The Department of Government has over 150 students pursuing research over three or four years. The programme is for students with a good masters in a relevant subject, who are ready to undertake, with supervision and critical support from teachers and fellow students, independent research involving either empirical investigation or the exercise of original critical judgment, or both. In each year of study there is a minimum of required seminar attendance, the principal purpose of which is to root each student in the department's and the school's research community. The programme is designed for students with the imagination and initiative to use, but not be limited by, the educational facilities, both material and human, which the school offers to a unique degree. There are no formal exams, apart from the assessment of the completed research thesis.
For details of the MPhil/PhD in Government programme regulations| and for the Government Department course guides| please follow these links to the School calendar.
Full details of the programme regulations are in the School calendar. Below you will find some supplementary details which we hope you'll find useful.
Information on courses for 2nd and subsequent years
All research students in their second and subsequent years are required to enrol in at least one workshop, to attend on a regular basis and to present their research for discussion, usually in the presence of their supervisor in addition to the regular workshop members. The content of the workshops varies in detail from year to year, but will normally include workshops in political theory, institutional analysis and political economy, European politics and policy, rational choice, and comparative politics. Account is taken of attendance and performance at the workshops in the regular end-of-year reviews. First year research students are welcome to attend any of these workshops, and regularly do so, and whilst second and subsequent year students must attend one workshop, they are welcome to attend others in addition.
The current workshops from which a choice must be made are:
Research students often find some of the seminars and lecture series organised in connection with the large number of MSc programmes offered by the School useful. Programmes in the Government Department are: Political Theory, European Politics and Policy, Public Policy and Comparative Government. In addition members of the Department teach on MSc programmes in The Political Economy of Transition and European Studies (in the European Institute), Management (in the Management Institute), The Politics of Empire and Post-Imperialism and Russian and Post-Soviet Studies (with the International Relations Department) and Regulation (with Geography, Law and other departments).
Supervision and progress
Each research student in the Department has a Supervisor and an Advisor or, in some cases, two Supervisors. An important, and early, task of the Supervisor is the provision of advice about which courses (especially in the Methodology Institute) students should attend.
All research students are registered in the first instance for the degree of M.Phil. On making satisfactory progress, they will be retrospectively upgraded to PhD registration. A review is conducted at the end of each year and the department attaches particular importance to the review in year one. To be allowed to re-register for the second year, students are required to give a satisfactory account of the progress and future direction of their research. This should take the form of :
1. A short prospectus, setting out the research question, some initial theoretical ideas, how these ideas will be applied in empirical research or theoretical enquiry, and a short abstract of one paragraph, and no more than a page of A4, which summarises albeit tentatively, the argument, empirical findings or theoretical conclusions of the prospective thesis.
2. Two substantial pieces of writing, which would normally be draft chapters, one of which will normally be a review of the literature and the general 'state of the art' in relation to the research topic.
3. A list of intended chapter headings, giving the hypothetical contents of the thesis.
These three pieces of evidence, together with the annual report form which the school requires research students to complete, is to be presented by the end of the fourth week of the Summer Term. A review meeting, chaired by a senior member of the department, and with two other members, normally the student's supervisor and advisor, or two supervisors, will take place in week 6 of the Summer Term, and will decide on the quality of progress made and, where appropriate, advise on the future conduct of the research. The committee will normally decide either:
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to recommend re-registration
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to recommend de-registration
In exceptional circumstances the committee may offer revision and resubmission. The deadline for revision will be 14 November, with the final decision being made by the panel at the end of November.
The role of Advisors
The role of Advisor is a flexible one, but in general includes:
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acting as a substitute in the absence of the supervisor
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providing a supplementary source of advice and encouragement
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constituting a second point of contact in the wider Departmental network on which students can draw (for example, for references and general academic contacts).
Unlike Supervisors (whether single or joint) Advisors are not necessarily specialists in the student's thesis area; they are there instead as 'another ear'. They can give supplementary advice on how to organise work, and should receive copies of whatever substantial written work is submitted to the Supervisor. Advisors will also normally take part in the end-of-year Review Panel.
In addition to whatever use they wish to make of the Advisor, students are encouraged to make contact with whichever members of the Department (and members of other Departments) can help with their research.
Since Political Science is a discipline with many, often criss-crossing branches and sub-disciplines, students are encouraged to look beyond their particular research topic and its immediate context, and to learn about and discuss the work of colleagues in other fields.
