online phd programs in oxford university

University of Oxford

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Department of

Department of Education

Dphil in education, scholarships.

The DPhil in Education is a full-time programme which takes 3-4 years and is intended to provide graduates with a wide range of research skills as well as in-depth knowledge, understanding and expertise in their chosen field of educational research.

The DPhil in Education is an advanced research degree of a high standing and is awarded on the basis of a thesis and an oral examination.

A full-time programme takes 3-4 years to complete and is intended to provide graduates with a wide range of research skills as well as in-depth knowledge, understanding and expertise in their chosen field of research.

About 80 DPhil students are attached to the Department, researching a wide range of topics, normally linked to one or more of the Department’s Research Groups. Students come from over 40 different countries and are supported by a variety of scholarships and grants. Entry is highly competitive, and applicants are required to have a strong academic background and are required to submit a research proposal.

It is also possible to study part-time for a DPhil in the department. For more information, visit our part-time DPhil page .

The Department offers some part and full scholarships to attract the very strongest students who would otherwise not be able to come and study in Oxford.

It is committed to developing the number of fully-funded studentships it can offer to DPhil students, given their importance to the Department’s research culture. The funding deadline for all graduate courses in the Department of Education is January application deadline. Applications submitted after this date will not be considered for funding offered by Oxford. Funding deadlines for other University courses can be found on the relevant course page on the Graduate Admissions website . These are all highly competitive, and require high-quality, well-crafted research proposals.

All eligible applicants for graduate study are automatically considered for the University’s prestigious Clarendon Scholarships and the departmental scholarships. You will be notified around the beginning of March if you are being considered for any of these funding opportunities.

Reparative Futures of Education Scholarship

The Reparative Futures of Education (REPAIR-ED) research project is awarding two fully-funded doctoral scholarships based within Oxford University’s Department of Education.

The REPAIR-ED project involves working with primary school communities in the city of Bristol to examine the features and mechanisms of structural inequities in education. The project will use its empirical findings to facilitate dialogues with stakeholders (schools, their communities, policy-actors and the broader public) to explore how reparative justice in education might be conceptualised and enacted.

More information about the REPAIR-ED scholarships and how to apply.

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

The ESRC is the UK’s largest organisation for funding research on social and economic issues. The University, in collaboration with Brunel University and the Open University, hosts the Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership – one of 14 Doctoral Training Partnerships accredited by the ESRC as part of a Doctoral Training Network.

In order to be considered for a Grand Union DTP ESRC studentship, you must select ‘ ESRC Grand Union DTP Studentships in Social Sciences ’ in the University of Oxford scholarships section of the University’s graduate application form. You must also complete a  Grand Union DTP Application Form and upload it, together with your graduate application form, by the funding deadline for your course.

Information about ESRC studentships at Oxford can be found here . Please ensure you have read all of the guidance available on the website before you complete the Grand Union DTP Application Form . If you have any questions, get in touch with the Grand Union DTP Office .

Talbot Scholarships

This scholarship fund is the result of a bequest to the Department in honour of Ms Elfrida Talbot, who ran the first women’s hostel for Education students in the University in the early years of the twentieth century. It is normally used to part-fund a UK/EU doctoral student for three years who was seen as strong contender for an ESRC doctoral studentship. Strong contenders for ESRC studentships will be automatically considered for this scholarship: no separate application process is needed. This scholarship is usually offered once every three years.

Clarendon scholarships

The very strongest applicants for all our MSc and DPhil programmes are automatically considered for University Clarendon scholarships. There is no separate application process. These are highly competitive and each year only one or two of our students are successful. During our initial admissions screening, supervisors nominate applicants with outstanding academic records to be considered. These supervisors then prepare a supporting statement.  A departmental panel ranks these candidates and the Director of Doctoral Research puts forward a shortlist of the strongest applicants to the divisional committee.

Departmental studentships

The Department is keen to attract the very strongest MSc students and encourage them to stay on for doctoral study. The shortlist will normally be made up of those students shortlisted for the ESRC and Clarendon scholarships. Interviews and decisions will be made once the ESRC and Clarendon awards are announced.

Awards will vary in range, but will seek to make a significant contribution to the overall cost of fees. Successful candidates will be expected to make an active contribution to the academic and professional life of the doctoral students within the Department. These scholarships may not be offered every year.

Further information on graduate scholarships and awards offered by the University and external agencies can be found on the  Student Funding Services  website.

Self-Funding

Scholarships are awarded on entry to the doctoral programme, not at any later point. If you are not awarded a scholarship in your first year, but elect to self-fund, you will be asked by the University to sign a declaration that you have the money to cover your fees and your living expenses for the first year. It should be noted that although you are only asked about the first year, it is extremely unlikely that you will acquire funding after that. There are no additional scholarships within the University for continuing doctoral students. The Department in general and individual staff members work hard to bring in funding for doctoral students, but we cannot fund everybody. It is worth carefully considering which colleges might have scholarships for which you are eligible when you apply.

Most colleges will offer some very small grants for fieldwork, travel or conference attendance. These are in the region of a couple of hundred pounds at most.

You can work part time during your doctorate, subject to the requirements of your visa, but you must obtain the support of your supervisor to do so, and it can have detrimental effects on your progress. There are occasionally some paid research assistant posts within the Department which are advertised to the doctoral cohort but these tend to be highly sought after. We do not have undergraduates so you are unlikely to be able to supervise as graduate students outside Education do.

There are some charitable trusts outside of the University to which you might be able to apply for some funding; we cannot keep track of all the potential requirements, so you should seek these out for yourself. However, they are not likely to be sufficient to cover fees and living expenses in their entirety.

Financial assistance run by colleges tends to be for ‘unexpected circumstances’; self-funders not getting any funding in second or subsequent years is not seen as unexpected. Both the University and the Department have some limited funds for those writing up the final stages of their doctorate. These are highly competitive and there are always more requests than there is money to fulfil them.

This advice is not intended to put you off, but it is important for self-funders to have a realistic view.

WHAT QUALIFICATIONS DO I NEED TO APPLY?

For more specific details of our admission criteria please visit the DPhil in Education course page .

HOW MANY STUDENTS DO YOU RECRUIT TO THE DPHIL IN EDUCATION PROGRAMME?

Approximately 25-35 students are recruited to our DPhil in Education programme each year.

CAN I STUDY ONLINE OR THROUGH DISTANCE LEARNING?

It is not possible to study at a distance or on-line on our DPhil programme.

What if I have already completed research training as part of a Masters degree?

All PRS students no matter what their previous training are required to undertake the Research Training Seminar course. This is the seminar specifically for PRS students, preparing you for the Oxford DPhil structure, creating a supportive cohort and enabling you to begin professional development for an academic or non-academic career. Other research training courses are: Beginners and Intermediate Quantitative Methods; Perspectives and Debates in Qualitative Research and Philosophy of Educational Research. The exact courses you will be required to take will depend on your previous training and experience, and the decision will be based on the evidence you provide in your application and in discussion with the Director of Doctoral Research on matriculation.

WHAT ARE THE BACKGROUNDS OF STUDENTS RECRUITED TO YOUR PROGRAMMES?

The Department offers a very wide range of courses. As well as a comprehensive Doctoral programme attracting students from all over the world, we offer full-time one year MSc in Education and in MSc Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition (ALSLA) courses, as well as a range of part-time courses, some aimed primarily at UK teachers (e.g. MSc Learning & Teaching, MS Teacher Education) and some at distance learning (e.g., Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching). Consequently our courses cater to students from a diverse range of backgrounds.

For example in 2021/22, the Department had a total complement of 780 students of whom 414 were studying full-time and 366 were studying part-time. For 2021/22, across the MSc Education, MSc ALSLA, and DPhil programmes, approximately 29% of our students came from the UK, and the remaining 71% from the EU or overseas. The cohort from those programmes included students from Afghanistan, Australia, Japan, Germany, India, Malaysia, China, Mexico, Estonia, Australia, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the United States, among many others.

What our students share is exceptional academic achievement in their previous learning and an ambition to excel academically.

CAN I STUDY PART TIME?

Although doctoral research training programmes across the University tend to be structured around the needs of full-time students, we are able to offer a part-time DPhil option for students who reside and are employed locally.   See here for more information about studying for a part-time DPhil with us .

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST TO STUDY AND LIVE IN OXFORD?

To find out how much it will cost to undertake your studies at the University, please  visit the Fees and Living Costs webpage  for details.

CAN I APPLY FOR MORE THAN ONE COURSE?

We would strongly encourage you to focus your application on the course for which you have the most interest and experience.

CAN I APPLY FOR YOUR COURSES IF I AM IN THE PROCESS OF ACHIEVING MY QUALIFICATION TO GAIN ENTRY ONTO THE PROGRAMME?

Yes, you may apply for any of our courses whilst studying for another degree. If you are successful in achieving a place on one of our programmes, we would make a conditional offer which would include the condition of you achieving your qualification. You are required to submit an interim transcript at application. However, your final outcome would need to be available prior to you commencing the course at Oxford.

CAN SOMEONE CHECK IF MY RESEARCH PROPOSAL FITS INTO THE RESEARCH INTERESTS OF CURRENT MEMBERS OF STAFF BEFORE I SUBMIT AN APPLICATION?

Prospective DPhil applicants are expected to browse the online profiles of current members of staff to identify academics whose research interests overlap with theirs. If you can’t locate any academics with overlapping interests with yours, it is likely that your proposed area of research does not fit into the interests of current members of staff or the Department’s research centres.

ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE; WHICH HIGHER LEVEL LANGUAGE QUALIFICATION IS ACCEPTABLE? AND WHAT SCORE DO YOU REQUIRE?

If you do not have English as your first language, we would like you to have achieved the higher level competence in English Language proficiency i.e. IELTS 7.5 overall with at least 7.0 in each component, or TOEFL 110 (Internet-based).

We do not accept tests which are more than 2 years old. We encourage applicants to apply with a successful IELTS test. If evidence that you successfully meet the English language condition cannot be provided with your application, the language requirement will be set as a condition if an offer is made.

For further information, please  visit the Application Guide .

CAN I APPLY FOR A WAIVER OF PROOF OF PROFICIENCY IN ENGLISH?

For information on applying for a waiver of the English test requirement, please  visit the application guide .

HOW DO I APPLY?

For information about applying, see the University Admission’s DPhil page . For a more detailed explanation of the process, please  click here for the application guide .

NOT ALL OF MY QUALIFICATIONS WILL FIT ON THE APPLICATION FORM, WHAT SHALL I DO?

If you require more space on the application form, please contact Graduate Admissions for advice.

I HAVE BEEN OUTSIDE OF AN ACADEMIC SETTING FOR SOME TIME NOW; WHO SHALL I HAVE TO ACT AS MY REFEREES?

