The aim of the programme is to produce highly skilled social researchers who can contribute to the development of society and the public sphere either as autonomous social research professionals, as cutting edge academic social theorists, or as critically informed leaders in civil society, statutory or market organisations.

The PhD (Social Science) is a Graduate Research Education Programme (GREP) i.e. a MPhil/PhD programme of study that provides a structured social research education environment in which to pursue doctoral studies, involving taught modules in the first two years of the programme, and the completion of a dissertation in the final two years.

The programme offers a training programme that equips graduates with theoretical, policy analysis and applied research skills to doctoral level commensurate with the highest international standards. Furthermore, the programme provides generic social science research skills training in addition to specialist disciplinary training and research specialisation within a general research agenda that focuses on globalisation, civil society, the state, policy analysis, active citizenship, culture and associated issues.

Uniquely within Ireland, The PhD (Social Science) is an inter-institutional initiative that supports students to avail of opportunities to take specialist postgraduate modules from eight partner institutions (NUIG, NUIM, TCD, UL, DCU, MIC, ITS, QUB) within the graduate education programme of the Irish Social Sciences Platform (ISSP). The ISSP is an all-Ireland platform of integrated social science research and graduate training focusing on the social, cultural and economic transformations shaping Ireland in the 21st Century. Students may also attend specialist winter, spring and summer schools organised by ISSP partners and with the agreement of the Programme Manager and Programme committee, may also attend ECTS weighted international summer schools as part of their studies.

These structures mean that students have the opportunity to undertake the highest quality research and disciplinary training and gain access to specialist knowledge and skills through innovative approaches to teaching and learning via inter-departmental and inter-institutional collaboration, ICT platforms, specialist summer and winter schools, and intensive seminars with national experts and international figures drawn from across the social sciences, thus ensuring the highest quality social science education in a supportive and collaborative environment. 

Entry requirements

As per UCC PhD requirements, see http://www.ucc.ie/en/postgraduate/research/phd/

Course Content

The Ph.D (Social Science) comprises three parts taken over a total of four years. Part I and Part II are taken over one year each respectively.  Part III is taken over two years.  Progression is through credit accumulation up to a total of 360 credits over a period of four years. 

Assessment will take the form of continuous assessment assignments, and completion of a major research dissertation not exceeding 80,000 words. In approved cases submission of a designated number of extended articles of publishable quality may be accepted in place of the major research dissertation.  At the discretion of the Programme Director, modules may be substituted by equivalent modules, including generic skills training modules.

The course is structured in the following way: students undertake prescribed courses of study for the first two years of the programme, and finalise their PhD dissertation in the final two years. However, the development of the dissertation is not restricted to these final two years – the student will be developing their thesis in conjunction with their research supervisor throughout the four years of the programme.

Part I

In Part I (Year 1 – total 75 credits) of the programme, students take 45 credits from the following modules:

SC8101           Idioms of Social Science (5 Cr)
SS8105            Paradigms of Social Research (5 Cr)
SC8104           Application of Sociology and Political Science to Policy (5 Cr)
GV8106           Methods and Policy (10 Cr)
SS8101            Qualitative Research Methods (10 Cr) 
SC8105           Quantitative Research Methods 10 (Cr)

Students will also undertake work on the thesis to the value of 30 credits during Part I which will be formally assessed in Part III of the programme.

Part II

In Part II (Year 2 – total 75 credits) of the programme, students take 45 credits from the following modules:

SS8102            Research Seminar in Social Policy (5 Cr)
GV8101           Research Seminar in Politics and Government (5 Cr)
SC8102           Research Seminar in Sociology (5 Cr)
SS8106            Workshop in Theory and Thesis Construction (10 Cr)
GV8104           Workshop in Methods and Thesis Substantiation (10 Cr)
SC8106           Workshop on Paradigms and Thesis Definition (10 Cr)

Students will also undertake work on the thesis to the value of 30 credits during Part II which will be formally assessed in Part III of the programme

Part III

In Part III (Years 3 and 4 – total 210 credits) of the programme, students complete their research work and present a dissertation/ thesis of not more than 80,000 words to the value of 270 credits.

Making an application

Applications are accepted here: www.ucc.ie/apply

The course is officially listed as “PhD (Social Science) – Arts (GREP)” and the course code is CKH81. It is not necessary at this stage of the application to nominate a preferred research supervisor. Please select October 2008 as the preferred start date.

Enquiries may be made to:

Martin Geoghegan,
Programme Manager,
PhD (Social Science) – GREP,
Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century,

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