38 Part time PhD Programmes in Social Sciences in United Kingdom for 2024

The PhD in Development Studies by Research is IDS’s advanced research degree. It is awarded to candidates after a minimum of three years of study, based on completion of original and significant research in the field of Development Studies – which is assessed through a written thesis.

With our partner university, Liverpool John Moores University, Alef Trust offers a collaborative PhD in Applied Transpersonal Psychology. The collaborative basis of the PhD means that you will conduct your research under guidance from supervisors from both Alef Trust and LJMU. Given our expertise in the topic, the Alef Trust supervisor will lead in most academic aspects of the programme. Those accepted onto the programme will benefit from being registered with LJMU, giving you full access to LJMU’s Doctoral Academy.

Undertaking doctoral research allows you to develop in-depth knowledge while making a meaningful contribution to your chosen field. With guidance from our expert supervisors, you'll carry out extensive independent research culminating in a thesis of up to 100,000 words. Broadly speaking, the area covered by the Institute’s expertise is within the fields of French and Francophone, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, and Latin American/Caribbean studies; Literature; Cultural studies; and, Comparative and interdisciplinary studies are also available in several subject areas.

The Department offers the widest coverage in Europe of research and teaching related to the languages and cultures of the principal countries of South East Asia. Its primary commitment is to the four languages Burmese, Indonesian/Malay, Thai and Vietnamese, and their pieces of literature, cinemas and associated cultures. REF 2014 submissions by members of the Department included significant and paradigm-shifting monographs, edited collections, journal articles and book chapters in cinema and gender, literary criticism, cultural history and postcolonial studies.

We welcome enquiries from appropriately qualified applicants with research interests in community and youth work.

The School has an exceptionally strong research culture with a strong reputation for the quality of the research produced and the growing number of research grants it is attracting. We are home to the Wales Governance Centre and to the European Governance, Identity and Public Policy Research Unit, attracting visiting scholars from all over Europe and the world.

Undertaking doctoral research allows you to develop in-depth knowledge while making a meaningful contribution to your chosen field. With guidance from our expert supervisors, you'll carry out extensive independent research culminating in a thesis of up to 100,000 words. The Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), based at the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies, offers specialist doctoral supervision across the humanities and social sciences, covering Latin America and the Caribbean.

SOAS has an international reputation for excellence in the field of South Asian studies earned by the world-leading research undertaken. REF 2014 submissions by members of the Department included significant and paradigm-shifting monographs, edited collections, journal articles and book chapters on literature, cinema cultural history and postcolonial studies.

The Department of Politics and International Studies accepts students for research work leading to a PhD. The primary aim of the PhD programme is to train students to design, research and write a successful doctoral thesis. Those who have completed the doctorate will be familiar with the conceptual and methodological aspects of political research and qualified as experts in their field.

We offer MPhil and PhD research programmes in Sociology for full or part-time study.

We accept students into the Department of Politics and International Relations on the basis of a match between your proposed research and the current research interests of a potential supervisor as well as an assessment of qualifications and suitability for a research degree.

Working directly through our social enterprise and network, which is known as 'Boingboing', the Centre of Resilience for Social Justice tackles disadvantage and brings genuine change to people's lives around the world.