We strongly recommend that you have at least one reference from your most recent academic tutor. If you are currently in employment, you would be expected to provide a reference from your employer as well as an academic referee who is able to comment on academic capability/suitability for Higher Degree study.

WHAT DO I NEED TO INCLUDE FOR THE SAMPLES OF WRITTEN WORK?

Two essays, a maximum of 2,000 words each.

The written work should be related to the DPhil in Education and should be on separate topics. If you do not have any existing material that fits this requirement, you may wish to critique an article or write a book review based on the course subject.

You may submit written work previously completed for a prior course of study if the topic is relevant, eg an assignment or chapter of a dissertation etc, provided it meets the requirements. If your work is significantly longer than the guide length it should be edited to meet the requirements.

A list of relevant references is required for your written work and should be included in your word count. [If possible, please ensure that the word count is clearly displayed on the document.] This will be assessed for understanding of the subject area, an ability to construct and defend an argument, and proficiency in academic English.

WHAT DO I NEED TO INCLUDE IN THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL AND PERSONAL STATEMENT?

If you are applying to the DPhil programme you need to submit a personal statement of a maximum of 1,000 words and a research proposal of a maximum of 2,500 words. Your statement and proposal should be submitted as a single, combined document with a clear subheading for each.

You should submit a convincing personal statement (statement of purpose) explaining your reasons for applying to the programme and highlighting your relevant academic and professional experience. The final line of your personal statement should indicate your future plans after a doctorate.

You should also submit a research proposal written in English. An indicative bibliography is required but you do not need to include this in your word count. Your proposal should include an indicative title and a short introduction/synopsis, a discussion of the most relevant scholarly literature, and a research question or hypothesis. This issue or question should emerge from your review of the literature. Please also provide a rationale for the importance of this research topic.

Your proposal should also indicate your proposed methodological approach. This will depend on the kind of research you envisage. If empirical research is planned, then please discuss the likely ‘data’ to be collected. At this stage these ideas are exploratory, and likely to develop and change once you are accepted.

This will be assessed for your potential to carry out doctoral research, the quality and coherence of the proposal and the originality of the project.

It will be normal for your ideas to subsequently change in some ways as you develop your project. You should nevertheless make the best effort you can to demonstrate the extent of your research question, sources and method at this moment.

Your proposal should focus on your proposed research topic, rather than personal achievements, interests and aspirations.

HOW IS MY SUPERVISOR DECIDED?

Although supervisors will be allocated by the Department and it is not necessary for you to contact academic members of staff directly, prospective applicants are encouraged to approach academics whose research interests overlap with theirs to informally solicit their capacity and interest in supervising new DPhil students. You may also ask them to share with you specific publications that they have authored that you can’t access otherwise and that may help inform your research proposal. There is a section in the application form in which you can indicate your suggested supervisors. You are strongly encouraged to fill it in with two names of suggested supervisors when you apply.

AM I REQUIRED TO ATTEND FOR INTERVIEW?

Interviews are normally held with two interviewers using Microsoft Teams. Interviews will normally take place in February.

WHAT WILL THE INTERVIEW BE LIKE?

We are keen to find out more about you and your interests, and how these might tie in with the research specialisms of academic staff within the department.

For DPhil applicants, we will ask you to talk in detail about your research proposal, its design, your methodological choices and potential challenges you might face. For MSc applicants, we will ask you about your knowledge of the course, your reasons for wanting to study in this area, and initial ideas for their dissertation research.

Applicants may be asked to explain how their areas of interest link to those of the departments’ research groups, centres and academic staff.

WHEN WILL THE OUTCOME OF MY APPLICATION BE KNOWN?

Applications will be considered by the admissions panel within the Department and decisions will be made in accordance with the following deadlines:

January application deadline – mid March

You will be informed of our decision by email to ensure that you receive the outcome as soon as possible.

In the event that we are not able to offer you a place, we regret that it is not possible to provide you with feedback on your application.

CAN I DEFER ENTRY TO A COURSE?

The University will only consider requests for deferral of entry due to exceptional unforeseen circumstances, and only after all conditions set for the offer (both academic and financial) have been met.

Couldn’t find your answers under our FAQ section?

Please direct all enquiries to our Higher Degrees Office and a member of the administrative team will be happy to assist you.

Email: [email protected]

• Entry requirements
• Fees and Funding

Meet our DPhil Students

• OII >  

DPhil in Information, Communication and the Social Sciences

Page Contents

Key information, student experience, supervisors, fees and funding.

The DPhil programme in Information, Communication and the Social Sciences provides an opportunity for students to pursue cutting-edge research into the societal implications of the Internet.

As a doctoral student at the Oxford Internet Institute, you and your peers will address research questions from across the spectrum of disciplines, drawing on our multidisciplinary faculty and on the complementary strengths of your cohort of peers, who are building on literature from different disciplines to answer their research questions.

We are looking for academically excellent candidates who display the potential and enthusiasm necessary to perform research that will make a difference — to ask important questions and to adopt innovative methodologies and approaches for exploring those questions.

Our DPhil students research spans a wide range of topics, normally linked to one or more of our Research Labs, Groups and  Research topics .

This system allows doctoral students to dig deeply into disciplinary questions in, for instance, politics or sociology, while also being able to place these questions into a broader picture of how the Internet can be theorised and researched.

Over the course the programme, you are expected to produce an important and original piece of scholarship that will make a significant contribution to the dynamic area of Internet research. On completion, you will have the qualities and transferable skills necessary to excel in teaching, research, policy-making or business.

Whilst every doctoral project will follow a unique path, broadly there are three stages:

• Formulating a research question:  You will focus on developing your research questions, and research skills. All doctoral students are required to take two courses which give the necessary foundation for undertaking research in this multi-disciplinary field.
• Gathering data:  You will outline the structure of your thesis, this includes data gathering, and might include a period of fieldwork away from Oxford. Many students also use this time to start drafting journal articles, often in collaboration with their supervisors.
• Writing up your thesis and submitting:  You will concentrate on any final data gathering, and writing up the final chapters for submission of your thesis.

In addition to the formal requirements of the DPhil thesis, all doctoral students receive regular training in the key graduate skills necessary to support their research and future employment. These range from classes on specific tools or skills such as programming in Python or using content analysis software, to more generic training such as presentation skills, academic writing and peer review.

We also provide opportunities for DPhil students to gain teaching experience through mentored assistantship roles in some of the MSc courses. There are also opportunities for taking part in organising the annual student-run  Connected Life conference  dedicated to sparking exchange between disciplines and showcasing emerging Internet research.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of the DPhil programme, it is expected that you will have developed your knowledge and understanding of:

• The application of one or more of the social sciences to a detailed study of the Internet and related information and communication technologies and their societal implications.
• Practices and technologies relevant to the Internet and related ICTs.
• Theories and techniques of social sciences research applicable to the field of information and communication and of emerging technologies in particular.
• Modes of communicating and applying research in the field of information and communication to such issues as the design of new technologies and the formation of public policy.
• The qualities and transferable skills necessary to excel in teaching, research, policy-making or business in your studied field, including abilities to design new technologies and to predict and analyse their impacts.
• Leading-edge research methods relevant to investigating emerging information and communication technologies in the social sciences.

How To Apply

All applications must be made through the University of Oxford Graduate Admissions site . Please ensure that you start the online application process as early as you can, to ensure plenty of time to complete your application. We particularly advise applicants to contact their referees as early as possible, and register their details in the draft application form well in advance of the deadline.

Both the full-time and part-time DPhil programmes have one application deadline in January. Only applications that are complete by the deadline, including receipt of references, can be considered by the admissions team.

The Oxford Internet Institute is part of the University of Oxford’s pilot on selection procedures which aims to explore actions aimed at better contextualising admissions procedures for graduate students while minimising conscious and unconscious bias. For all our courses, the socio-economic data you provide in the application form will be used to contextualise the shortlisting and decision-making processes. For details about the pilot and the actions we are taking, please see the University’s page on the Pilot selection procedure.

• Full-time: 3-4 Years
• Part-time: 6-8 Years

Start date:

• October 2024

12 noon UK time (midday) on:

• Friday 5 January 2024

Professor Mariarosaria Taddeo

Professor of Digital Ethics and Defence Technologies, DPhil Programme Director (ICSS)

Rosaria Taddeo is the Programme Director of the DPhil in Information, Communication and the Social Sciences.

Laura Maynard

DPhil Coordinator

Laura is the DPhil Co-ordinator, and administrates the course.

Our induction programme is usually held in the first week of October, the week preceding the start of Michaelmas Term (also referred to as 0th week). During Induction Week students will be formally introduced to the OII’s Director, Director of Graduate Studies, Programme Directors, Graduate Studies Support team, as well as our faculty and administrative team. In addition students will be offered a full tour of the OII’s facilities and introduced to IT and library resources, followed by several informative DPhil induction sessions. There is also ample opportunity to get to know fellow students and staff through student-led social activities and an afternoon drinks reception. During October the Social Sciences Division also holds a welcome event for all new research students.

Our doctoral students are provided with hot-desk working space in the department. We are equipped with advanced video conferencing facilities and high-speed network access. The OII’s library specialises in the social sciences, technology and computing, and our students also have access to the Bodleian Libraries, the University’s main research library.

Opportunities for teaching and training

We provide opportunities for DPhil students to gain teaching experience through mentored assistantship roles in some of the MSc courses. Students will have the opportunity to attend the Introduction to Learning and Teaching at Oxford programme run by the Social Sciences Division, an interactive and discursive course in which attendees will explore common teaching formats (lectures, small groups, tutorials) and common experiences (for example, group management, preparation, presentation and delivery). Students must complete this programme if they wish to undertake a teaching assistant position at the Oxford Internet Institute.

Pastoral and Welfare Support

In addition to the pastoral support provided your college, as a department the OII seeks to support students by various means. Each degree programme has dedicated administrative support and the administrators in question will be able to help and advise students on a range of matters relating to welfare or academic matters, or point them towards dedicated sources of support elsewhere in the University. Supervisors and the Director of Graduate Studies can also serve as a source of support, in addition to our dedicated disability lead and several Harassment Officers who can assist with connecting students with the appropriate support.

Whilst every doctoral project will follow a unique path, there are common milestones that every DPhil student must pass. The information below gives a broad indication of the general milestones, but all students are advised to discuss the timeline with their supervisor.

During the programme you will move through three different stages:

• Probationer Research Student (PRS)
• DPhil Status
• Confirmed DPhil Status

DPhil Milestones

(You can find detailed information on scheduling in the OII DPhil handbook.)

Stage 1: Formulating a Research Question

Stage 1 takes place over Year 1 for full-time students and Years 1 and 2 for on the part-time programme.

All doctoral students are required to take courses which give the necessary foundation for undertaking research in this multi-disciplinary field. Both courses must be passed in order to transfer from PRS to DPhil status.

