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DPhil in International Relations

About the course

The DPhil in International Relations a programme of doctoral research in the academic study of International Relations. 

Doctoral students spend the first year of full-time study, or the first two years of part-time study, in the development of, and early work on, the thesis topic; in improving knowledge of research methods; in attendance at relevant lectures, seminars and classes; and in preparing to transfer from Probationer Research Student (PRS - the status with which you will normally be admitted - see Assessment) to full DPhil status.

An academic supervisor will advise and guide you as you progress through the different stages of your doctoral research. In the first year, you will take the Research Design and Methods (RDM) in International Relations course, and you are also recommended to complete one other methods course (either a statistics course in Michaelmas term or one of the courses in Hilary term). You are expected to attend the International Relations DPhil Research Seminar throughout the year and eventually to present your work there. For part-time students, these obligations are distributed across six terms.

Subsequent years are largely devoted to the development of the thesis project.

Doctoral theses will normally require substantial original research, often involving archives, fieldwork, interviewing or other forms of data generation and collection. For the doctoral degree the most crucial requirement is that the thesis makes a ‘significant and substantial contribution to the field of knowledge within which it falls’. There are many ways of achieving this.

The department is committed to the rigorous use of a plurality of approaches and methods. There are many different ways of conducting research for a thesis. Any or all may be valid in a given case, depending on the subject of the research and the questions addressed. Some theses may involve an analytical-descriptive attempt at understanding different events, perspectives and traditions of thought. Others may have a strong historiographical element - exploring, for example, the relation between events and ideas, or involving an original and expert use of sources.

Others may involve advancing a hypothesis about a subject and then testing it with a range of qualitative and/or quantitative approaches. Apart from meeting the highest scholarly standards, there is no set template. There is also a strong and successful tradition of normative and critical work. The Oxford International Relations Network seeks to combine the best of North American political science with deep engagement with the international relations of different parts of the world and with the history of different traditions of thought on the subject.

As a DPhil student you will be a member of a distinguished academic community that is renowned for its cutting-edge research and its intensive and individualised teaching and supervision. The programme has received the highest level of recognition in UK national and global assessment exercises. It is a community from which you will draw support and guidance but which will also learn from your own contribution to its work.

You will have rich opportunities for connecting with fellow-students, postdoctoral fellows, and temporary and permanent academic staff involved in disciplinary and cross-disciplinary research programmes. The department attracts many of the world’s leading figures in International Relations (IR) - as visiting scholars, speakers in the regular IR Colloquium, and participants in research conferences and workshops.

The Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR) works with a range of research centres and programmes, such as the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC), the Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict (CRIC), and the Changing Character of War Centre (CCW).

Research centres actively seek to develop collaborative research activity via conferences, workshops and other academic events. They provide opportunities for you to present your own work in research seminar series. The research centres have an established and popular visitors’ programme which has allowed many scholars of international repute to participate in the DPIR’s research activities.

Attendance

The course can be studied full-time or part-time with both modes requiring attendance in Oxford. Full-time students are subject to the University's Residence requirements. Part-time students are required to attend course-related activities in Oxford for a minimum of 30 days each year.

Full-time and part-time students are required to attend classes, seminars, supervision meetings and other obligations in Oxford.

There will be limited flexibility in the dates and pattern of attendance. Attendance by part-time students will be required between one to three days a week during term-time throughout the first two years of your study on days determined by your class and seminar attendance and by your supervisor. Attendance may be required outside of term-time on dates to be determined by mutual agreement with your supervisor.

It is therefore likely that this course may be better to suited to part-time students who are either already resident in Oxford or will live within commuting distance of the city.

Resources to support your study

As a graduate student, you will have access to the University's wide range of world-class resources including libraries, museums, galleries, digital resources and IT services.

