MPhil
College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences
School of Applied Social Studies
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Postgraduate Research Degrees in the School of Applied Social Studies
The School of Applied Social Studies is a research active department, which has a strong commitment to both applied and theoretical research in the social sciences. The research interests of staff in the School are quite varied and details of individual areas of expertise can be found on the School's website (see http://www.ucc.ie/en/appsoc/staff/acad/). The School also has an active postgraduate research community with students undertaking postgraduate degrees at master and doctoral level across a range of subject areas in the social sciences. For a list of PhD theses recently completed in the School see http://www.ucc.ie/en/appsoc/study/doc/docrescomp/. The School offers a number of research based postgraduate degree including:
- PhD
- MPhil
- Master of Social Science (MSocSc by Research)
The Postgraduate Academic Calendar contains information on all the programmes offered by the School of Applied Social Studies. The Postgraduate Academic Calendar can be accessed at: http://www.ucc.ie/academic/postgraduate/calendar/ .
Application Procedure for Research Degrees (PhD, MPhil, MSocSc by Research)
All applicants to research degree programmes are required to make an application through the PAC system (for details of the application process see http://www.ucc.ie/en/study/postgrad/how/apply-research/.
However it is not possible to make an application for a research degree programme through the PAC system without including a proposal detailing a research topic and naming a supervisor. Applicants to School of Applied Social Studies need to contact the Head of School, Chair of the SGSC, Dr. Máire Leane (m.leane@ucc.ie) or a Prospective Supervisor to discuss their proposed area of research prior to making a PAC research application. Following this consultation the applicant should submit a research proposal of between 1,500 and 3,000 words and an academic CV to the Chair of the SGSC (See Appendix B for guidelines for preparing the research proposal). The documents will be reviewed by the committee and assessed in relation to three key variables namely, the quality of the proposal, the academic/research track-record of the applicant and the availability of a suitable supervisor (for details of the criteria applied when assessing the compatibility of proposals in relation to these variables see Appendix C). The SGSC may accept the proposal, refer it back to the applicant with suggestions for improvement or refuse the proposal. In the case of the latter option the student will be given the reason (s) for the non-acceptance of the proposal. If a proposal is accepted by the SGSC the committee will suggest a supervisor in consultation with the applicant. The application form, including the name of the proposed supervisor and a copy of the proposal, will be forwarded to the Head of School for his/her approval and on receipt of this approval will be forwarded to the university Graduate Studies Office for approval by the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences. Subsequent to this approval the student will be invited to formally register for the degree.
Students can apply to start a research degree (MSocSc by research, MPhil or PhD) in January, April, July or October. Further information about postgraduate research and work in the School of Applied Social Studies can be in the School’s Graduate Studies Handbook Handbook for Research Postgraduate Students. Further information on all aspects of postgraduate study can be obtained from the Graduate Studies Office, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, Tel: +353 (0)21 490 2876 Fax: +353 (0)21 490 1897, http://www.ucc.ie/en/study/postgrad/ .
Ph.D (Doctor in Philosophy)
The PhD allows students to pursue a significant piece of research over a period of three years full-time, or six years part-time, which culminates in the production of a thesis of a maximum of 80,000 words. To be eligible for consideration to enter on a programme of study and research for the Degree of PhD, students should have reached a standard of Second Class Honours, Grade I in their primary degree or equivalent, in the social sciences. It is usually the case that prospective students are registered for an MPhil in the first instance and transfer to PhD after at least one year on the recommendation of the Supervisor and Departmental Graduate Studies Committee. For further details on application procedures, please see the relevant section at the bottom of this page.