• Advanced Social Theory  provides an overview of the major findings to date regarding the social implications of the Internet, drawing material from several social science disciplines, including communication studies, sociology, and political science.
•   DSR Methods Core  and  DSR Statistics Core  provides students with the core skills, methods, theories and concepts required to undertake the remainder of the degree. It examines issues concerning the application of traditional social research methods to the study of emerging ICTs as well as the use of new methods, enabled by the Internet and ICTs, in the study of an array of social research problems.

If you come from a background outside the social sciences (e.g. in computer science), you may be asked to take appropriate courses in theory and methods offered by the OII or one of the University’s  Social Science Division  departments during your first year of doctoral studies.

DPhil students are also welcome to take any of the  OII MSc Option Papers , with the approval of their supervisor and the course provider.

In addition to these classes, students will be required to work on their thesis, and will meet regularly with their supervisor to this end. By the end of this stage, students will be expected to have formulated clear research questions and identified appropriate theoretical and methodological frameworks for addressing these questions.

Transfer of Status

As most students will enter the DPhil programme as Probationer Research Students (PRS), they will be expected to gather materials and draft a research proposal for transfer to DPhil Status between their third and fourth term in Oxford. Assuming the normal three-year programme, we expect students to complete the transfer interview by the end of their fourth term. Most students successfully transfer in the third term.

Stage 2: Gathering Data

Stage 2 usually occurs in Year 2 for full-time students and Years 3 and 4 for students on the part-time programme.

This stage of the DPhil will normally be devoted to data gathering and mapping the outline structure of your thesis. However, students will also need to make significant progress in writing their thesis, drafting at least two chapters in preparation for the Confirmation of Status milestone. This may include a period of fieldwork away from Oxford. Many students also use this time to start drafting journal articles, often in collaboration with their supervisors.

Confirmation of Status

Confirmation of DPhil Status is an essential stage on the way to the doctorate and confirms that the student is capable of producing a thesis of the necessary standard and within an appropriate timescale. It is not possible to submit a thesis for examination until DPhil status has been confirmed.

The OII’s Graduate Studies Committee expects students to complete the confirmation interview by the end of their third year for full time students; and by the sixth year of study for part-time students.

Stage 3: Writing Up and Thesis submission

Stage 3 usually occurs in Year 3 for full-time students and Years 5 and 6 for students on the part-time programme.

Stage 3 will concentrate on any final empirical work, and on writing up the final chapters for submission of the thesis. The thesis must be submitted within four years (full-time) and eight years (part-time) from the date of admission as a graduate student. In special circumstances, you may apply for an extension of time through the Graduate Studies Committee. The maximum extension permitted is two years, making six years (full-time) or ten years (part-time) of study in all.

Once the thesis has been submitted, two examiners are appointed and the examination by viva voce (an oral defence of the thesis) is scheduled.

As a graduate student you will be assigned an academic supervisor, who is responsible for your academic well-being and progress. In addition to academic supervision, you will also have a college advisor who can help with issues of student support and welfare.

You should expect to meet with your supervisor at least three to four times a term. In the early stages of your doctoral studies your supervisor will assist you in settling into the pace of academic life, help you identify your training needs in order to fulfil your research and facilitate appropriate networking across the University. As your research progresses, your supervisor will advise you on research design, provide guidance on any data collection, and comment on your written drafts. In the final stages of your doctoral studies, your supervisor will provide comments on your thesis drafts and help you prepare for milestones and the final examination of the thesis. Your supervisor may also provide career guidance as you plan your future beyond your period of study.

The following OII faculty members are eligible to supervise DPhil students. The supervision areas are intended as a guide only: please contact a faculty member directly if you would like to discuss their suitability to supervise your research proposal.

Dr Adam Mahdi

Dr Ana Valdivia

Professor Andrew Przybylski

Dr Bernie Hogan

Professor Brent Mittelstadt

Professor Carl-Benedikt Frey

Professor Chris Russell

Professor Ekaterina Hertog

Dr Gemma Newlands

Professor Greg Taylor

Professor Helen Margetts

Dr Joss Wright

Professor Kathryn Eccles

Dr Keegan McBride

Dr Luc Rocher

Professor Mark Graham

Professor Philip Howard

Professor Ralph Schroeder

Professor Rebecca Eynon

Professor Sandra Wachter

Dr Scott A. Hale

Professor Victoria Nash

Professor Viktor Mayer-Schönberger

Professor Vili Lehdonvirta

Details of fees, living expenses, and definitions of home and overseas students, together with information about potential sources of funding are available from the  University’s Fees and Funding  website.

There are a number of sources of funding for postgraduate students at Oxford. Details of all scholarships for which candidates may be eligible can be found on the  University’s Fees and Funding website.  The scholarships are all highly competitive and are awarded on academic merit.

Clarendon Scholarships

Clarendon is one of the biggest of the University’s scholarship schemes, offering around 170 new scholarships each year to academically outstanding graduates. Clarendon scholarships are competitive, prestigious and highly sought-after. As well as providing for fees and living costs Clarendon aims to enhance the Oxford experience by offering students the chance to form lasting social, academic and professional networks. Students can apply by completing the funding sections of the graduate admissions form. As part of the admissions process, the Oxford Internet Institute Scholarship Committee will decide which applicants to nominate to the University for consideration. Further details of this scholarship can be found on the University’s Clarendon Scholarships  page.

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funding

The ESRC is the UK’s largest organisation for funding research on social and economic issues. The University, in collaboration with Brunel University and the Open University, hosts the Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP).

The Oxford Internet Institute’s graduate degree programmes are a recognised doctoral training pathway in the partnership and our  Digital Social Science pathway  is provided through two routes, MSc-to-DPhil (known as 1+3) and DPhil-only (known as +3), and is available to students studying part-time as well as those studying full-time.

In order to be considered for a Grand Union DTP ESRC studentship, you must select ‘ESRC Grand Union DTP Studentships in Social Sciences’ in the University of Oxford scholarships section of the University’s graduate application form. You must complete a  Grand Union DTP Application Form  and upload it, together with your graduate application form, in order to be considered for nomination for the studentship.

Information about ESRC studentships at Oxford can be found on the  Grand Union DTP website . Please ensure you have read all of the guidance available on the website before completing the  ESRC Grand Union DTP Studentship Application Form . Questions can be directed to the Grand Union DTP Office at [email protected] 

ESRC studentships are open to both Home (UK) and International candidates, read more about the eligibility criteria here .

Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funding

The AHRC provides public funding in support of research into the arts and humanities, for approximately one quarter of the UK’s research population. Oxford participates in the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership, providing a number of scholarships each year to students working in eligible subject areas across the Humanities and Social Sciences Divisions.

Information about applying for AHRC scholarships at Oxford can currently be found on the  Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Partnership  website. In order to be considered for a studentship you must apply by the programme deadline and tick the relevant box in the studentships section of the application form. You will also need to complete the  OOC DTP Application Form  and upload it as an additional document when completing your application.

Black Academic Futures scholarships

The Black Academic Futures programme offer scholarships to UK Black and Mixed-Black students starting doctoral study at Oxford. A pplicants need to apply to an Oxford department by the relevant programme deadline to be considered for the scholarship and ensure they include the ethnicity information in their application.

Refugee Academic Futures

The Refugee Academic Futures scheme offers financial support to pursue graduate study at Oxford to students who are refugees or other people with lived experience of displacement. The scholarships are open to all academic subjects. Each scholarship will cover your course fees and will provide you with a grant for living costs. Awards are made for the full duration of your fee liability for your course. Scholars will be offered opportunities to receive mentoring and a bespoke programme of pre-arrival and on course support.

Care-Experienced Academic Futures

The Care-Experienced Academic Futures scholarships offer financial support to students who have experienced being in care in the UK to pursue graduate study at Oxford. The pilot will include the inaugural award of the Oxford-Rees Graduate Scholarship, which supports care-experienced Social Sciences candidates.

OII Shirley Scholarship

The OII awards a limited number of DPhil Scholarships each academic year supported by the Shirley Scholars Fund which was established in honour of OII founder donor Dame Stephanie Shirley. These scholarships are open to both full- and part-time students (from any country) and all applicants who are offered a place on our programme are automatically considered for an award. Scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit.

DPhil Handbook 2023-24

Download the handbook for study at the OII in the academic year 2023-2024

You can find general FAQs about applying to our courses, studying at the OII, and choosing a college on the study FAQs page .

When should I apply?

The DPhil programme has one deadline in January.

Please ensure that you start the online application process as early as you can, to ensure plenty of time to complete your application. Only applications that are complete by the deadline (including letters of reference) can be considered by the admissions team. All applications must be made through the  University of Oxford Graduate Admissions  site.

How do I choose a supervisor?

Our students are supervised by OII faculty members. Please note that we will only admit students where appropriate supervision is available; please see the full list of  faculty members  eligible to supervise students on this programme. If having read these, you are still unsure who could supervise your proposed research (or if you are considering supervision by a faculty member from a different department within the University of Oxford), please contact us to discuss this at  [email protected] .

Please note that it is strongly advised that DPhil applicants should contact a potential supervisor before they submit an application to check that there is appropriate supervision for their research proposal. Once DPhil applicants have identified an appropriate supervisor they should email them directly with a brief overview of the proposed research topic. The faculty member will then indicate whether they would be suitable to supervise the proposed topic.

If I need to submit English Language Test results, when are they due?

You can read more about the English language requirements for graduate study applications in the graduate application guide.   This course requires proficiency in English at the University’s higher level . If you already have English language test scores at the required level achieved within two years of the start of the course to which you are applying, please include them in your application. However, you are not required to provide test scores when you submit your application.

How does the DPhil in Information, Communication and the Social Sciences differ from the DPhil in Social Data Science?

The  DPhil in Information, Communication and the Social Sciences  is designed for students interested in research about the Internet and related technologies and their societal implications. Theses in this programme might include quantitative, qualitative, computational or mixed methods applied to a broad range of questions about digital phenomena and could address questions about technology policy or practice. The  DPhil in Social Data Science  is designed for students with core quantitative skills who wish to develop their skills for analysing structured and unstructured data using advanced computational techniques such as machine learning. Theses in Social Data Science might develop new computational approaches for analysing human behavioural data and/or apply such approaches to answer a social science question.

What does a good DPhil application look like? Do you have any examples?

Here is some great advice from OII DPhil alumni Bertram Vidgen on how to write your DPhil application proposal .  You can also read OII Professor Vili Lehdonvirta’s advice about picking a research topic for a DPhil application.  

What fees do I have to pay?

Course fees cover your teaching, and other academic services and facilities provided to support your studies. They do not cover your accommodation or other living costs. You may have seen separate figures in the past for tuition fees and college fees. We have now combined these into a single figure.