The Bodleian Libraries is the largest library system in the UK. It includes the main Bodleian Library and libraries across Oxford, including major research libraries and faculty, department and institute libraries. Together, the Libraries hold more than 13 million printed items, provide access to e-journals, and contain outstanding special collections including rare books and manuscripts, classical papyri, maps, music, art and printed ephemera.

The University's IT Services is available to all students to support with core university IT systems and tools, as well as many other services and facilities. IT Services also offers a range of IT learning courses for students, to support with learning and research.

As a doctoral student of the department, you will have access to outstanding library and computing resources within the Social Sciences Division (of which the Department of Politics and International Relations is a major part), elsewhere in the University and, in most cases, in your college. The division runs network events to enable DPhil students to meet and network with their colleagues not only within Politics and International Relations but with other Social Science disciplines. 

The Bodleian Social Science Library located on the ground floor of the Manor Road Building houses the main collection for Politics and International Relations alongside a wide range of other social sciences resources.

The Politics and International Relations subject guide provides up-to-date advice and the contact details of your Subject Librarian for further support.

Supervision

The allocation of graduate supervision for this course is the responsibility of the Department of Politics and International Relations and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. Supervisors are usually selected from the academic staff within the Department of Politics and International Relations. Under exceptional circumstances a supervisor may be found outside the Department of Politics and International Relations. 

You will conduct your own research under the guidance of your supervisor. You must be prepared to work on your own a good deal, and will need considerable personal motivation.

Assessment

Most applicants are admitted to the DPhil with Probationer Research Student (PRS) status. As a PRS, you will develop your research proposal and skills, complete a programme of research methods training (and associated assessments), and produce a draft section or sections of the thesis, in order to apply for the Transfer of Status that will end your probationary period.

If you are entering the DPhil directly from the related MPhil at Oxford, you will normally be able to bypass the PRS stage and progress straight to DPhil status. Further guidance about transferring to DPhil status can be found under option two on the Readmission, transfer and confirmation of status page.

Once you have been admitted to full DPhil status, you must achieve confirmation of that status by the end of your ninth term as a full-time doctoral student, or by the end of your eighteenth term as a part-time student. Once you have completed your thesis, you will be examined orally (viva voce).

Graduate destinations

International Relations has an outstanding placement record. The largest group of DPhil students go on to careers in academia or research. Many move on to post-doctoral fellowships in the UK, continental Europe and North America. Our doctoral students have a distinguished history of winning thesis and other prizes and of publishing their work in leading journals and with major university presses. The universities at which IR graduates have gained academic positions over recent years include: ANU, McGill, Waterloo, Sciences Po, Amsterdam, Groningen, The Graduate Institute Geneva, SAIS/JHU, ETH Zürich, The New School, Swarthmore, LSE, Oxford, Cambridge, King’s College London, University College London, Queen Mary London, St Andrews, Exeter, Reading, Warwick, PUC Santiago, and FGV São Paulo. Oxford IR DPhils also work at all levels in many of world’s leading think-tanks and research institutes in Europe and North America but also in Brazil, South Africa, and Singapore. Others still have moved to achieve leading positions in the policy and political world. The department runs regular courses on professional training, including on interviews, research grant applications and academic publishing.

DPIR is committed to engaging with its alumni community, through its Inspires alumni email newsletter and Alumni Career Conversations series of online talks. 

Changes to this course and your supervision

The University will seek to deliver this course in accordance with the description set out in this course page. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, either before or after registration. The safety of students, staff and visitors is paramount and major changes to delivery or services may have to be made if a pandemic, epidemic or local health emergency occurs. In addition, in certain circumstances, for example due to visa difficulties or because the health needs of students cannot be met, it may be necessary to make adjustments to course requirements for international study.

Where possible your academic supervisor will not change for the duration of your course. However, it may be necessary to assign a new academic supervisor during the course of study or before registration for reasons which might include illness, sabbatical leave, parental leave or change in employment.

For further information please see our page on changes to courses and the provisions of the student contract regarding changes to courses.

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