Monitoring progress
The Graduate School's overall provisions for student monitoring and support require that each student's progress be monitored at the end of each year. The Department's practice is to review all full-time students each year and all part-time students every second year.
The annual review takes place in week six of the summer term, and the paperwork (school's progress form and Departmental form) must be submitted to the Government Department's Research Programme Administrator by the end of week four. Particular importance is attached to the assessment made at the end of the first year, when both re-registration and transfer from MPhil to PhD are considered.
Reports on attendance and performance (in particular in the form of presentations) at the Doctoral Programme Seminar (first year) or relevant Workshop (subsequent years) form an important element in the review.
Re-registration in the Graduate School is conditional each year, upon satisfactory progress reports which require the supervisor to determine re-registration; students who do not return these forms and complete the process indicated above will not be re-registered or (where appropriate) recommended for upgrading from MPhil to PhD.
Completion
The Department is committed to providing the support and help necessary to enable students to complete their PhDs within a reasonable length of time and within the School's minimum and maximum registration ruling. The Department expects completion to be within 4 years in the case of full-time, and 5-6 years in the case of part-time students, and all its arrangements, including those governing the assessment process, are designed to facilitate this. The Departmental Research Student Tutor is available to provide advice and encouragement to all Research Students.
How to apply
Application deadline: 10 January 2011. Successful candidates will be notified in March. In exceptional cases, late applications can be considered until 29 April 2011, but candidates are advised that places for late admission are limited and late applicants are not eligible for consideration for LSE/ESRC/AHRC funding. Complete applications must be received by the deadline, and it is the candidate's responsibility to ensure their completeness.
You will find further details for the Scheme here|.
I. Admission criteria
(1) Previous education
You must have obtained an undergraduate degree with the equivalent of upper class second honours or a GPA of minimum 3.5, and must obtain a Masters Degree with an average of 65 or above. In addition, you must obtain a mark of at least 65 in their Masters dissertation. If you are on a MSc programme at the time of applying, and your results will not be known until September 2008, you may be made a conditional offer, and allowed to register provisionally in September. The offer will be turned into a unconditional offer once your final marks are known. However, if you do not meet the conditions asked of you, you will be withdrawn from the programme.
(2) Language requirements
If English is not your first language, or if you have never taken a degree taught in English, we ask you to provide evidence of your command of English. You should include your test scores in the relevant section of the application form. If you receive an offer of admission, it will be subject to proof of your score. English tests must be less than two years old at the time of application.
The Department of Government requires the following test scores:
TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) with normally a minimum score of 627 in the paper test or 263 in the computer-based test
IELTS (International English Language Testing System) with normally a minimum score of 7.0
These are minimum requirements. You may need additional language instruction before you register to be confident that you can participate fully in your programme. Please refer to FAQs under Graduate Admissions for further information.
II. Application form
You can download and complete the application form and send it by post or complete the online application form|.
Please send the supporting documentation as soon as possible.
III. Supporting documentation
We will require a personal statement, a research proposal, two academic references and degree/language tests transcripts. In addition we also require written work: a Master's dissertation or the equivalent, for example, 2 long essays, totalling 10,000 words.
(1) Personal statement
Researching for, and writing, a doctoral thesis is one of the most enjoyable intellectual experiences that there is; it is also one of the most demanding. It is crucially important, therefore, that you embark on this process, starting with the application, with realistic views of what doing a PhD actually consists in, as well as with a good sense of what your reasons are for doing it. Your personal statement should state clearly your motivation for applying for the MPhil/PhD. Approximately one half to a page of A4 is appropriate. We do not require or consider CVs.
For a good overview of what a PhD consists in, of the good and bad experiences doctoral students often have, you may wish to consult E. M. Phillips and D. S. Pugh, How to Get a PhD (Open University Press, 2005, 4th edition.).
(2) Research Proposal
The research proposal, which must be of approximately 3000 words, is absolutely crucial to the success of your application. You need to have more than a vaguely defined research topic. The proposal should include a working title and set of questions; a discussion of your proposed approach, with a brief critical survey of the key sources you already know, and an identification of those you intend to use; a brief account of current debate within the field and the strengths and limitations of existing work; an indication of the methods you intend to use in order to pursue this particular research. In addition, you should describe your reasons for selecting your topic (why do you want to spend four years on this particular topic? What is particularly interesting about it? Is it a new topic? A much researched topic which requires a new approach?) You should also indicate why, in your view, your proposed work will make a significant and original contribution to the field. Finally, a thesis should be able to be completed within four years. Whilst we appreciate that this proposal will change through the course of your research, you should endeavour to present a project which will be considered feasible within the framework of an MPhil / PhD programme, including a preliminary timetable.
