phd in politics oxford university

Department of Politics and International Relations

The  Department of Politics and International Relations  (DPIR) at Oxford is an internationally renowned centre of excellence for teaching and research. The study of these disciplines at Oxford has a long and distinguished history and the department is now one of the largest in the field in the UK.

DPIR Research

DPIR seeks to deepen scholarly understanding of government, politics and international relations and to contribute to practical solutions to problems of power, conflict and injustice in political and social life. Our research is organised through the three intersecting fields of Government and Politics, Political Theory and International Relations; our approach is inter-disciplinary with roots in history, philosophy and social science, both statistical and interpretive and ethnographic. We emphasise the rigorous interaction of epistemology and methodology, with developing techniques and methods, and the highest standards of scholarship, to produce research that has impact both academically and publicly.

DPIR Research on War and Peace

Recent work on war and peace within the DPIR has covered:  

• the role of external actors in war and violent conflict, in state-building, and in post-conflict and peace-consolidation;
• the historical and theoretical links between different forms of violent conflict and patterns of major power relations;
• emerging powers and global order, including emerging powers and the global nuclear order;
• the role of international law and legal and ethical norms in violent conflict, including the history of just war thinking, the responsibility to protect, and international and transnational criminal justice;
• the history of thought on war and security;
• the relationship between human rights, transitional justice, development and democracy;
• the role of the United Nations, including the UN Security Council and war,  peacekeeping operations and the evolution of security ideas within the UN, including human security;
• comparative regional security and the evolving roles of regional role of security institutions;
• civil resistance and power politics;
• religion and conflict;
• the inter-disciplinary study of conflict, including evolutionary theory and social psychology, and the role of emotions.

  Those involved in graduate teaching and research on war and peace include: Professor  Richard Caplan ; Professor  Louise Fawcett ; Professor  Elizabeth Frazer ; Professor  Todd Hall ; Professor  Andrew Hurrell ; Dr  Annette Idler ; Professor  Dominic Johnson ; Professor  Edward Keene ; Dr  Lucas Kello ; Professor  Neil MacFarlane ; Dr  Jonathan Leader Maynard ; Professor  Rana Mitter ; Professor  Karma Nabulsi ; Professor  Andrea Ruggieri ; Professor  Gwen Sasse ; and Professor  Ricardo Soares de Oliveira . There is a large doctoral programme and a flourishing post-doctoral community.

To find out about upcoming events at DPIR,  please follow this link .

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DPhil in Politics

University of oxford, different course options.

• Key information

Course Summary

Tuition fees, entry requirements, similar courses at different universities, key information data source : idp connect, qualification type.

PhD/DPhil - Doctor of Philosophy

Subject areas

Course type.

About the course

The DPhil in Politics is a three- to four-year course of full-time doctoral study, or six to eight years of part-time study, which is intended for students who would like to undertake detailed research in preparation for an academic career in political science or political theory. Note that the part-time option is not a distance-learning programme; part-time students are required to attend face-to-face teaching in Oxford on one or two separate days each week during term.

If you are admitted to this degree, you will conduct your own research under the guidance of a University supervisor.

You are required to have a good general knowledge, to master's level, of the field within which your research falls and of the methods appropriate to the study of this field.

You will spend the first year in the development of, and early work on, the thesis topic; in improving knowledge of research design, including statistical, qualitative and other methods appropriate to the advanced study of politics; in attendance at relevant lectures, seminars and classes; and in preparing your transfer from Probationer Research Student (PRS is the status at which you will normally be admitted – see Assessment) to DPhil status. Full-time students must be resident in Oxford in term time throughout the probationary period, while part-time students must attend classes and other obligations in Oxford on set days of the week. Students should not normally undertake fieldwork until after they have successfully transferred to full DPhil status.

You will discuss your research training needs with your supervisor and agree a suitable programme of research training (Training Need Analysis) to assist your research.

Finally, you will be expected to participate in the various workshops and research groups - most notably the Oxford Politics Research Colloquium, which involves research presentations by faculty, senior researchers, academic visitors and DPhil students.

As a part-time student you will be required to attend classes, seminars, supervision meetings and other obligations in Oxford for a minimum of thirty days each year.

There will be limited flexibility in the dates and pattern of attendance. Attendance will be required during term-time at least one day each week throughout the first two years of your study on days determined by your class and seminar attendance and by your supervisor. Attendance will be required outside of term-time on dates to be determined by mutual agreement with your supervisor. You will be required to attend fieldwork and training sessions on dates to be determined by mutual agreement with your supervisor.

UK fees Course fees for UK students

For this course (per year)

International fees Course fees for EU and international students

As a minimum, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the equivalent of the following UK qualifications or their equivalent: a master’s degree with distinction in politics, or in a closely related discipline that has prepared you to undertake advanced graduate research on your chosen thesis topic; and a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in political science or international relations or in a related discipline such as economics, history, philosophy, sociology or law. Nonetheless, each application will be assessed upon its own merits, and so candidates with a degree in an unrelated discipline should demonstrate the relevance of their academic background to their proposed subject or topic of study. Entrance is very competitive and most successful applicants have a record of academic performance at first-class and/or distinction level. For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.7 out of 4.0.

Politics MRes

Birkbeck, university of london, government, policy and politics msc, social and political theory msc, contemporary history and politics ma, politics phd.