See the University’s  guidance on fee status  and fee liability for information on  Home/Republic of Ireland ,  Islands  and  Overseas  student classification. As well as covering University and College fees, students will also have to support their maintenance costs. As Oxford is a relatively expensive place to live, it is recommended that students consult the University’s  guidance on living costs  when planning their budget, to cover accommodation, meals and other living expenses.

Do I have to live in Oxford during my studies?

Full-time students are required by the University’s regulations to be in residence in Oxford during term time. That means a commitment to be in Oxford for at least the full nine weeks of all three terms of each academic year. You also need to be available in Oxford for several events outside full term, from the induction programme to examinations. Research away from Oxford should be discussed with your supervisor. Part-time students are not required to live in Oxford, but are expected to be present in Oxford on average 30 days per year. Please see the DPhil handbook for more details.

Do you offer any intensive, online or distance-learning courses?

We do not normally offer any of our MSc or DPhil programmes in an intensive, online, or distance-learning modality. Although we do make use of virtual learning environments and various other online components of study, both full and part-time students are required to attend in person during term time due to the collaborative and multi-disciplinary nature of our programmes, and the principles that underpin Oxford education as a  collegiate university.  We strongly believe that the face-to-face element of the programme is vital in providing a multi-disciplinary peer network for students to engage in ideas, discussion and debate.

We do, however, offer this programme on a part-time basis. The part-time DPhil is substantively identical to the full-time degree, but distributes the workload over five to six years for those who must fit study around work, family, or other outside commitments.

What does the schedule look like for a part-time DPhil student?

Part-time students can typically expect to spend at least 30 days physically in Oxford each year, and will be expected to commit approximately 20 hours per week to their studies. Part-time DPhil students will be expected to take core courses in Michaelmas Term of Years 1 and 2, which will mean choosing two courses in one year, and one in the other year. These courses have been scheduled to allow part-time students to take them on a single day, so students will need to be able to attend classes in Oxford one day a week for the eight consecutive weeks of Michaelmas Term, as a minimum. In addition, part-time students will need to be present in Oxford in their first year for the full Induction Week (normally held the first week of October).

There are provisions to attend DPhil seminars and supervision meetings via video conference, the latter at your supervisor’s discretion, particularly from Year 3 onwards. However, classes for the core courses and any corresponding examinations in Michaelmas Term of Years 1 and 2 can only be attended in person.

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Postgraduate study

The Department of Chemistry is one of the largest in the western world, and we admit more than a hundred new postgraduate students every year. We have a strong international reputation for excellence in teaching and research, and a highly successful track record of spin-out activities (most notably Oxford Nanopore Technologies, which floated on the stock exchange in 2021 valued at £5 billion).

This year, we are pleased to announce our two new research degrees: the DPhil in Chemistry and the MSc(Res) in Chemistry . These unify our previous DPhil and MSc(Res) programmes, offering students the opportunity to undertake advanced research in an area aligned with the Department's wide-ranging research themes .

We continue also to offer the MSc in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry , for students wishing to gain a Master's level taught degree qualification.

We are committed to addressing inequalities. This includes gender inequalities, tackling the unequal representation of women in science and improving career progression for female academics. More information about the Athena Swan Charter, and the Department's equality and diversity initiatives, is available  here . We are also proud to participate in the University's Academic Futures programmes and the UNIQ+ graduate access scheme.

DPhil Management

Start date:

• 7 October 2024

Time commitment:

About the programme

Our doctoral training will immerse you in all aspects of academic life.

You will be both a student and a junior research colleague. We provide courses in a wide variety of research methods and you will work closely with your supervisors to define your research question and develop your thesis. In addition, you will have opportunities to gain teaching and research assistant experience and become involved with the intellectual community within both Saïd Business School and the wider University. You will attend academic conferences, make presentations, organise lectures and seminars and contribute to management and academic decisions.

Both of our doctoral programmes run in parallel, with only differences in taught courses and preparation for writing in relevant journals to your subject of choice.

We have deliberately kept the programmes small which means that in the vast majority of cases, students are fully funded to allow them to devote their energies to research. The DPhil corresponds to a PhD degree offered at most other universities.

Supervision

You will be assigned two supervisors to act as your academic advisers and mentors.

Your supervisors will be in your specialist area of interest. It is important you identify that there are faculty at the school who work in your area of interest who could potentially supervise your thesis. You can note within your application if you're interested in a particular research area and working with a specific faculty member. 

You will work closely with your supervisors to define your research question and develop your thesis. It is an important relationship and also a very personal one: it is shaped by you, your supervisors and the ways you interact. You will have a minimum of nine meetings, or equivalent per year.

The allocation of graduate supervision is the responsibility of Saïd Business School. It is not always possible to accommodate student preferences to work with a particular member of staff. Under exceptional circumstances a supervisor may be found outside Saïd Business School.

Potential supervisors

You do not need to contact any faculty in advance of making your application. In the application form you can indicate your preferred supervisor(s) and they, along with other related faculty will review your application.

Below is a list of faculty open to supervising DPhil students this coming year.

Research areas and supervisors

Entrepreneurship, governance and systems innovation.

Marc Ventresca  - An  economic and organisational sociologist, Marc has a long-time focus on social sciences approaches to nascent markets, large-scale and systems innovation, and governance.

His current research includes four related work programmes:

• Space commerce and governance, with a focus on growth of venture capital, ventures focused on geospatial analytics, emerging venture strategies, and space as a ‘commons’ (per Ostrom)
• Changes in the energy industries (strategies, architecture, governance) and the move to renewable sources, with focus on digital energy services
• A critical view of concept and empirical studies of ‘ecosystems’ in strategy, organisation theory, and innovation studies
• Changing forms and practices in social innovation, systems change, and contested knowledge.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

Ivona Hideg  - Ivona’s main programme of research includes workplace equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). In her work, she focuses on gender, but also examines issues surrounding race, ethnicity, language and accent including intersection of various identities that we all hold.

Grounded in psychological theories and using experimental methodology, Ivona’s work seeks insights on root causes of inequities in the workplace, such as persistent underrepresentation of women in top leadership positions and other male-dominated fields (ie entrepreneurship).

By doing so, Ivona seeks to develop and test solutions for greater equity, inclusion and career outcomes of traditionally disadvantaged groups.

Global strategy and comparative institutional analysis

Mari Sako - Mari's main areas of expertise include global strategy, comparative institutional analysis, outsourcing and offshoring, professional services firms and professions, artificial intelligence (AI) and business models.

Her current research examines the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in legal services, conducted as part of a UKRI-funded programme . Doctoral applications are most welcome from students in social sciences, who can work with Mari on exploring the impact of AI on:

• business models
• the future of work
• technology startup ecosystems in professional services (such as law and accounting).

She is open to doctoral research proposals in this and related fields of research.

International business

Matthew Amengual - Matthew's areas of expertise are in the political economy of development and global labour standards. 

Akshay Mangla - Akshay's interests lie in questions of when, why and how states build institutional capacity to perform their core functions in developing countries. Within this broad agenda, his ongoing research investigates the causes and consequences of institutional reform initiatives within frontline agencies of the Indian state (eg primary education and the police).

He is also examining how non-state actors, including private firms and civil society organisations, engage with the frontline state during policy implementation, thereby influencing bureaucratic effectiveness and the quality of public services. He is interested in advising DPhil students working on these and related topics in the political economy of development.

Operations management and business analytics

Agni Orfanoudaki  - Agni conducts research at the intersection of machine learning and optimisation with applications in the industries of healthcare and insurance. Her research agenda primarily focuses on developing new methods and models for healthcare practitioners using data-driven techniques. She is also studying the implications of these models on automated decision making, addressing the implementation challenges of machine learning algorithms in practice.

 Areas of interest:

• Business analytics
• Healthcare operations
• Algorithmic insurance
• Personalised medicine

Organisation studies and strategy

Eero Vaara - Eero’s research focuses on organisational and strategic change. His work deals with:

• strategy process and practice research
• studies of radical change, such as mergers and acquisitions
• work on institutional change and legitimation
• research on multinational corporations, nationalism and globalisation.

He is a world-leading expert especially in communicative and discursive perspectives. Eero combines practically relevant topics such as strategy work and management of post-merger integration with deep theoretical and methodological reflection on organisational and strategic processes and practices.

Eric Zhao -  Eric's research is cross-disciplinary in nature and sits at the intersection of strategic management, organisation theory and entrepreneurship. He is actively involved in four major research areas:

• optimal distinctiveness
• institutions and entrepreneurship
• resource and resourcefulness
• resilience and crisis.

His 2017 SMJ article 'Optimal Distinctiveness: Broadening the Interface between Institutional Theory and Strategic Management' and his solo-authored book Optimal Distinctiveness: A New Agenda for the Study of Competitive Positioning of Organizations and Markets  are widely regarded as foundational contributions to the burgeoning literature on optimal distinctiveness.

Scenario planning

Rafael Ramirez - Rafael researches scenario planning and ground breaking research on interactive value and networked strategy, which has led to widely cited papers in the Harvard Business Review, the Strategic Management Journal and to the development of the Ox ford Collaborative Strategy Lab.

Social entrepreneurship

Alex Nicholls  -  Alex's main areas of expertise include:

• impact investing
• impact measurement
• social entrepreneurship
• public policy and social innovation
• systems change
• social movements.

His current research explores the materiality of impact risk - in terms of both financial and impact outcome risk, the use of AI in impact measurement and reporting, and historical patterns of ethical consumption. He is open to doctoral research proposals in these areas as well as others.

Supply chain management

Steve New :  Steve has interests across the field of supply chain management, including how firms' practices relate to questions of ethics, human rights and sustainability. He has particular interest in the impact of commercial practices and inter-organisational power.

His recent work has focussed on questions of supply chain transparency, wages within supply chains and the challenge of incorporating ESG criteria in procurement from smaller companies.

Sustainability and commons governance

Juliane Reinecke  -  Juliane’s research explores how organisations can address various sustainability challenges including climate change, human and labour rights, and sustain the global commons. As no business can address these systemic challenges alone, a particular focus of her research lies in how multiple stakeholders collaborate to create novel governance solutions. Current projects include collective action for labour rights in the Bangladesh garment supply chain and the role of institutional investors, particularly pension funds, in the transition to a net zero economy.

Juliane welcomes candidates pursuing interdisciplinary approaches and/or using qualitative methodologies, such as ethnography.

Systems complexities

Harvey Maylor -  Harvey is open to a range of lenses being brought to bear on systems complexities and the ‘lived experience’ of systems leaders. Particular areas of interest include:

• What is the impact on performance of the relationship between the NEO profile of an individual and the complexities of the system that they are charged with leading?
• Is there a moral limit to the complexity we should ask organisational leaders to face? And is there an impact on the delivery of public value of high levels of complexity?
• What is the impact of systemic voids on the delivery of grand challenge objectives?
• Systems of routines: linking the areas of routine dynamics and systemic design as a tool for organisational analysis.