The Committee places great importance on the originality, substance and feasibility of your proposal. Candidates are encouraged to take due care in the preparation of the proposal, to consult former academic advisors or to make contact with potential supervisors in the Department for advice on preparing a proposal. You will find a list of members of staff, with their research interests on the Academic staff (full-time) & Postdoctoral Fellows web page.
Applicants may wish to consult the following two books for advice on how to formulate a research problem and plan a doctorate: P. Dunleavy, Authoring a PhD: How to Plan, Draft, Write and Finish a Doctoral Thesis or Dissertation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003); E. M. Phillips and D. S. Pugh, How to Get a PhD (Open University Press, 2005, 4th edition.)
(3) Written Work
Applicants must submit either two Masters degree essays of 5,000 or a Masters dissertation. If you do not have a Master's dissertation you can submit other relevant work demonstrating essay writing and topical knowledge.
(4) References
You should nominate two referees who are familiar with your academic work and ideally who know of your proposed field of research. It is your responsibility to make contact with your referees promptly to allow your application to be completed in time. Please note that outside term time many academics may be away from their department and therefore difficult to contact. Referees can complete their reference online.
(5) Transcripts
You must provide us with the original or certified copy (and translation if applicable) of your transcripts for all degrees obtained at the time of applying, with full results, in English.
All documents can merged into one document and uploaded together on the online application.
What is the ratio of applications to offers?
For entry starting in October 2010 the statistics are as follows:
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MPhil/PhD programme 128 applications received and 26 offers made.
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MRes/PhD Stream A programme 47 applications received and 11 offers made.
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MRes/PhD Stream B programme 92 applications received and 17 offers made.
How do I defer my offer?
If, having accepted an offer, you find you are unable to take up the place you have the option to put a request in writing to defer your entry to the following year. For details on how to do this and for other options refer to the Graduate Admissions| web pages.
How do I decide whether to apply for the MPhil or the MRes programme?
The department currently offers two PhD programmes, the MPhil/ PhD and the MRes/ PhD. The MPhil/ PhD degree is for those who already have a good Masters degree in a relevant subject and already have a fairly clear idea of what they want to research. This select group are chosen based on their intellectual merit and the quality of their PhD proposal. While students are expected to be active members of research seminars in each year of registration, the primary emphasis is on conducting research and writing the dissertation. The only examination is that of the final thesis. The MRes is a departure from the traditional 'thesis only' manner of doing doctoral work and combines training with specialised research. The programme begins with rigorous and broad training in political science in Year 1 and 2 (Year 1 is sometimes waived for those with an appropriate Masters degree). This training is designed to equip students with a set of tools and substantive knowledge, that will facilitate the development of their thesis which they will then concentrate on in the remaining years of the programme. Please refer to the MRes/PhD page on this site for further information.
Is it possible to study by distance learning?
No, all students are required to attend workshops and have regular meetings with their supervisors so distance learning is not possible. The School's regulations state that it is a condition of registration for students to live either in London or within a reasonable distance from London during term time.
Visiting Research Student applications
Students already registered at other Universities may apply to visit the LSE. The procedure is to apply for the MPhil/PhD (as detailed in the Graduate Prospectus|) but to use the application code for visiting status - M1EG. The fees table| for 2009/10 indicates the cost of research degree programmes at the LSE.
For application details and forms, please see How to Apply|.
More information
For further details please contact Madeleine Bothe, Research Programmes Administrator (Tel: 00 44 (0) 20 7955 7651, E-mail: Gov.Research_Admin@lse.ac.uk|)
Disclaimer
Every effort is made to keep this page up to date. It is correct at the time of publishing (see About this page|). The School makes every effort to ensure that courses are offered as described to students, and that any subsequent changes would add to, rather than detract from students' opportunities. However, circumstances beyond the School's control may occasionally make this impossible; for that reason, the School reserves the right, according to circumstances, to alter or withdraw particular courses or course syllabuses and to alter the level of fees.