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DPhil in Politics University of Oxford

Course options

Qualification.

PhD/DPhil - Doctor of Philosophy

University of Oxford

• TUITION FEES
• ENTRY REQUIREMENT
• UNIVERSITY INFO

Course summary

About the course

The DPhil in Politics is a three- to four-year course of full-time doctoral study, or six to eight years of part-time study, which is intended for students who would like to undertake detailed research in preparation for an academic career in political science or political theory. Note that the part-time option is not a distance-learning programme; part-time students are required to attend face-to-face teaching in Oxford on one or two separate days each week during term.

If you are admitted to this degree, you will conduct your own research under the guidance of a University supervisor.

You are required to have a good general knowledge, to master's level, of the field within which your research falls and of the methods appropriate to the study of this field.

You will spend the first year in the development of, and early work on, the thesis topic; in improving knowledge of research design, including statistical, qualitative and other methods appropriate to the advanced study of politics; in attendance at relevant lectures, seminars and classes; and in preparing your transfer from Probationer Research Student (PRS is the status at which you will normally be admitted – see Assessment) to DPhil status. Full-time students must be resident in Oxford in term time throughout the probationary period, while part-time students must attend classes and other obligations in Oxford on set days of the week. Students should not normally undertake fieldwork until after they have successfully transferred to full DPhil status.

You will discuss your research training needs with your supervisor and agree a suitable programme of research training (Training Need Analysis) to assist your research.

Finally, you will be expected to participate in the various workshops and research groups - most notably the Oxford Politics Research Colloquium, which involves research presentations by faculty, senior researchers, academic visitors and DPhil students.

As a part-time student you will be required to attend classes, seminars, supervision meetings and other obligations in Oxford for a minimum of thirty days each year.

There will be limited flexibility in the dates and pattern of attendance. Attendance will be required during term-time at least one day each week throughout the first two years of your study on days determined by your class and seminar attendance and by your supervisor. Attendance will be required outside of term-time on dates to be determined by mutual agreement with your supervisor. You will be required to attend fieldwork and training sessions on dates to be determined by mutual agreement with your supervisor.

Tuition fees

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£ 29,140 per year

Tuition fees shown are for indicative purposes and may vary. Please check with the institution for most up to date details.

University information

University league table, campus address.

University of Oxford, University Offices, Wellington Square, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1 2JD, England

Subject rankings

Subject ranking.

3rd out of 79 2

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• Open Search Close Search
• DPhil in Public Policy
• DPhil in detail
• How to apply to the DPhil
• DPhil fees and funding

Do you want to help improve governments by providing them with research-based evidence? Are you motivated to carry out in-depth academic research that can make a positive contribution to public policy?

Our Doctorate in Public Policy or DPhil (as a PhD is known at the University of Oxford) in Public Policy is structured as a full-time course over three years (there is a part-time option for candidates in exceptional circumstances). The course has an emphasis on solving pressing public problems and provides robust training for understanding particular policy challenges and for evaluating, devising or implementing policy solutions.

At the Blavatnik School we focus on question-driven research: this means that the focus is on analysing and finding solutions to policy issues and challenges that governments face around the world. As a DPhil student, you will concentrate on research that answers policy questions, drawing on rigorous concepts, theory and methods from multiple disciplines, rather than developing new theories or methods in a particular discipline.

At the end of your studies, you will be expertly qualified to conduct research, whether as an academic, in a governmental role, or in other influential policy organisations, institutes and think tanks.

The DPhil in Public Policy aims to:

• Hone your research skills in ways that are relevant to policy-focused research.
• Develop your interdisciplinary understanding of policy challenges.
• Equip you to be able to design and undertake original research which makes a real contribution to the development and/or analysis of public policy.
• Enhance your ability to communicate your research findings to the policy community in a way that ensures real world impact.
• Enable you to present a lucid and scholarly thesis for examination.

You will have the opportunity to attend an impressive set of seminars within the Blavatnik School and across the University of Oxford, where you will learn in a multidisciplinary environment and present your research proposals to relevant audiences. You will also benefit from being part of an extraordinary network of peers to share ideas and advice, while meeting and interacting with prominent public policy practitioners who will help you root your research into practical issues.

Our DPhil alumni have gone on to build successful careers in various sectors – from  working on critical EU negotiations  at the European Commission to  establishing a leading law firm  in Colombia. With its emphasis on the real-world application of policy knowledge, our DPhil specifically prepares you for a high-level career in public service, government and non-governmental organisations, as well as academia and the private sector.

Oxford graduates are highly sought-after by employers across the world and the career prospects for you after completing your DPhil in Public Policy are excellent. At the Blavatnik School you will develop the skills required to succeed in your career as well as benefit from a programme of career-focused events. Collaborating with your fellow students and faculty will help you discover career paths and opportunities in public service and academia. We also offer an outstanding programme of speaker events at which many visitors discuss their careers, and outside of the School there are many events organised by departments, centres, societies and colleges – all of these provide opportunities to meet with global specialists and develop your network of contacts.

You will be interacting and sharing opinions with fellow DPhil students and other Blavatnik School students – forging relationships that will last well beyond the time you will spend at the School. As your career develops, being part of this community will mean you have a shared learning experience with like-minded peers throughout the world.

