In addition to progressing with your research, you will take courses in methods and research design. You may take courses in addition to those listed and should discuss this with your supervisor.
(* denotes half unit course)
First year
Training courses
Compulsory (not examined)
Methods in International Relations Research
Familiarises students with the principal approaches to contemporary research in the main branches of International Relations and to help students identify the appropriate methodology for their project.
Compulsory (not examined)
Research Cluster Workshops*
Second year
Training courses
Compulsory (not examined)
International Relations Research Design Workshop
Compulsory (not examined)
Research Cluster Workshops*
Third year
Compulsory (not examined)
Research Cluster Workshops*
Fourth year
Compulsory (not examined)
Research Cluster Workshops*
Optional (examined/not examined)
Research Cluster Workshops to be selected from:
International Relations Theory
Security and Statecraft
International Institutions, Law and Ethics
International Political Economy
The subject workshops offered by the International Relations Department comprise international relations theory; security and statecraft; international institutions, law and ethics; international political economy. You are expected to attend one of the International Relations Research Cluster workshops.
Relevant courses provided by the Library, the Teaching and Learning Centre and the Methodology Department in agreement with your supervisor, which can include:
Bayesian Reasoning for Qualitative Social Science: A Modern Approach to Case Study Inference*
Fundamentals of Social Science Research Design
Introduces the broad range of design options and to foster an appreciation of these alternatives for particular research objectives.
Qualitative Research Methods
Prepares students to design, carry out, report, read and evaluate qualitative research projects.
Introduction to Quantitative Analysis*
The course is intended for students with no previous experience of quantitative methods or statistics. It covers the foundations of descriptive statistics and statistical estimation and inference.
Multivariate Analysis and Measurement
Introduces the application of modern multivariate methods used in the social sciences, with particular focus on latent variable models for continuous observed variables, and their application to questions of measurement in the social sciences.
Special Topics in Quantitative Analysis: Quantitative Text Analysis*
The course surveys methods for systematically extracting quantitative information from text for social scientific purposes, starting with classical content analysis and dictionary-based methods, to classification methods, and state-of-the-art scaling methods and topic models for estimating quantities from text using statistical techniques
Department of Methodology Seminar
Transferable skills courses:
Workshop in Information Literacy: Finding, managing and organising published research and data (Year One)
At the end of your second year, you will need to satisfy certain requirements and if you meet these, will be retroactively upgraded to PhD status.
For the most up-to-date list of optional courses please visit the relevant School Calendar page.
You must note however that while care has been taken to ensure that this information is up to date and correct, a change of circumstances since publication may cause the School to change, suspend or withdraw a course or programme of study, or change the fees that apply to it. The School will always notify the affected parties as early as practicably possible and propose any viable and relevant alternative options. Note that that the School will neither be liable for information that after publication becomes inaccurate or irrelevant, nor for changing, suspending or withdrawing a course or programme of study due to events outside of its control, which includes but is not limited to a lack of demand for a course or programme of study, industrial action, fire, flood or other environmental or physical damage to premises.
You must also note that places are limited on some courses and/or subject to specific entry requirements. The School cannot therefore guarantee you a place. Please note that changes to programmes and courses can sometimes occur after you have accepted your offer of a place. These changes are normally made in light of developments in the discipline or path-breaking research, or on the basis of student feedback. Changes can take the form of altered course content, teaching formats or assessment modes. Any such changes are intended to enhance the student learning experience. You should visit the School’s Calendar, or contact the relevant academic department, for information on the availability and/or content of courses and programmes of study. Certain substantive changes will be listed on the updated graduate course and programme information page.