System design, forecasting, human algorithm interaction

Kejia Hu - Kejia's work orbits around a central tenet: unlocking business value from data, but doing so together. This emphasis on harmonious human-AI interaction underlines her research, reflecting the conviction that data's true potential is tapped not just through technology but with collective human insight and collaboration.

Her expansive collaborations with Fortune 500 entities and industrial pioneers are a testament to her profound expertise, yielding research that resonates in top-tier academic journals and bears multiple research and best paper awards.

Review some current research taking place around the school including from our DPhil students and alumni

Review articles and podcasts written by our researchers at  Oxford Answers .

Learn more about becoming a researcher from Andromachi Athanasopoulou, who graduated in 2007 and is now an Associate Professor in Organisational Behaviour at Queen Mary University London and an Associate Fellow at Oxford Saïd.

Manuel Hepfer, recent graduate of the DPhil in Cybersecurity and Management Studies, has written an article on  steps businesses can take to boost their resilience to cyberattack .

Ali Aslan Gümüsay, Michael Smets and Tim Morris published an article on religious diversity at work in the Harvard Business Review . An excerpt of their article 'God at work': engaging central and incompatible institutional logics through elastic hybridity , published in the Academy of Management Journal.

In his first year, current DPhil student, Alex Rustler co-authored a paper alongside faculty member, Matthew Amengual  on public perceptions of business involvement in human rights violations.  

Assessment and programme milestones

Our DPhil offers students the opportunity to engage with internationally renowned faculty who are here to help you become an academic scholar.

You will be initially admitted to the status of Probationer Research Student (PRS). You are required to take three core courses in quantitative and qualitative research methodology during your first year.

• Introduction to management research methods
• Statistical research methods
• Management and organisation theory

During second and third terms, you will undertake advanced research methods training and, in consultation with your supervisor, select specialist courses, available from a choice of topics relevant to area of interest. Examples of specialist elective courses previously available:

• Political economy
• Organisational theory
• Foundations of strategy
• Social network analysis

Advanced methodology courses:

• Advanced qualitative research methods
• Advanced quantitative research methods

Following successful completion of all necessary courses and within a maximum of six terms as a PRS student (and normally by the fourth term) you will be expected to apply for transfer of status from Probationer Research Student to DPhil status. A successful transfer of status from PRS to DPhil status is required to be able to show that your proposed thesis gives a clear indication of whether it would be reasonable to consider submission within the course of a further three terms, if work on the thesis continues to develop satisfactorily. Students who are successful at transfer will also be expected to apply for and gain confirmation of DPhil status within nine terms of admission, to show that your work continues to be on track. Both milestones normally involve an interview with two assessors (other than your supervisor) and provide important experience for the final oral examination. You will be expected to submit a thesis, which provides a significant and substantial contribution to the field of learning in management, which should not exceed 100,000 words after four years from the date of admission. It should be good enough to be published in book form or as a series of academic articles. To be successfully awarded a DPhil in Management you will need to defend your thesis orally (viva voce) in front of two appointed examiners.

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 where 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 in circumstances of a pandemic, epidemic or local health emergency. 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.

The faculty has made me feel like a junior colleague from the very start and they offer the chance to work together on their research projects. Magdalena Plesa Current DPhil in Management student

Benefits and opportunities

• Engage with internationally renowned faculty
• Conference and research funding
• Training in principal research methods at both at Saïd Business School and wider University

Opportunities

• Paid teaching and research assistant opportunities
• Contribute to management and academic programme decisions through student representation on committees
• Postgraduate careers resources

You will become a member of an Oxford college. Your college is both an academic and social community that will enrich your time at Oxford. It offers everything from formal dinners and balls to sports and lecture series.

The Oxford college system enables you to interact with students and faculty from other disciplines. Some colleges provide also accommodation for students. 

Who can apply

Our candidates are passionately intellectual people with a superlative academic record and are committed to a career in academia.

DPhil in Management

You will require:

• a good undergraduate degree: 2.1 (GPA 3.5 or its equivalent)
• GMAT or GRE test results
• TOEFL or IELTS test results (If you are not from an English speaking majority country)
• three pieces of written work, including a well-developed research proposal
• three academic references

Successful applicants typically have a distinction in a Master’s level degree in addition to their undergraduate studies, but exceptional applicants from undergraduate programmes in relevant subjects will be considered.

Application process

Applications are now closed for October 2024 entry.

The deadline for applying was 13 December 2023 at 23:59 GMT.

Complete applications received by the deadline will be considered. You will be informed by late January if you have been shortlisted for interview.

Final decisions will be communicated by the end of February.

There are nine shared places available for the DPhil Finance and DPhil Management. The average number of applications for entry between 2021 and 2023 was 94. 

Application advice

These videos will help you understand the qualities we are looking for.

Introduction

Getting to know you

Explaining your project

Enhancing your position

Fees and funding

The course fee in 2024-25 is £23,580 for both home and overseas students.

The programme is four years in duration. Course fees are payable each year, for the duration of your fee liability (your fee liability is the length of time for which you are required to pay course fees). Please be aware that fees usually increase annually. For details, please see our guidance on changes to fees and charges .

Course fees cover your teaching as well as other academic services and facilities provided to support your studies. Unless specified in the additional information section below, course fees do not cover your accommodation, residential costs or other living costs. They also don’t cover any additional costs and charges that are outlined in the additional information below.

Following the period of fee liability , you may also be required to pay a University continuation charge and a college continuation charge. The University and college continuation charges are shown on the Continuation charges page.

Additional cost information

There are no compulsory elements of this course that entail additional costs beyond fees (or, after fee liability ends, continuation charges) and living costs. However, depending on your choice of research topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur additional expenses, such as travel expenses, research expenses, and field trips. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for small grants from your department and/or college to help you cover some of these expenses.

Scholarships and funding

Doctoral students admitted to our programme receive full funding over four years. This includes course fees and an annual living expenses stipend. To maximise the overall availability of funding for candidates, we will identify suitable alternative scholarships and may ask you to submit funding applications. We also ask that you identify and pursue any other funding opportunities, including external funding.   

For some scholarships you are required to submit a scholarship essay and/or tick the relevant box in the Funding section of the application form.

Cost of living

In addition to your course fees, you will need to ensure you have adequate funds to support your living costs for the duration of your course. Please read the University's  living expenses page for information about likely living costs for 2024-25.

Where can I find further information about fees?

The Fees and Funding section of this website provides further information about course fees , including information about fee status and eligibility  and your length of fee liability .

• Please contact us if you have any queries.
• [email protected]

Graduate Admissions

Admission for entry in October 2024 is now CLOSED. Applications for entry in October 2025 will open in September 2024.

We hold a Graduate Open Day in March each year, for applicants who receive an offer of a place. If your application is successful, you will receive further information about this in due course. The Open Day in 2024 is provisionally scheduled for Wednesday 13 March.

Below you will find information about the graduate courses offered by the Oxford Philosophy Faculty, including the Faculty’s flagship two-year Master’s course, the BPhil in Philosophy. For information about the application process, please visit the Admissions Procedure and Entry Requirements page .

Introduction to graduate study in Philosophy

Each year, around 75 graduate students in philosophy are admitted to Oxford. About two-fifths are admitted for the Bachelor of Philosophy in Philosophy course, the “ BPhil ” (note that, despite its name, the BPhil is a Master's level, postgraduate degree, equivalent to a two-year MPhil) and between five and eight students are admitted for each of the Faculty’s specialised Master of Studies courses, in Ancient Philosophy and Philosophy of Physics . There are also a number of students admitted to the Master of Studies  in Practical Ethics . 

The aim of the Faculty’s graduate programmes is to prepare students for an academic career in philosophy. The usual progression through the Oxford philosophy graduate programme is to take the BPhil or one of the specialist MSt courses and then to continue research on the DPhil, which is examined by a thesis of approximately 75,000 words. Students who progress from one of the specialist MSt courses must spend one year as a Probationary Research Student (“PRS”) before applying for full DPhil status. Typically, a candidate’s thesis for the BPhil or the MSt in Ancient Philosophy will provide a basis for his or her DPhil thesis. There is no thesis element to the MSt in Philosophy of Physics, but candidates who progress to the DPhil from that course are required to write a 20,000 word thesis during their year as a PRS. For all these degrees the student must be a matriculated member of a college, and must normally reside in Oxford for at least one or two years.

A number of students are admitted each year directly to the Doctor of Philosophy course (the “ DPhil ”, the Faculty’s doctoral programme), initially as Probationary Research Students. These students will typically have already completed substantial graduate work in philosophy, usually equivalent to that required for the BPhil.

It is also possible to study philosophy at Oxford at graduate level without being enrolled for a degree. In order to do this, you must apply for entry as a Recognised Student . 

Entry Requirements

For a detailed description of the entry requirements for each course, please click on the relevant course link below:

• DPhil in Philosophy 
• BPhil in Philosophy
• MSt in Ancient Philosophy
• MSt in Philosophy of Physics
• MSt in Practical Ethics

We hold a Graduate Open Day in March each year, for applicants who receive an offer of a place. If your application is successful, you will receive further information about this in due course. The Open Day in 2024 is provisionally scheduled for Wednesday 13 March.

For the latest information on fees charged by the University, and living costs, please visit the Fees and Funding page .

Please visit our Graduate Funding page to identify various sources of funding for the Philosophy Faculty’s graduate programmes.

Please read through our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Admissions pages .

• DPhil in Philosophy
• Other Courses

In addition to progressing from the BPhil or one of the specialist MSt courses, an alternative route to the DPhil, involving initial admission directly as a Probationary Research Student (PRS) and later transfer to DPhil status, is available to candidates who already have a substantial background in philosophy, usually equivalent to that acquired by taking the BPhil. A general condition for admission of any candidate to the DPhil course is that their proposed thesis constitutes a suitable philosophical project of the required length and that there is a member of the Faculty who is able to act as supervisor.

For a full description of the DPhil, please visit the DPhil in Philosophy page .

The BPhil is an intellectually demanding course, presupposing an undergraduate and/or graduate background in philosophy or a closely related discipline. It is not suitable as a conversion course for students changing to philosophy from another subject and it cannot be studied part-time or externally. It is regarded both as training for the DPhil and a basis for teaching a range of philosophical subjects and requires sustained and focused work over two years.

For a full description of the BPhil in Philosophy, please visit the BPhil in Philosophy page .

The MSt course in Ancient Philosophy attracts students of the highest calibre with a background in philosophy or classics and aims to provide a graduate education in ancient philosophy of the highest possible quality: one which will provide a foundation on which students can go on to pursue doctoral work in the area. The course consists of two subject options (examined by a total of three 5,000 word essays) and a thesis of 10,000-15,000 words.