The Blavatnik School’s alumni form a close-knit community providing them with social connections, professional guidance and a trusted source of advice. These connections also serve as powerful reminders for all of us of our shared commitment to public service and our desire to make a positive, real difference in the world.

Learn more about the course details, the fees, funding options and how to join our community.

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Thank you, your report has been submitted. We will deal with the issue as soon as possible. If you have any other questions, please send an email to [email protected] .

Your Programmes

University of Oxford

DPhil MPhil (PhD) Politics

3 in 7 applicants to this programme received an offer.

Data shown above is for entry in academic year 2023/24 (sources) .

Previous Years

Data sources.

• FOI Request by S.H Crozier. July 2016.
• FOI Request by Albert Warren. December 2019.
• FOI Request by AFW. December 2023.

The acceptance rate , or offer rate, represents the fraction of applicants who received an offer. Note that this will be generally lower the acceptances rates (acceptances divided by applicants) published by many other sources. This article explains it in more detail. The acceptances generally indicate the number of offer holders who accepted the offer and fulfilled its conditions. For some universities, however, it denotes the number of applicants who accepted the offer, regardless of whether they subsequently met its conditions.

Data Reliability

Unless otherwise noted, the data presented comes from the universities and is generally reliable. However, some of the differences between years and/or courses may be due to different counting methodologies or data gathering errors. This may especially be the case if there is a sharp difference from year to year. If the data does not look right, click the "Report" button located near the top of the page.

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Fully Funded PhD in Politics at University of Oxford, England

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The DPhil in Politics is a three- to four-year course of full-time doctoral study, or six to eight years of part-time study, which is intended for students who would like to undertake detailed research in preparation for an academic career in political science or political theory.

Note that the part-time option is not a distance-learning programme; part-time students are required to attend face-to-face teaching in Oxford on one or two separate days each week during term.

PhD Program Requirements

A master’s degree with distinction in politics, or in a closely related discipline that has prepared you to undertake advanced graduate research on your chosen thesis topic; and

A first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in political science or international relations or in a related discipline such as economics, history, philosophy, sociology or law.

Entrance is very competitive and most successful applicants have a record of academic performance at first-class and/or distinction level.

For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.7 out of 4.0.

Research or work experience that is relevant to your proposed study may provide further evidence of your academic potential.

Publications are not expected, but a peer-reviewed publication in politics or a related discipline may be taken as prima facie evidence of aptitude for research.

PhD Funding Coverage

The University expects to be able to offer over 1,000 full or partial graduate scholarships across the collegiate University in 2024-25.

You will be automatically considered for the majority of Oxford scholarships, if you fulfil the eligibility criteria and submit your graduate application by the relevant December or January deadline.

Most scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit and/or potential.

Application Requirement

1. Online Application

2. Official transcript(s): Your transcripts should give detailed information of the individual grades received in your university-level qualifications to date. You should only upload official documents issued by your institution and any transcript not in English should be accompanied by a certified translation.

3. Research proposal: You should submit a detailed outline of your proposed research, written in English, covering areas such as the background to the research, methodology, expected results and the contribution to the field of learning.

4. Written work: You may submit academic essays on any subject or theme within the discipline of politics but preferably ones that relate to your proposed area of study. The essays may be written specially for the application or may have been produced for other purposes, for instance as a coursework submission within a previous degree programme.

5. GRE General Test scores: No Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or GMAT scores are sought.

6. English language proficiency: This course requires proficiency in English at the University’s higher level. If your first language is not English, you may need to provide evidence that you meet this requirement.

Application Deadline

5 January 2025

Application Fee

An application fee of £75 is payable per course application.

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Philosophy, Politics and Economics

• Admissions Requirements
• Fees and Funding
• Studying at Oxford

Course overview

UCAS code: L0v0 Entrance requirements: AAA Course duration: 3 years (BA)

Subject requirements

Required subjects: Not applicable Recommended subjects: Maths Helpful subjects: History

Other course requirements

Admissions tests:  TSA Written Work: None

Admissions statistics*

Interviewed: 35% Successful: 11% Intake: 232 *3-year average 2021-23

Tel: +44 (0) 1865 288564 Email:  [email protected]

Unistats information for this course can be found at the bottom of the page

Please note that there may be no data available if the number of course participants is very small.

About the course

Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) arose from the belief that the advanced study of all three subjects would transform students’ intellectual lives, to great social benefit. This conviction remains as firm today as it was then. As the world has evolved, so has PPE. The course brings together some of the most important approaches to understanding the world around us, developing skills useful for a wide range of careers and activities.

PPE is a highly flexible degree which allows you to shape your own path through it. You may choose to specialise in two branches at the end of the first year, or continue with all three. You can also explore a wide variety of disciplines under the overarching headings of Philosophy, Politics and Economics. For example, you can specialise in Sociology or International Relations by choosing the relevant Politics options. 

The three subjects each make a distinctively valuable contribution to the degree. Studying philosophy develops analytical, critical, and logical rigour – a highly transferable skill – through discussion of deep, puzzling questions such as 'what can we (really) know?' and 'why be moral?' that are fascinating in their own right.

