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4 courses offered in the Department of Politics and International Studies
International relations - mst.
The Master of Studies (MSt) in International Relations is a full and intensive Master-level programme, designed to be taken on a part-time basis over two years. It is primarily designed for professionals from (for example) industry, teaching, international charities, the civil service or the armed forces. We also welcome recent graduates wishing to undertake postgraduate studies alongside their professional commitments. The course is distinctive in its multidisciplinary approach and breadth. Teaching takes the form of lectures and seminars, in theory, politics, history, economics, law, security and various regional and area studies, as well as individual thesis supervision. The taught part of the course aims to familiarize you with the range and variety of disciplines required for a thorough critical understanding of the field in all its complexity and of the means and methods that have been devised to understand it better. All teaching takes place in Cambridge during the six residential sessions. Provisional dates* for these residentials are listed below, but may change subject to academic needs. Dates for the 2025-2027 cohort (inclusive) are: 22 September 2025 - 03 October 2025 08 December 2025 - 19 December 2025 13 April 2026 - 24 April 2026 29 June 2026 - 10 July 2026 28 September 2026 - 02 October 2026 11 January 2027 - 15 January 2027
* these dates have been confirmed, but the Department website is where the most up-to-date information will be posted in case of any unexpected changes.
Attendance at all the residential sessions is compulsory and applicants must ensure they can meet this attendance requirement before applying for the course.
More Information
Politics and International Studies - MPhil
The MPhil in Politics and International Studies is a nine-month full-time course offered by the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS). It is designed to meet the needs of all those who wish to enhance their understanding of international relations and politics at a postgraduate level. It is appropriate for those who wish to embark upon an academic career, in the first instance, through pursuing doctoral research, but also for those looking to embark on careers in the media, politics, law, public administration, civil service, finance, teaching, and the charity sector.
The programme offers advanced engagement with various aspects of the academic study of Politics and International Studies. It will provide you with a critical understanding of a range of issues involved in studying these disciplines, primarily through a mixture of lectures and research-driven seminars.
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 pages here give you further information about the PhD programme, how to apply, and information on obtaining funding for the PhD. If you have questions that are not covered in the material here, please look at the pages on the POLIS website.
Public Policy - MPhil
The MPhil in Public Policy (MPP) is a multidisciplinary, practice-oriented course hosted by the Department of Politics and International Studies. MPP students typically come to the course with two to five years of work experience and a desire to build careers in public policy, in government or in the private and third sectors. The programme provides students with a thorough intellectual grounding and practical experience in the processes of policymaking, as well as an understanding of the range of knowledge and skills they need to be effective in the world of policy.
7 courses also advertised in the Department of Politics and International Studies
African studies - mphil.
From the Centre of African Studies
The MPhil in African Studies is designed both as a freestanding qualification for students who want to enhance their understanding of the social, cultural, political and economic history and present condition of Africa, and as an excellent introduction for those who want to go on to further primary research. It will introduce students to the latest research topics, methods and debates in African studies at an advanced level and provide intensive research and language training for those who wish to go on to prepare a doctoral dissertation. There are a number of elements to the course: a taught element, intensive language training, seminars and a dissertation. Full details of the content of the course can be found on the Centre's website.
Development Studies - PhD
From the Centre of Development Studies
The Development Studies PhD course is largely a full-time course that lasts for a minimum of nine terms (three years) and up to 12 terms (four years). First-year students are known as NOTAFs (not at first registered). All first-year students (both full-time and part-time) must complete a mandatory methods course. All students are required to submit a First Year Report and pass a first-year assessment viva before holding PhD student status.
Following the completion of the first-year assessment (or second-year in the case of part-time students), the majority of PhDs will commence fieldwork to conduct research for their thesis. This may include research at archives and libraries, conducting interviews, etc. Ethical approval is required prior to commencing research. Leave to Work Away, and Risk Assessment forms need to be approved by the Centre of Development Studies and the Ethics, Risk and Fieldwork Committee in the Department of Politics and International Studies.
Research material is collated, often in the third year, with drafts of a thesis discussed with the student's Supervisor. Students are required to submit their thesis by the submission deadline. A viva is then conducted between the student and two examiners. Upon successful completion, or completion of corrections, the student is then required to submit a final hardbound thesis to finalise the programme.
A part-time PhD route is available and proceeds in a similar sequence but over a longer duration, with a maximum allowed length of seven years.
Development Studies - MPhil
The MPhil in Development Studies is an incisively interdisciplinary course that gives students a firm grounding in the political economy of development while drawing on theories and methodologies from political science, sociology, economics and anthropology. Our guiding principle is that no important issues in development – such as poverty and inequality, the role of institutions, gender relations, technology, war and human rights, colonial histories and decolonisation projects – can be properly understood without a reflexive and interdisciplinary perspective.
The MPhil course consists of one core paper, 'Intellectual Traditions of Development', taught in the first term (Michaelmas), and a range of optional papers (6 to 8) from which students must choose two, offered in the second term (Lent). The course also consists of a supervised dissertation of 15,000-20,000 words.
Latin American Studies - PhD
From the Centre of Latin American Studies
The Centre of Latin American Studies (CLAS) offers a full-time and a part-time PhD programme. The Centre currently has approximately 15 PhD students at different stages of the programme, working in a range of areas.