It is not a course requirement that students without any (or with little) Ancient Greek attend the Ancient Greek language classes currently run by the Faculty of Classics but it is highly recommended that they do so as being able to read philosophical texts in the original language is an advantage for Ancient Philosophy studies. 

Students who pass the MSt in Ancient Philosophy will have the opportunity to apply to continue to the Faculty’s DPhil (doctoral) programme, via a year as a Probationary Research Student. MSt in Ancient Philosophy graduates who continue to the DPhil, will be expected to have reached a certain standard in classical Greek. While there is no related examination requirement, it is a requirement for the MSt in Ancient Philosophy students without any (or with little) knowledge of classical Greek to attend language classes run by the Faculty of Classics, if they want to progress to the DPhil. 

For a full description of the MSt in Ancient Philosophy, please visit the MSt in Ancient Philosophy page .

This course aims to attract students with a strong background in physics at undergraduate level or higher, who wish to learn about philosophy in general and philosophy of physics in particular. The course will offer a graduate education in Philosophy of Physics of the highest possible quality, providing a foundation on which candidates can go on to pursue doctoral work in the area.

The course consists of three subjects: Philosophy of Physics, Philosophy of Science, and an elective component (chosen from the following list: Metaphysics and Theory of Knowledge; Philosophy of Mind and Action; Philosophical Logic and the Philosophy of Language; and Philosophy of Mathematics).

Students who pass the MSt in Philosophy of Physics will have the opportunity to apply to continue to the Faculty’s DPhil (doctoral) programme, via a year as a Probationary Research Student.

For a full description of the MSt in Philosophy of Physics, please visit the MSt in Philosophy of Physics page .

Since October 2018, the Department of Continuing Education, in coalition with the Faculty of Philosophy, has been offering a two-to-three-year part-time masters course in Practical Ethics, the MSt in Practical Ethics. For more information, please check the Department of Continuing Education course webpage and the MSt in Practical Ethics page .

Other degrees that may be of interest include the MSt in Film Aesthetics , MSt in Women's Studies , MSt in Philosophical Theology  and MPhil in Philosophical Theology .

PhD Program

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Applications for fall 2025 admission will open

August 1, 2024.

The NIH Oxford-Cambridge (OxCam) Scholars Program is a highly individualized doctoral program for students seeking to pursue a career in biomedical research. Each OxCam Scholar works with at least two different research supervisors — one at the NIH and one at either Oxford or Cambridge — on a project that involves a collaborative undertaking by the two laboratories

• Students carry out research with a goal of earning a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD or DPhil), which requires spending roughly equal amounts of time at the NIH and at the chosen university.
• During their time at the NIH, students become members of one of the NIH Institutes and also join a vibrant graduate student community of more than 400 students.
• Most doctoral study programs in the U.K. do not require the completion of formal coursework, and the doctoral degree can be completed in three to five years. Upon completion of the program, students are awarded a doctorate by either the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge.
• An OxCam Class Dean works with each student in order to ensure satisfactory progress while pursuing his/her research goals.
• At the start of the program, all new students develop a detailed research proposal and an individualized training plan that outlines goals and a personalized plan of study. This requirement launches students and their mentors on an accelerated plan of research.  Students' progress is tracked by holding to program timelines and benchmarks, which allows for problems to be addressed quickly.

More information is available in the  OxCam Program online booklet .

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School of Education launches online Ed.D. for aspiring leaders across sectors and fields

With approval from the UNC System, the UNC School of Education has launched the University’s first fully online doctoral degree program — the Ed.D. in Organizational Learning and Leadership — which will provide working professionals with knowledge, skills, and experiences to take a human-centered approach to leadership, delivering upon their organization’s goals and mission.

Created and delivered in collaboration with The Graduate School at UNC-Chapel Hill, the UNC Office of Digital and Lifelong Learning, and 2U, the Ed.D. in Organizational Learning and Leadership program’s application is open as of today, March 20. The program’s first cohort of students will begin classes in fall 2024.

“For more than 130 years, the UNC School of Education has prepared leaders for classrooms, schools, and school districts but also institutions well beyond education,” said Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, Ph.D., dean of the UNC School of Education and Alumni Distinguished Professor. “Education happens lifelong and lifewide, and learning happens within successful organizations. Our faculty members have expertise in areas critical to organizational learning and leadership, and we believe this program is an incredible opportunity for professionals to advance their careers and organizations.”

Developed with input from working professionals in both private and public sectors and spanning various industries, the Ed.D. in Organizational Learning and Leadership program is tailored to equip students with specialized courses in improvement science, change leadership, human-centered design, equitable and inclusive practice, research methodology, and more. It will also offer students practical opportunities to implement their learning directly into their professional endeavors.

The program will utilize a blend of interactive online classes, self-paced asynchronous lessons, and an in-person immersion experience on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. During the immersion experience, students will have the chance to forge meaningful connections with faculty, staff, and fellow students.

The program culminates with a capstone project tasking students with identifying a complex or pervasive challenge faced by their organization. Students will then undertake comprehensive research and implementation efforts to address it and design effective resolutions.

“Our faculty members have intentionally shaped this program and designed its curriculum to prepare professionals with tools to provide immediate value for our students, for the teams they lead or are part of, and for their organizations,” said Thurston Domina, Ph.D., associate dean for academic affairs and director of graduate studies at the School. “When our students graduate, we anticipate they will find success in private companies, government and non-profit organizations, business and management consulting, human resources, project management, leadership coaching or development, and more.”

Carrol Warren, Ed.D., who joined the faculty as an assistant clinical professor on Jan. 1, will lead the program as its inaugural director. Prior to Carolina, Warren served as a teaching assistant professor and faculty fellow with an institutional research center at NC State University.

“Leadership of teams and organizations is a complex endeavor,” said Warren, “and we are excited to welcome students from an array of career stages, roles, organizations, and locations who are committed to that endeavor. I look forward to cultivating robust learning environments where our students and equally committed and expert faculty members engage in ways that ultimately work toward the greater good through human-centered leadership practice.”

Prospective students can begin the online application at online.unc.edu . Deadlines for the first cohort of students, which begins classes in August 2024, are:  

• Priority deadline: June 11, 2024  
• Final deadline: July 3, 2024  

For details about application requirements or to contact an admissions counselor, visit online.unc.edu/online-doctoral-programs/online-edd-organizational-learning-and-leadership .  

March 20, 2024

For the Media

• Email Morgan Ellis
• (919) 843-0307

Related Topics

• Leadership & Organizational Change

Related People

• Carrol L. Warren
• Thurston Domina

Related Programs

• Organizational Learning and Leadership

Course details

Philosophy of science (online).

There are no time-tabled sessions on this course. Using a specially designed virtual learning environment this online course guides students through weekly pathways of directed readings and learning activities. Students interact with their tutor and the other course participants through tutor-guided, text-based forum discussions. There are no ‘live-time’ video meetings meaning you can study flexibly in your own time under the direct tuition of an expert. For further information please click here

This course introduces the core issues in the philosophy of science, in particular the debates about the nature of the scientific method, theories of confirmation, the demarcation of science from non-science, the rationality of theory change, and scientific realism. Participants will be introduced to the key thinkers in philosophy of science.

The philosophy of science concerns the nature of science and what makes it distinctive among forms of human inquiry. The problem of distinguishing genuine science from disciplines or activities that do not deserve to be called scientific is closely linked to the problem of precisely characterising the scientific method.

This course provides an introduction to this subject beginning with the origins of modern science in the Scientific Revolution in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and concluding with an introduction to the latest controversies among contemporary philosophers of science including the debate about the various forms of scientific realism. Along the way students will gain an appreciation for the importance of philosophy of science in the history of philosophy and an understanding of the ideas of the most famous names in the subject such as Bacon, Popper, Kuhn and Lakatos.

For information on how the courses work, please click here .

Programme details

Unit 1: The historical background to contemporary philosophy of science: the Scientific Revolution

Unit 2: The Problem of Induction

Unit 3: Karl Popper and Falsificationism

Unit 4: Thomas Kuhn and the idea of scientific revolutions

Unit 5: Recent theories of the scientific method

Unit 6: Scientific realism

Unit 7: The problem of underdetermination

Unit 8: Contemporary antirealism: van Fraassen’s Constructive Empiricism

Unit 9: The problems of theory change for scientific realism

Unit 10: Recent developments

Recommended reading

To participate in this course you will need to have regular access to the Internet and you will need to buy the following books:

• Ladyman, James, Understanding Philosophy of Science (Routledge, London, 2001) ISBN 0415221579
• Curd, M. and Cover, J.A., Philosophy of Science: The Central Issues (Norton, New York, 2012) ISBN 0393920801

Both texts can be rented from Amazon, or secondhand copies are available through Abe Books, Amazon, and Book Depository.

Certification

Credit Application Transfer Scheme (CATS) points 

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee for each course you enrol on. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. If you do not register when you enrol, you have up until the course start date to register and pay the £10 fee. 

See more information on CATS point

Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework, but only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education, you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee. 

Digital credential

To complete the course and receive a digital certificate, you will be required to pass your final assignment. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so. 

Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail. 

Dr Ilhaam Isaacs

Course aims.

This course aims to introduce participants to the core issues in the philosophy of science, in particular to the debates about the nature of the scientific method, theories of confirmation, the demarcation of science from non-science, the rationality of theory change, and scientific realism. Participants will be introduced to the key thinkers in twentieth century philosophy of science such as Popper, Carnap, Kuhn, Hempel and van Fraassen.

Course Objectives

This course will enable participants to engage with the central debates in the philosophy of science and to understand the terminology and concepts presupposed by advanced literature in the area. They will also be enabled to appreciate the importance of philosophy of science in the history of philosophy more generally, and to apply their knowledge of the subject to contemporary debates about science policy, uncertainty and risk and the controversy about alternatives to evolution.

Teaching methods

• Guided reading of texts
• Group discussions of particular issues

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course students will be expected to understand:

• The basic issues in the philosophy of science such as the demarcation problem, the debate among competing accounts of the scientific method, the problem of induction, and the debate about scientific realism.
• The main theories of the nature of science.
• The main arguments for and against various positions in relation to the above issues.

By the end of this course students will be expected to have gained the following skills:

• The ability to communicate philosophical concepts clearly in written and spoken English.
• The ability to understand more advanced issues and arguments in the philosophy of science
• The ability to engage in contemporary debates about the nature of science.

Assessment methods

You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.

English Language Requirements

We do not insist that applicants hold an English language certification, but warn that they may be at a disadvantage if their language skills are not of a comparable level to those qualifications listed on our website. If you are confident in your proficiency, please feel free to enrol. For more information regarding English language requirements please follow this link: https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/english-language-requirements

Application

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an Enrolment form for short courses | Oxford University Department for Continuing Education

Level and demands

FHEQ level 4, 10 weeks, approx 10 hours per week - therefore a total of about 100 study hours.