In turn, the study of politics provides a thorough understanding of the impact of political institutions on modern societies. It helps you to evaluate the choices that political systems must regularly make, to explain the processes that maintain or change those systems, and to examine the concepts and values used in political analysis.

Economics is the study of how consumers, firms and government make decisions that collectively determine how resources are allocated. An appreciation of economics has become increasingly necessary to make sense of governmental policy-making, the conduct of businesses and the enormous economic transformations throughout the world. 

All three branches of PPE at Oxford have an international reputation, supported by more than 200 renowned scholars. 

Astrophoria Foundation Year

If you’re interested in studying PPE but your personal or educational circumstances have meant you are unlikely to achieve the grades typically required for Oxford courses, then choosing to apply for PPE with a Foundation Year might be right for you.

Visit our Foundation Year course pages for more details. 

Unistats information

Discover Uni  course data provides applicants with Unistats statistics about undergraduate life at Oxford for a particular undergraduate course.

Please select 'see course data' to view the full Unistats data for PPE. 

Please note that there may be no data available if the number of course participants is very small. 

Visit the Studying at Oxford section of this page for a more general insight into what studying here is likely to be like.

A typical week

Your weekly timetable will usually include six to eight lectures and two to three tutorials and classes, supplemented by private study, which will be mainly spent preparing essays or problem sets for tutorials and classes.

Tutorials typically involve two to four students and a tutor. Class sizes may vary depending on the options you choose.

Teaching in all three PPE subjects is normally done in tutorials rather than classes. Where a class does form part of the teaching for a paper, it will typically include around six to ten students, although one computer-based training course in Politics may have up to 24 students in it. 

Most tutorials, classes, and lectures are delivered by staff who are specialists in their subject. Many are world-leading experts with years of experience in teaching and research. Some teaching may also be delivered by postgraduate students, typically doctoral students who are also expert in the relevant field.

To find out more about how our teaching year is structured, visit our  Academic Year  page.

Course structure

Years 2 and 3

The content and format of this course may change in some circumstances. Read further information about potential course changes .

Academic requirements 

Wherever possible, your grades are considered in the context in which they have been achieved.

View further information on  how we use contextual data .

* Although a background in Mathematics is not an essential requirement for admission, it is recommended, and   PPE applicants should have sufficient interest in, and aptitude for, mathematics to cope with the mathematical elements of the course. Mathematics is a particular advantage for the Economics component of the course, as well as for the first year logic course in philosophy, and for understanding theories and data in politics. It is recommended to have learnt the basics of differentiation before starting your university course in PPE. Many successful applicants have studied Maths to at least AS-level, or another equivalent.

You may like to consider taking Maths to AS-level, or an equivalent qualification such as IB Standard Level, even if you do not pursue it further. However, we do understand that these qualifications may not be available to all students.

Extra tuition will be available to students that have not studied Maths A-Level who require any assistance. View the  PPE admissions statistics  for information on the success rates for applicants applying with different A-level subjects.

If a practical component forms part of any of your science A‐levels used to meet your offer, we expect you to pass it.

If English is not your first language you may also need to meet our English language requirements .

If your personal or educational circumstances have meant you are unlikely to achieve the grades listed above for undergraduate study, but you still have a strong interest in the subject, then applying for PPE with a Foundation Year might be right for you.

Visit the Foundation Year course pages for more details of academic requirements and eligibility.

Admissions tests

All candidates must take the  Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)  as part of the application. 

All the information you need to arrange to take your test as well as how best to prepare can be found on  your test page .

Written work

You do not need to submit any written work when you apply for this course.

What are tutors looking for?

Admissions tutors will want to find out if you can think clearly and analytically. They are less concerned with what you know than with how you think and use your knowledge. They will seek evidence of interest in all three subjects. 

Visit the PPE website for more detail on the selection criteria for this course.

Many PPE graduates go on to further academic study. The careers most commonly chosen by PPE graduates are in:

• banking and finance
• broadcasting and new media
• political activism and campaigning
• social work
• voluntary organisations and charities
• accountancy
• business management
• management consultancy
• advertising
• university teaching and research
• think tanks and consultancy
• work in international organisations
• and the many branches of public service.

Ella was managing director of Abel & Cole, the organic food retailer. She says:

'I first saw a video of the Amazon rainforest burning when I was at school in the early 1990s. From that moment, I urgently wanted to protect the natural world. I didn’t know how, though. PPE was invaluable in helping me understand how economic and political systems work, and how they drive such damage to nature. PPE also gave me confidence to evaluate solutions to these problems, and to articulate my responses. The degree gave me credibility when I was starting out, and it helped me navigate my way to a constructive career. I feel proud of what I achieved at Abel & Cole. I’m sorry to say that the Amazon is still burning, though, and that there is a great deal more work to be done.'

Rayan went on to pupillage at a leading barristers’ chambers in London. He says:

'PPE encouraged me, more than anything else, to think critically about the social world and our place in it. It taught me how to test and challenge arguments and disentangle their constituent parts. That experience has been crucial to my pursuing a career as a barrister. First, because the philosophical skills that I acquired have proven invaluable in thinking about, developing, and challenging legal arguments in practice. And second, because it's helped me to continuously reflect upon the social impact of the law and its relationship with political power.'

We don't want anyone who has the academic ability to get a place to study here to be held back by their financial circumstances. To meet that aim, Oxford offers one of the most generous financial support packages available for UK students and this may be supplemented by support from your college.