Full-time PhD students are required to be resident in Cambridge for the duration of their degrees, with the exception of extended fieldwork trips. It is important to note that the part-time PhD at Cambridge is not a distance-learning course. Part-time students are expected to fully engage with the Faculty, to integrate into the research culture of the University and to attend the University on a regular basis for supervision, study, skills training, research seminars and workshops.
The students form a lively academic and social community, playing a full part in the Centre's activities, meeting regularly to present their latest research to each other and organizing seminars and conferences with the Centre's support.
Further information, including current and past student profiles, is available on the Centre's website.
Modern South Asian Studies - MPhil
From the Centre of South Asian Studies
This is a postgraduate course with a substantial research component, which runs for nine months covering the three terms (Michaelmas, Lent and Easter). It is designed to enhance the understanding of social, cultural, political and economic history; and the present geopolitical and policy environment in South Asia. It provides intensive research and language training for those who wish to go on to do doctoral research, but it is also a freestanding postgraduate degree course in its own right. Teaching and learning for the course takes place in the Centre of South Asian Studies and the various humanities and social science faculties and departments.
Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies - PhD
From the Centre for Gender Studies
The University of Cambridge Centre for Gender Studies (UCCGS) offers a full-time and part-time PhD programme in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies. Through lectures, seminars, workshops, public events, and especially working with a Supervisor from any department or faculty at the University of Cambridge, students will develop both general knowledge of the field(s) of gender studies as well as specific knowledge related to their own research project. Students will gain advanced methodological training suitable for conducting their own research from both in-house seminars and workshops, and supporting programmes around Cambridge. PhD students receive training in a wide variety of academic skills, such as engagement with other scholars in seminars and preparation for academic publishing and the job market. They will also have the opportunity to gain teaching skills, organise their own conferences, and participate in various forms of public engagement and other aspects of academic life as part of a lively and supportive community of scholars from UCCGS, around the University, and beyond.
Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies - MPhil
The MPhil in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies provides rigorous advanced training in the multi-disciplinary study of gender. The course is designed for those students who wish to prepare for PhD or further research and also, for those who want to enhance their understanding of 'gender' by undertaking a 9-month MPhil only.
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Academic Requirements:
The POLIS PhD programme has high academic requirements and a large number of applicants who meet them.
If you do not meet the criteria listed below, it is unlikely you will be offered a place.
Those requirements are both:
- an undergraduate degree with a first class from a UK university, or a GPA of at least 3.85 from a non-UK university ( or equivalent )
- 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 not including a bibliography). It should outline the subject of the intended research and thesis. It can indicate the methodology to be adopted and the sources to be used, and give a sense of how it is intended to make a contribution to existing knowledge. It should include a working title.
- Full transcripts of your academic record at university.
- Two referees should submit references on your behalf. These referees would normally be university academics, who would have known you for at least six months.
- Evidence of competence in English: If English is not your native language, and you have not previously been a student at the University of Cambridge, you will need to submit evidence of competence in English . The language tests accepted are IELTS (at least 7.5, with 7.0 or higher in each component) and TOEFL (a minimum score of 110, with at least 25 in each component).
* Please note: if any of these are absent, the application cannot be successful.
The application portal will close at 23:59pm (midnight) UK time on the advertised deadline date.
In addition:
Please identify 2-3 potential supervisors on your application form . A list of academic staff and their area of interest can be seen here
We strongly encourage you to include information about your ranking within your academic year for both your undergraduate and masters degree.
This is provided by most universities upon your request if it is not already contained within the university transcript, and additional documents with this information can be uploaded with the transcript.
We anticipate that successful applicants will be in the top 20% of their academic years, although we recognise that in programmes with highly competitive entry standards, this condition may be relaxed.
Applicants who are unable to provide any information about their ranking in their academic year will be at a disadvantage in the application process compared with those who do. If no formal ranking is obtainable, the onus is on the applicant to ensure that their referees provide as much detailed relevant information about completed assessments to enable an estimate to be made of their ranking. Simply stating ‘1/100’ without providing data to support this claim will not be considered a meaningful ranking.
In addition to the documents listed above, you are entitled to upload a CV and a sample of written work, and to arrange for a personal referee to submit a reference on your behalf (if you are applying for a Gates scholarship).
Key deadlines
- Funding and application deadlines for 2024-25 has now passed.
- Funding and application deadlines for 2025-26 will open September 2024. This will close on 3rd December 2024 (Gates US round, funding will close 16th October 2024).
Please be advised that it can take up to 12 weeks for the department to consider applications
Shortlisted applicants are often invited to participate in an interview, usually with a prospective supervisor, and we may be in touch individually via your nominated email address if we seek an interview. Interviews will be held 13-17 January 2025, these will be online. Alternative dates will not be offered.
Please note that only applicants with a start date of October can be accepted onto the PhD program. Start dates cannot be deferred or changed .
- What Happens Next?
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"The structure of the PhD course, amazing staff, the events and workshops organised by the different centres at POLIS all provide a fertile ground for one to thrive. The diversity of research topics means you are always learning something different from your colleagues. I am grateful to be part of the POLIS family."
Edward Murambwa, PhD Student POLIS
The Department of Politics and International Studies, The Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DP
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