IT requirements

This course is delivered online; to participate you must to be familiar with using a computer for purposes such as sending email and searching the Internet. You will also need regular access to the Internet and a computer meeting our recommended minimum computer specification.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support

View a sample page to see if this course is for you

DPhil in Education

• Entry Requirements
• Funding and Costs

College preference

• How to Apply

About the course

The DPhil in Education is intended to provide graduates with a wide range of research skills, as well as in-depth knowledge, understanding and expertise in their chosen field of research.

There are full-time and part-time routes available. Currently the overall expected contact time for the part-time route is thirty days at Oxford per year, but the majority of this will take place across the three eight week terms, and will include supervision meetings and core research training. Part-time students will normally be expected to be in the department every Thursday during term time in the first year and every Wednesday during term time in the second year. In later years there is greater flexibility and contact time will be agreed between the student and their supervisor.  

The department's doctoral students develop their skills through a range of research methods and skills training courses in their first year (for full-time students) and in their first two years (for part-time students). At the heart of the skills provision is the Research Training Seminar, where students present and develop their research ideas and proposals with the benefit of feedback and support from their peers. 

You will work closely with supervisors on literature review and study design for your thesis, and you are encouraged to make the most of the doctoral training and research methods provision available across the Social Sciences Division. 

You are also encouraged to join one or more of the department's research groups, becoming part of a vibrant educational research community with an active set of doctoral student-led events, seminars and conferences. All DPhil students are given opportunities to present their work at a variety of seminars and sessions in the department.

Supervision

The allocation of graduate supervision is the responsibility of the Department of Education and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. Under exceptional circumstances a second or co-supervisor may be found outside the Department of Education. 

A full-time student will typically have three supervisions per term, with some variance according to stage or if they are on fieldwork.

All students will be initially admitted to the status of Probationer Research Student (PRS). Within a maximum of four terms as a full-time PRS student or eight terms as a part-time PRS student, you will be expected to apply for and achieve transfer of status from Probationer Research Student to DPhil status. This application is normally made by the third term for full-time students and by the sixth term for part-time students.

A successful transfer of status from PRS to DPhil status will require submission of a research proposal. Students who are successful at transfer will also be expected to apply for and gain confirmation of DPhil status to show that your work continues to be on track. This will include submission of two chapters from your thesis (methodology and a findings chapter) and a framing document, and will need to be achieved within nine terms of admission for full-time students and eighteen terms of admission for part-time students.

Both milestones involve an interview with two assessors (other than your supervisor) and therefore provide important experience for the final oral examination.

Full-time students will be expected to submit a substantial thesis of at most 100,000 words after three or, at most, four years from the date of admission. If you are studying part-time, you will be required to submit your thesis after six or, at most, eight years from the date of admission. To be successfully awarded a DPhil in Education you will need to defend your thesis orally (viva voce) in front of two appointed examiners.

Graduate destinations

The most recent Oxford University Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Survey made contact with 635 master's course students who graduated from the Department of Education between 2012 and 2014. 90.2% of alumni were in work and 5.8% in further study with only 2.0% looking for work, ranking the department in the best 3 of the 15 departments in Oxford's Social Sciences Division.

Past DPhil students from the Department of Education have gone on to academic and research careers at universities in the UK (eg Oxford, Edinburgh, Warwick, UCL, King's College, St. Mary's, Liverpool) and across the world (eg Stanford, Princeton, MIT, Hong Kong, Chile, Norway), or are employed across a wide range of other sectors such as policy for government departments or NGOs, international organisations such as OECD, think tanks and administration at local and national levels. The department’s ‘Conversations with Alumni’ feature includes interviews with two DPhil alumni on their career paths after Oxford.

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 in circumstances of a pandemic, epidemic or local health emergency. 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.

Entry requirements for entry in 2024-25

Proven and potential academic excellence.

The requirements described below are specific to this course and apply only in the year of entry that is shown. You can use our interactive tool to help you  evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive .

Please be aware that any studentships that are linked to this course may have different or additional requirements and you should read any studentship information carefully before applying. 

Degree-level qualifications

As a minimum, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the following UK qualifications or their equivalent:

• a master's degree , normally with a mark of at least 68 and at least 68 in your dissertation, in a relevant subject;  and
• a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in a relevant subject, preferably in the social sciences.

For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.6 out of 4.0.

If your degree is not from the UK or another country specified above, visit our International Qualifications page for guidance on the qualifications and grades that would usually be considered to meet the University’s minimum entry requirements.

GRE General Test scores

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

Other qualifications, evidence of excellence and relevant experience

• Part-time applicants will also be expected to show evidence of the ability to commit time to study and, if applicable, an employer's commitment to make time available to study, to complete coursework, and attend course and University events and modules. Where appropriate, evidence should also be provided of permission to use employers’ data in the proposed research project.

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. The minimum scores required to meet the University's higher level are detailed in the table below.

*Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English or Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) † Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English or Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)

Your test must have been taken no more than two years before the start date of your course. Our Application Guide provides  further information about the English language test requirement .

Declaring extenuating circumstances

If your ability to meet the entry requirements has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (eg you were awarded an unclassified/ungraded degree) or any other exceptional personal circumstance (eg other illness or bereavement), please refer to the guidance on extenuating circumstances in the Application Guide for information about how to declare this so that your application can be considered appropriately.

You will need to register three referees who can give an informed view of your academic ability and suitability for the course. The  How to apply  section of this page provides details of the types of reference that are required in support of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.

Supporting documents

You will be required to supply supporting documents with your application. The  How to apply  section of this page provides details of the supporting documents that are required as part of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.

Performance at interview

Interviews are held as part of the admissions process.  

Interviews are normally held with two interviewers using Teams videoconferencing. The interview will normally cover issues related to your research proposal, your fit with departmental research groups, and your career plan. Interviews normally take place in February.

How your application is assessed

Your application will be assessed purely on your proven and potential academic excellence and other entry requirements described under that heading.

References  and  supporting documents  submitted as part of your application, and your performance at interview (if interviews are held) will be considered as part of the assessment process. Whether or not you have secured funding will not be taken into consideration when your application is assessed.

An overview of the shortlisting and selection process is provided below. Our ' After you apply ' pages provide  more information about how applications are assessed . 

Shortlisting and selection

Students are considered for shortlisting and selected for admission without regard to age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, race (including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins), religion or belief (including lack of belief), sex, sexual orientation, as well as other relevant circumstances including parental or caring responsibilities or social background. However, please note the following:

• socio-economic information may be taken into account in the selection of applicants and award of scholarships for courses that are part of  the University’s pilot selection procedure  and for  scholarships aimed at under-represented groups ;
• country of ordinary residence may be taken into account in the awarding of certain scholarships; and
• protected characteristics may be taken into account during shortlisting for interview or the award of scholarships where the University has approved a positive action case under the Equality Act 2010.

Initiatives to improve access to graduate study

This course is taking part in  the 'Close the Gap' project  which aims to improve access to doctoral study.

For this course, socio-economic data (where it has been provided in the application form) will be used to contextualise applications at the different stages of the selection process.  Further information about how we use your socio-economic data  can be found in our page about initiatives to improve access to graduate study.

Processing your data for shortlisting and selection

Information about  processing special category data for the purposes of positive action  and  using your data to assess your eligibility for funding , can be found in our Postgraduate Applicant Privacy Policy.

Admissions panels and assessors

All recommendations to admit a student involve the judgement of at least two members of the academic staff with relevant experience and expertise, and must also be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies or Admissions Committee (or equivalent within the department).

Admissions panels or committees will always include at least one member of academic staff who has undertaken appropriate training.

Other factors governing whether places can be offered

The following factors will also govern whether candidates can be offered places:

• the ability of the University to provide the appropriate supervision for your studies, as outlined under the 'Supervision' heading in the  About  section of this page;
• the ability of the University to provide appropriate support for your studies (eg through the provision of facilities, resources, teaching and/or research opportunities); and
• minimum and maximum limits to the numbers of students who may be admitted to the University's taught and research programmes.

Offer conditions for successful applications

If you receive an offer of a place at Oxford, your offer will outline any conditions that you need to satisfy and any actions you need to take, together with any associated deadlines. These may include academic conditions, such as achieving a specific final grade in your current degree course. These conditions will usually depend on your individual academic circumstances and may vary between applicants. Our ' After you apply ' pages provide more information about offers and conditions . 

In addition to any academic conditions which are set, you will also be required to meet the following requirements:

Financial Declaration

If you are offered a place, you will be required to complete a  Financial Declaration  in order to meet your financial condition of admission.

Disclosure of criminal convictions

In accordance with the University’s obligations towards students and staff, we will ask you to declare any  relevant, unspent criminal convictions  before you can take up a place at Oxford.

The Department of Education has been making a major contribution to the field of education for over 100 years and the department has a world class reputation for research, for teacher education and for its master's and doctoral programmes. We combine international standing as a research-intensive department with the highest quality teaching.

In the 2021 evaluation of research quality in UK universities, the Research Excellence Framework (REF), Oxford University Department of Education had the highest overall percentage of research judged to be 4* (i.e. world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour) in Education in the UK. The department has ESRC recognition for its graduate training, and its teacher training was rated ‘outstanding’ by the Office for Standards in Education (OfSTED) in its most recent inspection in 2019.

Research in the department is organised around three major themes:

• Language, Cognition and Development
• Policy, Economy and Society
• Learning: Pedagogy, Learning and Knowledge.

Within each of these themes there are several research groups and centres. All staff and doctoral students belong to one or more of these research groups; each has its own seminar programme to which postgraduate students often contribute. In addition, the department as a whole sponsors regular seminars and public lectures which attract distinguished national and international speakers.

The Bodleian Education Library, located at the centre of the Department of Education, specialises in material on education and related fields. As well as a print collection of books, journals and statistics, the library provides access to a wide range of electronic resources. The library also houses a collection of teaching resources, primarily in support of subjects covered by the department's secondary PGCE course. The Social Sciences Library provides valuable additional resource to students pursuing programmes in the Department of Education.

Oxford has been a major contributor to the field of education for over 100 years and today the University’s Department of Education has a world class reputation for research, for teacher education and for its graduate courses.

The department offers one of the strongest graduate studies programmes in the UK with a range of full- and part-time MSc courses and a lively doctoral programme (DPhil) which is recognised for national funding by the ESRC.

The department's masters' courses are delivered by academics and research experts, the majority of whom are permanent staff engaged in their fields of research. The department's DPhil in Education has excellent facilities for the large number of full-time research students who are well integrated into the research of the department.

The department has an outstanding research profile. In the 2021 evaluation of research quality in UK universities, the Research Excellence Framework (REF), Oxford University Department of Education had the highest overall percentage of research judged to be 4* (ie world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour) in Education in the UK. A wide range of funded research projects are based in the department and many of these projects have had a major impact on national policy.