Please note that for full-time Home undergraduate students, current university policy is to charge fees at the level of the cap set by the government. The cap is currently set at £9,250 in 2024/25 and this has been included below as the guide annual course fee for courses starting in 2025. However, this page will be updated once the government has confirmed course fee information for full-time Home undergraduates starting courses in 2025. For details of annual increases, please see our guidance on likely increases to fees and charges .

Further details about fee status eligibility can be found on the fee status webpage.

For more information please refer to our  course fees page . Fees will usually increase annually. For details, please see our  guidance on likely increases to fees and charges.

Living costs

Living costs at Oxford might be less than you’d expect, as our  world-class resources  and  college provision  can help keep costs down.

Living costs for the academic year starting in 2025 are estimated to be between £1,425 and £2,035 for each month you are in Oxford. Our academic year is made up of three eight-week terms, so you would not usually need to be in Oxford for much more than six months of the year but may wish to budget over a nine-month period to ensure you also have sufficient funds during the holidays to meet essential costs. For further details please visit our  living costs webpage .

• Financial support

**If you have studied at undergraduate level before and completed your course, you will be classed as an Equivalent or Lower Qualification student (ELQ) and won’t be eligible to receive government or Oxford funding

Fees, Funding and Scholarship search

Additional Fees and Charges Information for Philosophy, Politics and Economics

There are no compulsory costs for this course beyond the fees shown above and your living costs.

Contextual information

Unistats course data from Discover Uni provides applicants with statistics about a particular undergraduate course at Oxford. For a more holistic insight into what studying your chosen course here is likely to be like, we would encourage you to view the information below as well as to explore our website more widely.

The Oxford tutorial

College tutorials are central to teaching at Oxford. Typically, they take place in your college and are led by your academic tutor(s) who teach as well as do their own research. Students will also receive teaching in a variety of other ways, depending on the course. This will include lectures and classes, and may include laboratory work and fieldwork. However, tutorials offer a level of personalised attention from academic experts unavailable at most universities.

During tutorials (normally lasting an hour), college subject tutors will give you and one or two tutorial partners feedback on prepared work and cover a topic in depth. The other student(s) in your tutorials will be doing the same course as you. Such regular and rigorous academic discussion develops and facilitates learning in a way that isn’t possible through lectures alone. Tutorials also allow for close progress monitoring so tutors can quickly provide additional support if necessary.

Read more about tutorials and an Oxford education

College life

Our colleges are at the heart of Oxford’s reputation as one of the best universities in the world.

• At Oxford, everyone is a member of a college as well as their subject department(s) and the University. Students therefore have both the benefits of belonging to a large, renowned institution and to a small and friendly academic community. Each college or hall is made up of academic and support staff, and students. Colleges provide a safe, supportive environment leaving you free to focus on your studies, enjoy time with friends and make the most of the huge variety of opportunities.
• Porters’ lodge (a staffed entrance and reception)
• Dining hall
• Lending library (often open 24/7 in term time)
• Student accommodation
• Tutors’ teaching rooms
• Chapel and/or music rooms
• Green spaces
• Common room (known as the JCR).
• All first-year students are offered college accommodation either on the main site of their college or in a nearby college annexe. This means that your neighbours will also be ‘freshers’ and new to life at Oxford. This accommodation is guaranteed, so you don’t need to worry about finding somewhere to live after accepting a place here, all of this is organised for you before you arrive.
• All colleges offer at least one further year of accommodation and some offer it for the entire duration of your degree. You may choose to take up the option to live in your college for the whole of your time at Oxford, or you might decide to arrange your own accommodation after your first year – perhaps because you want to live with friends from other colleges.
• While college academic tutors primarily support your academic development, you can also ask their advice on other things. Lots of other college staff including welfare officers help students settle in and are available to offer guidance on practical or health matters. Current students also actively support students in earlier years, sometimes as part of a college ‘family’ or as peer supporters trained by the University’s Counselling Service.

Read more about Oxford colleges and how you choose

FIND OUT MORE

• Visit the PPE website
• Visit the Philosophy Faculty's website
• Visit the Politics Department's website
• Visit the Economics Department's website

Our 2024 undergraduate open days will be held on 26 and 27 June and 20 September.

Register to find out more about our upcoming open days.

RELATED PAGES

• Which Oxford colleges offer my course?
• Your academic year
• Foundation Year

RELATED COURSES

• Economics and Management
• Foundation Year (PPE)
• History and Economics
• History and Politics
• Human Sciences
• Philosophy and Modern Languages
• Philosophy and Theology

Feel inspired?

You might like to read some of the following sources:

Thomas Nagel’s  What Does it all Mean? and Jennifer Nagel’s Knowledge: A Very Short Introduction are useful introductions to Philosophy.

Jonathan Wolff’s An Introduction to Political Philosophy , the Palgrave Macmillan series Developments in British [French, German, East European, etc.]  Politics and Adrian Leftwich’s What is Politics? are good introductory texts for Politics.

The best introduction to Economics is to read the economics and business pages of newspapers.

Tim Harford’s Undercover Economist and Paul Krugman’s The Accidental Theorist are also recommended.

