to eight years.

The part-time DPhil is designed for block teaching within the terms, rather than specific days of the week spread throughout the year. 

To ensure a comprehensive integration into the school and University's research culture and with their full-time peer groups, part-time students will be required to attend supervision, study, research seminars and skills training, together with other obligations (for example, supervision meetings).

Although there will be no requirement to reside in Oxford, part-time research students must attend the University on a regular basis. You may be expected to be in Oxford on a number of days each week during term time in the first two years of the course. There will be limited flexibility in the dates of attendance, which will be determined by class schedule and term dates. It is therefore likely that part-time students are either already resident in Oxford or will live within commuting distance of the city. Although the school appreciates that part-time research students will have non-standard attendance and work patterns, they are required to attend for a minimum of 30 days during term time in each academic year.

During the later years of the programme, there will be flexibility in the dates of attendance, which will be determined by mutual agreement with your supervisor. You are expected to have at least three meetings per term with your supervisor.

Resources to support your study

You can make use of the Social Sciences Library, the largest freestanding social science library in the UK with considerable print and digital strengths. This is complemented by the world-class resources of the Bodleian Library and the satellite libraries, such as the Pitt Rivers Museum's Balfour Library. You will be able to access key online journals and as alumni of the University can sign up for lifetime access.

Doctoral Students will be accommodated principally at COMPAS, but there is also possible access to space in the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography (SAME) and the Oxford Department of International Development (ODID) subject to availability. Social meetings, seminars, and clear office hours for methods support, will bring you together with other students and staff working in different parts of the university.

As a doctoral student you will become part of a vibrant research community. Migration Oxford will provide a focus of activity, linking across research centres and departments. You will also be able join the Migration Studies Society, and there will be opportunities to take on leadership roles.

SAME and ODID have student representation on Graduate Joint Consultative Committee (GJCC) that meets every term and broader participation in other student representative structures.

You will have access to training opportunities provided by the Social Sciences Divisional Office, which offers advanced research and career development training.

Supervision

The allocation of graduate supervision for this course is the responsibility of the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography (SAME) or Oxford Department of International Development (ODID) and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. 

In some circumstances we could consider making a joint supervision arrangement and in that case one of the two supervisors may be found outside SAME or ODID.

In your first year (first two years if part-time) you will typically meet at least monthly with your supervisor. You will then maintain regular (at least monthly) contact throughout the rest of the course with your supervisor for guidance while conducting your research.

The supervisor will help develop and guide your project and, at later stages, provide feedback on chapter drafts. However, you will work to a significant extent on your own, and you will need a high level of motivation and self-discipline.

Assessment

You will be admitted to the course as a Probationer Research Student (PRS). In some cases Oxford MPhil students may be offered the opportunity to apply directly to full DPhil student status.

If you are admitted with PRS status, within a maximum of four terms as a full-time PRS student or eight terms as a part-time PRS student, you will be expected to apply for, and achieve, transfer of status from Probationer Research Student to DPhil status. This application is normally made in the third term for full-time students and in the sixth term for part-time students.

Students who are successful at transfer will also be expected to apply for and gain confirmation of DPhil status, to show that your work continues to be on track. Both milestones will involve submission of written work and an interview with two assessors (other than your supervisor) and therefore provide important experience for the final oral examination.

This will need to be done within nine terms for full-time students and eighteen terms for part-time students who were admitted with PRS status, or within six terms for full-time students and twelve terms for part-time students who were admitted directly with full DPhil status.

The course is ultimately examined by the submission of a thesis and oral examination, after three to four years of full-time study, or six to eight years of part-time study.

Graduate destinations

The increasing importance of the issue of migration on the global stage means that there are multiple paths to future employment in academia – where migration is growing in importance, with the establishment of numerous migration-related programmes at universities around the world – but also with significant opportunities in national governments and multilateral organisations.

Oxford graduates in similar programmes have gone on to occupy key posts in leading institutions of international governance, including: UNHCR, Norwegian Refugee Council, European Council on Refugees and Exiles, IOM, ILO, and the European Commission.

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