Oxford’s PGCE course has an international reputation for the quality of its work, undertaken in close collaboration with local Oxfordshire secondary schools. Over many years, it has consistently received the highest possible designation (Outstanding) from Ofsted in inspections.

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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. 

For further details about searching for funding as a graduate student visit our dedicated Funding pages, which contain information about how to apply for Oxford scholarships requiring an additional application, details of external funding, loan schemes and other funding sources.

Please ensure that you visit individual college websites for details of any college-specific funding opportunities using the links provided on our college pages or below:

Please note that not all the colleges listed above may accept students on this course. For details of those which do, please refer to the College preference section of this page.

Further information about funding opportunities for this course can be found on the department's website.

Annual fees for entry in 2024-25

Full-time study.

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

Part-time study

Information about course fees.

Course fees are payable each year, for the duration of your fee liability (your fee liability is the length of time for which you are required to pay course fees). For courses lasting longer than one year, please be aware that fees will usually increase annually. For details, please see our guidance on changes to fees and charges .

Course fees cover your teaching as well as other academic services and facilities provided to support your studies. Unless specified in the additional information section below, course fees do not cover your accommodation, residential costs or other living costs. They also don’t cover any additional costs and charges that are outlined in the additional information below.

Continuation charges

Following the period of fee liability , you may also be required to pay a University continuation charge and a college continuation charge. The University and college continuation charges are shown on the Continuation charges page.

Where can I find further information about fees?

The Fees and Funding  section of this website provides further information about course fees , including information about fee status and eligibility  and your length of fee liability .

Additional information

There are no compulsory elements of this course that entail additional costs beyond fees (or, after fee liability ends, continuation charges) and living costs. However, please note that, depending on your choice of research topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur additional expenses, such as travel expenses, research expenses, and field trips. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for small grants from your department and/or college to help you cover some of these expenses.

Please note that you are required to attend in Oxford for a minimum of 30 days each year, and you may incur additional travel and accommodation expenses for this. Also, depending on your choice of research topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur further additional expenses, such as travel expenses, research expenses, and field trips. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for small grants from your department and/or college to help you cover some of these expenses.

Living costs

In addition to your course fees, you will need to ensure that you have adequate funds to support your living costs for the duration of your course.

For the 2024-25 academic year, the range of likely living costs for full-time study is between c. £1,345 and £1,955 for each month spent in Oxford. Full information, including a breakdown of likely living costs in Oxford for items such as food, accommodation and study costs, is available on our living costs page. The current economic climate and high national rate of inflation make it very hard to estimate potential changes to the cost of living over the next few years. When planning your finances for any future years of study in Oxford beyond 2024-25, it is suggested that you allow for potential increases in living expenses of around 5% each year – although this rate may vary depending on the national economic situation. UK inflationary increases will be kept under review and this page updated.

If you are studying part-time your living costs may vary depending on your personal circumstances but you must still ensure that you will have sufficient funding to meet these costs for the duration of your course.

Students enrolled on this course will belong to both a department/faculty and a college. Please note that ‘college’ and ‘colleges’ refers to all 43 of the University’s colleges, including those designated as societies and permanent private halls (PPHs). 

If you apply for a place on this course you will have the option to express a preference for one of the colleges listed below, or you can ask us to find a college for you. Before deciding, we suggest that you read our brief  introduction to the college system at Oxford  and our  advice about expressing a college preference . For some courses, the department may have provided some additional advice below to help you decide.

The following colleges accept students for full-time study on this course:

• Blackfriars
• Brasenose College
• Campion Hall
• Green Templeton College
• Harris Manchester College
• Hertford College
• Jesus College
• Kellogg College
• Lady Margaret Hall
• Linacre College
• Mansfield College
• New College
• Regent's Park College
• Reuben College
• St Anne's College
• St Antony's College
• St Catherine's College
• St Cross College
• St Edmund Hall
• St Hilda's College
• St Hugh's College
• Wolfson College
• Worcester College
• Wycliffe Hall

The following colleges accept students for part-time study on this course:

Before you apply

Our  guide to getting started  provides general advice on how to prepare for and start your application. You can use our interactive tool to help you  evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive .

If it's important for you to have your application considered under a particular deadline – eg under a December or January deadline in order to be considered for Oxford scholarships – we recommend that you aim to complete and submit your application at least two weeks in advance . Check the deadlines on this page and the  information about deadlines  in our Application Guide.

Application fee waivers

An application fee of £75 is payable per course application. Application fee waivers are available for the following applicants who meet the eligibility criteria:

• applicants from low-income countries;
• refugees and displaced persons; 
• UK applicants from low-income backgrounds; and 
• applicants who applied for our Graduate Access Programmes in the past two years and met the eligibility criteria.

You are encouraged to  check whether you're eligible for an application fee waiver  before you apply.

Readmission for current Oxford graduate taught students

If you're currently studying for an Oxford graduate taught course and apply to this course with no break in your studies, you may be eligible to apply to this course as a readmission applicant. The application fee will be waived for an eligible application of this type. Check whether you're eligible to apply for readmission .

Do I need to contact anyone before I apply?

You do not have to contact anyone before you apply. You are encouraged, however, to approach academics whose research interests overlap with yours to informally solicit their capacity and interest in supervising you. You may also ask them to share with you specific publications that they have authored that you can’t access otherwise and that may help inform your research proposal. Details of academic staff, including their research interests and contact details, can be found on the departmental website.  

In making this informal contact, you may wish to also provide some information about yourself. Please note that potential supervisors receive large numbers of informal requests each year, as such the department recommends getting in contact with a potential supervisor as early as possible. Please also note that final decisions about admission are not made by individual academics but by an appointed panel at the department level - supervisors will also be ultimately be allocated by the department.

General queries should be directed to the course administrator via the contact details provided on this page.

Completing your application

You should refer to the information below when completing the application form, paying attention to the specific requirements for the supporting documents .

For this course, the application form will include questions that collect information that would usually be included in a CV/résumé. You should not upload a separate document. If a separate CV/résumé is uploaded, it will be removed from your application .

If any document does not meet the specification, including the stipulated word count, your application may be considered incomplete and not assessed by the academic department. Expand each section to show further details.

Proposed field and title of research project

Under the 'Field and title of research project' please enter your proposed field or area of research if this is known. If the department has advertised a specific research project that you would like to be considered for, please enter the project title here instead.

You should not use this field to type out a full research proposal. You will be able to upload your research supporting materials separately if they are required (as described below).

Proposed supervisor

Under 'Proposed supervisor name' enter the name of the academic(s) who you would like to supervise your research. 

You are strongly encouraged to enter the names of two proposed supervisors.

Referees: Three overall, academic and/or professional

Whilst you must register three referees, the department may start the assessment of your application if two of the three references are submitted by the course deadline and your application is otherwise complete. Please note that you may still be required to ensure your third referee supplies a reference for consideration.

One of your references should be from your most recent academic tutor. If you are currently in employment, you would be expected to provide a reference from your employer alongside academic references which comment on your academic suitability for the course.

Your references will support intellectual ability, academic achievement, motivation and ability to work in a group.

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.

More information about the transcript requirement is available in the Application Guide.

Personal statement and research proposal: Statement of a maximum of 1,000 words and proposal of a maximum of 2,500 words 

Your statement of purpose/personal statement and research proposal should be submitted as a single, combined document with clear subheadings. Please ensure that the word counts for each section are clearly visible in the document.

Personal statement

You should submit a convincing personal statement (statement of purpose) explaining your reasons for applying to the programme and highlighting your relevant academic and professional experience. The final part of your personal statement should indicate your future plans after a doctorate.

Your personal statement should be written in English and should be a maximum of 1,000 words.

If possible, please ensure that the word count is clearly displayed on the document.

Research proposal

You should also submit a research proposal that should focus on your proposed research topic, rather than your personal achievements, interests and aspirations. Your proposal should include:

• an indicative title;
• a short introduction that introduces the topic and explains its importance;
• a discussion of the most relevant scholarly literature; 
• research questions or hypotheses, and a description of the methods you plan to use to address them; and
• an indicative bibliography.

The issue or question should emerge from your review of the literature. Please also provide a rationale for the importance of this research topic.

Your research proposal should also indicate your proposed methodological approach. This will depend on the kind of research you envisage. If empirical research is planned, then please discuss the likely ‘data’ to be collected. At this stage these ideas are exploratory, and likely to develop and change once you are admitted to the course and start working with your supervisor.

Your research proposal should be written in English and should be a maximum of  2,500 words (not including the indicative bibliography).

Your research proposal will be assessed for your potential to carry out doctoral research, the quality and coherence of the proposal, the rigor of the proposed research design, and the originality of the project.

It will be normal for your ideas to subsequently change in some ways as you develop your project. You should nevertheless make the best effort you can to demonstrate the extent of your research question, sources and method at this moment.

Written work: Two essays, a maximum of 2,000 words each

The written work should be related to the DPhil in Education and should be on separate topics. If you do not have any existing material that fits this requirement, you may wish to critique an article or write a book review based on the course subject.

You may submit written work completed for a prior course of study if the topic is relevant, eg an assignment or chapter of a dissertation etc, provided it meets the requirements. If your work is longer than the guide length it should be edited to meet the requirements.

A list of relevant references is required for your written work and should be included in your word count.

This will be assessed for understanding of the subject area, an ability to construct and defend an argument, and proficiency in academic English.

Start or continue your application

You can start or return to an application using the relevant link below. As you complete the form, please  refer to the requirements above  and  consult our Application Guide for advice . You'll find the answers to most common queries in our FAQs.

Application Guide   Apply - Full time Apply - Part time

ADMISSION STATUS

Closed to applications for entry in 2024-25

Register to be notified via email when the next application cycle opens (for entry in 2025-26)

12:00 midday UK time on:

Friday 5 January 2024 Latest deadline for most Oxford scholarships Final application deadline for part-time study

Friday 1 March 2024 - Full-time study only Full-time applications reopened 7 February 2024 Final application deadline for full-time study

*Three-year average (applications for entry in 2021-22 to 2023-24)

Further information and enquiries

This course is offered by the Department of Education

• Course page on the department's website
• Funding information from the department
• Academic and research staff
• Departmental research
• Social Sciences Division
• Residence requirements for full-time courses
• Postgraduate applicant privacy policy

Course-related enquiries

Advice about contacting the department can be found in the How to apply section of this page

✉ [email protected] ☎ +44 (0)1865 274183

Application-process enquiries

See the application guide

Visa eligibility for part-time study

We are unable to sponsor student visas for part-time study on this course. Part-time students may be able to attend on a visitor visa for short blocks of time only (and leave after each visit) and will need to remain based outside the UK.

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