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University of Oxford

www.ox.ac.uk

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings is the only global university performance table to judge research-intensive universities across all of their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

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The DPhil in Politics is a full-time, three-year course of doctoral study which is intended for students who would like to undertake detailed research in preparation for an academic career in political science or political theory. 

Graduate destinations

Graduate work in politics will prepare you for an academic career in the field, either in Oxford or elsewhere, but the department also celebrates the substantial number of its graduates working in government, in diplomatic services, and in senior positions in the private sector.

The department is committed to engaging with its alumni community. The alumni programme is now underway and includes an annual publication ('Inspires’), a website forum, alumni networks and tailored events. 

If you are admitted to this degree, you will conduct your own research under the guidance of a University supervisor. You must be prepared to work on your own a good deal, and will need considerable personal motivation. You are required to have a good general knowledge, to master's level, of the field within which your research falls and of the methods appropriate to the study of this field.

Candidates for the DPhil are normally admitted with Probationer Research Student (PRS) status. As a PRS, you will develop your research proposal and skills, 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 as a research student.

You will spend the first year in the development of, and early work on, the thesis topic; in improving knowledge of research design, including statistical, qualitative and other methods appropriate to the advanced study of politics; in attendance at relevant lectures, seminars and classes; and in preparing your transfer from PRS to DPhil status. You must be resident in Oxford in term time throughout the probationary period and should not normally undertake fieldwork until after you have successfully transferred to full DPhil status.

Your research training needs will be discussed between yourself, your supervisor and the department's Director of Research Training, and a suitable programme of research training (Training Need Analysis) to assist your research will be agreed. You should then review progress on a termly basis with your supervisor, as part of the process of continuous personal development. The Politics Graduate Studies Committee will require satisfactory completion of this training programme as a condition of your change of status from PRS to DPhil.

Finally, you will be expected to participate in the various workshops and research groups - most notably the Oxford Politics Research Colloquium, which involves research presentations by faculty, senior researchers, academic visitors and DPhil students.

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 doctoral student.

Applicants are normally expected to be predicted or have achieved a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours (or equivalent international qualifications), as a minimum, in political science or international relations, or in a closely related discipline (eg economics, history, philosophy, sociology, law, etc).

Applicants are also normally expected to be predicted or have achieved a distinction grade at master’s level in politics, or in a closely related discipline that has prepared you to undertake advanced graduate research on your chosen thesis topic.

Nonetheless, each application will be assessed upon its own merits, and so candidates with a degree in an unrelated discipline should demonstrate the relevance of their academic background to their proposed subject or topic of study. 

Entrance is very competitive and most successful applicants have a first-class degree or the equivalent.

For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.7 out of 4.0.

If you hold non-UK qualifications and wish to check how your qualifications match these requirements, you can contact the National Recognition Information Centre for the United Kingdom (UK NARIC).

No Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or GMAT scores are sought.

• Official transcript(s)
• CV/résumé
• Research proposal:At least 4,000 words
• Written work:Two essays of 2,000 words each
• References/letters of recommendation:Three overall, generally academic

ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

Higher level

• Global Education
• Hill Foundation Scholarships
• A number of Research Council awards are available each year from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), and Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Princeton University

Politics and international relations.

Dublin City University

Accounting: governmental.

Rutgers University-Camden

Advocacy and political leadership.

University of Minnesota - Duluth

African politics.

School of Oriental and African Studies

African studies.

Yale University

American history with politics.

University of East Anglia

American studies and politics.

University of Dundee

Law, politics and journalism.

The University of Notre Dame Australia - Study Abroad

Asian politics, deadline information.

Ask admission

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Doctoral Research

The Oxford School of Global and Area Studies is proud to announce the  l aunch of a new and distinctive DPhil in Area Studies  to complement its existing world-renowned master’s programmes. Applications for our doctorate will be accepted from September 1st 2016, for entry in October 2017.

In addition to offering supervision to the new DPhil in Area Studies students, our academics also offer supervision across a number of disciplinary departments across the collegiate university.    The University attracts a large number of doctoral students (currently over 150) working on topics relating to Africa across the disciplines, and many of them attend the research seminars, workshops, lectures and other events organized through the African Studies Centre. Prof Adebanwi, Prof Pratten, Prof Tendi and Prof Larmer all supervise doctoral students, and welcome enquiries from well-qualified prospective students. Many of our current doctoral students embark upon DPhil research having completed the MSc in African Studies .   At present there are a large number of doctoral students working on African themes across the university in various disciplines including:

Anthropology

Archaeology, international development.

• Geography & the Environment

Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine

Social policy and social work, criminology.

The following profiles are indicative of the exciting range of doctoral research being conducted on African topics at the University of Oxford, both past and present.

Leanne Johansson ,  [email protected]

Tim Forrsman ,  [email protected] I am studying the way in which hunter-gatherer identity changed from the mid-Holocene in the Tuli Block, eastern Botswana. Since coming into contact with farming communities in the beginning of the first millennium AD until the early second millennium AD, hunter-gatherer's cultural material changed and eventually disappeared altogether in the archaeological record. My research addresses the social, cultural and environmental changes that led to the reformation of a local hunter-gatherer community resulting in the breakdown of their traditional way of life.

Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon ,  [email protected] I am completing my DPhil in Development Studies. My research is a qualitative study on HIV/AIDS treatments to displaced communities in Northern Uganda. It addresses the histories of HIV/AIDS responses in Northern Uganda, and its role in the current "success story"; forms of biosociality and stigma in displacement camps; and the challenges and vulnerabilities of the return process for those living with HIV and treatment problems .

Samuel Iwilade ,  [email protected]

Geography and the Environment

Alexandra Yannias ,  [email protected] I am focusing on informal settlement upgrading policies with a particular focus on the changing responsibilities of international organizations, binational aid organization, and national and local governments. My research focuses on South Africa in particular and economic development in Africa and Latin America more generally.

Emilie Bourgeat,  [email protected] I am studying 'State violence and Punishment in Kenya (c. 1930-1978)'. Other interests include colonial history, gender-based violence, criminal justice systems, civil wars and post-conflict societies.

`Criminal Deviance, Madness and the Construction of a 'Healthy' Nation in South Africa (1970-1996)'

Edward Goodman ,  [email protected] The development of national identity in early postcolonial Kenya and Tanzania.

Hanaan Marwah ,  [email protected] Building and construction investment in Nigeria, 1960-2000.

Cassandra Mark ,  [email protected] My research explores the emergence of industrial labor in Ghana, with specific focus on the southwestern gold-mines, ca. 1880 to 1920. It questions to what extent the industrial capitalists came to rely on unfree labor (other than slavery) in their formative stages of development. It also questions to what degree industrial labor can be defined as a continuation of preexisting labor relations.

My thesis is entitled 'A History of Political Mobilisation in Zambia: Explaining the Rise and Rise of Michael Sata c.1962-2011' Using the political life of Michael Sata, the newly-elected President of Zambia, alongside a series of other less successful Zambian political leaders, my project traces the evolution of political mobilisation in Zambia from 1962 to 2011 to shed new light on the continuities and changes in the strategies that African political leaders have employed to mobilise support in different times and contexts.

My research focuses on parliamentary politics in Uganda. I am particularly interested in examining the dynamics of legislative-executive relations with an eye to assessing the scope for parliamentary independence within Uganda's 'semi-authoritarian' regime. My research is an extension of my master's work, which drew on data gathered during several months spent working in the Uganda Parliament between 2011 and 2013. Additional interests include: transitions to a multiparty system, political parties, theory and practice of representative politics.

Research: To what extent does electoral exclusion (the banning of opposition candidates in elections) increase the risk of civil wars or coups d'état, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa? Case studies: Madagascar, Côte d'Ivoire, Zambia; likely future case studies: Tunisia, Ecuador.

My DPhil dissertation explores the spatial patterns of electoral fraud in Ghana and the correlates behind these patterns. It draws on participant observations, electoral petitions, and census data, and combines anthropological methods and discrete choice models. More generally, I am interested in strategies of electoral mobilisation, both legal and illegal.

My key research interests are: political parties and party systems, donor-recipient government relations, and artisanal and small-scale mining policy. My thesis is about studying opposition party formation and their development trajectories, focusing on parties' ideology, organisation, structure and mobilisation.

Magnus Bellander ,  [email protected] In my research, I look at power-sharing and coalition building in Somalia’s civil war.

Kate Brennan,   [email protected] 2010-2011: Visiting at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton; Doctoral dissertation: Social Accountability in World Bank grants for health care.

My thesis compares a British-led police reform in the 'failed' state of Sierra Leone from 1998-2007 with reforms of the Colonial Police towards the end of empire. There are striking similarities in representations of 'good policing' and strategies to build police across contexts of empire and formally equal sovereignty. However, police reform has now become entangled with a number of possibly conflicting strands of intervention in post-conflict countries; such as stabilization, transitional justice, and development. Through a detailed analysis building on archival research and interviews with actors from both periods I try to bring out the shifts in security logic that has brought police reform to the forefront of the global security agenda. Successive re-interpretations of what sovereignty means for states like Sierra Leone seem to have had profound implications on what kind of coercive capacity the dominant states seek to invest them with, and police reform is at the heart of such efforts. By taking a historical perspective I also try to show how state-building -- often represented as a Cold War phenomenon -- is constrained and facilitated in important ways by earlier colonial state-building.

I am a DPhil candidate in the Department of Social Policy and Intervention, co-supervised by Dr Lucie Cluver and Dr Jonny Steinberg. My doctoral research is an in-depth qualitative study, exploring the medication-taking practices of HIV-positive teenagers in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Through an exploration of the lifeworlds of adolescents living with HIV, the study will investigate how health services have sought to coerce and promote treatment adherence in teenagers and what modes of agency adolescents exercise through medication-taking or not. This will not only allow for a rich exploration of the complexities of teenage antiretroviral adherence, but also a critical evaluation of how HIV-care for youth is understood, received and appropriated.

David McLennan ,  [email protected] Thesis title: Multiply deprived areas or multiply deprived individuals? A comparison of two approaches to measuring deprivation at the small area level in post-Apartheid South Africa

Past DPhil Theses:

• The politics of oil and ethnicity in Nigeria • The politics of the Goldenberg scandal, Kenya • NGOs and politics in Ghana • Forestry and forests in post-colonial Tanzania • French policy and the politics of protest in Cote dIvoire • HIV/AIDS in Uganda • The history of taxation in Kenya and Zambia • Civil conflict in Nigerias Middle Belt • The African diaspora and religion in Amsterdam • Women combatants in the Sierra Leone civil war • Loyalists in Kenya during Mau Mau rebellion • Ethnic politics and the Kalenjin, Kenya • Horizontal inequalities and conflict in Niger • Soviet and Eastern European Cold War politics in the Horn • State resettlement policy in Apartheid South Africa • The role of the ICC in eastern Africa and the Great Lakes • African women and urbanization in Cape Town • The history of indigenous medicine in Namibia • Youth and authority in Kibera, Nairobi • Post-conflict criminality and resources in Liberia • The history of Okavango (Moremi) National Park in Botswana • The politics of Pentecostalism in Nigeria • Military livelihoods and the Ugandan army • Aids orphans in Nyanza, Kenya • The role of amnesty in South Africas TRC • Gacaca and genocide in Rwanda • Justice and post-conflict resolution in Liberia • Historical memory and nationalist politics in Zimbabwe • The drugs war in Nigeria • Aid and the international politics of Musevenis Ugandan government • Truth and reconciliation and witness protection in Sierra Leone • Civil society and democratisation in Kenya • The one-party state in Zambia and Kenya • Congolese refugees in Uganda

The Department of Political Science

Phd candidate iván ruiz-hernández wins fulbright-hays fellowship.

PhD Candidate Iván Ruiz-Hernández was awarded the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad . The Fellowship will support Iván’s dissertation research in Mexico. Congratulations, Iván!

By John Cairns ( johncairns.co.uk )

Introduction to Undergraduate Politics

Oxford's politics courses exposed me to diverse academic opinions while challenging me to think critically and creatively on the most relevant debates going on in the field.

If you want to study Politics as an undergraduate at Oxford, you can choose from two joint-honours degrees: either Philosophy, Politics and Economics  (also known as PPE), or History and Politics  (also known as HP). Both degrees give students the opportunity to pick their own route through a large range of Politics papers.

Course outline

By studying Politics, as part of PPE or History and Politics, you will gain a thorough understanding of the impact of political institutions on modern societies. It will help you understand the workings of political systems, explain the processes that maintain or change those systems, and examine the concepts and values used in political analysis and discourse. You will develop a knowledge and understanding of key areas of the discipline such as comparative government, political theory, sociology and international relations.

In the first year of both joint-honours degrees you will gain a foundation in Politics that covers:

• (Please note, if you study History and Politics  you will be given the option to study the Theories of State instead of the Political Theory paper. Theories of State offers an introduction to some of the major influences on the development of Western political thought)
• The Practice of Politics – an introduction into how politics and government is practised in democratic, partially-democratic and non-democratic states.
• Political Analysis (not examined) – an introduction to quantitative methods in political science.

If you study PPE , in the second year you will have the choice of opting for two of the three branches or continuing with all three.

In the second year, all HP undergraduates and all PPE undergraduates who continue with Politics choose two options from the following five core papers:

• Comparative Government
• British Politics and Government since 1900
• Theory of Politics
• International Relations
• Political Sociology

In the third year, all joint-honour undergraduates who continued with Politics chose from a number of optional papers . In 2021/22 these papers were * :

• Modern British Government and Politics 
• Government and Politics of the US
• Politics in Europe
• Politics in Russia and the Former Soviet Union
• Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Politics in Latin America
• Politics in South Asia
• Politics in the Middle East
• International Relations in the Era of Two World Wars
• International Relations in the Era of the Cold War
• Political Thought: Plato to Rousseau
• Political Thought: Bentham to Weber
• Marx and Marxism
• Sociological Theory
• Labour Economics and Inequality (organised by Department of Economics)
• Social Policy
• Comparative Demographic Systems
• Politics in China
• The Politics of the European Union
• Advanced Paper in Theories of Justice
• Comparative Political Economy
• International Security and Conflict
• Feminist Theory

*Please note, these options are illustrative only as Politics option papers are subject to change year-to-year.

All politics papers, bar the thesis, are currently assessed by written examination. There are two sets of University examinations for Politics:

• the Preliminary Examination (‘Prelims’), normally taken at the end of your first year (you will be required to pass Prelims to progress to the second year);
• the Final Honour School (‘Finals’), normally taken at the end of your third year.

History and Politics  students must submit a thesis on a subject of their choice in their final year. Theses are optional for  PPE  students.

How we teach politics at Oxford

Politics is taught through a mixture of lectures, classes and tutorials, with the last playing a particularly important role. Most students will have 1-3 tutorials a week. These involve preparing an essay and then an hour long conversation about the essay, and the subject, with a tutor and 1-3 fellow students. The tutorial system differentiates Oxford from almost all other universities.

We know that some exceptionally clever and talented students don't think that Oxford is for them - and we want that to change. Oxford runs thousands of free events and programmes every year. These give potential applicants a chance to learn about student life and the skills to submit a strong UCAS application.

Where next?

History and Politics BA

Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) BA

QS WORLD RANKINGS FOR POLITICS & INT’L STUDIES: 2

BEST UK UNIVERSITIES FOR POLITICS – THE GUARDIAN: 1

THE WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS FOR POLITICS AND INT’L STUDIES: 1 IN THE UK