Programme Specification - MPhil/PhD Philosophy
1. Awarding Body
2. Details of accreditation by a
professional/statutory body, e.g. ESRC;
BPS etc
3. Name of final award
4. Programme Title
5. Duration of the course
6. Based in the Department/Institute:
7. Relevant QAA subject benchmark
statements
8. UCAS Code
9. First written/last amended
LSE
AHRC
MPhil/PhD
Philosophy
MPhil/PhD 3-4 years (minimum 2),
VRS up to 9 months (renewable)
Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method
N/A
V7ZP (MPhil/PhD), V7EP (VRS)
December 2007
10. The programme aims to:
 provide knowledge and understanding of frontier research in some areas of philosophy
and/or philosophy of science (and social science), and train students to achieve a high level
of ability in philosophical analysis, thus developing the basis upon which to conduct fruitful
research
 expose students to recent developments and open problems and give an insight into the
process by which philosophical research is conducted, thus suggesting fruitful areas for
research.
 Help them, centrally, to produce a thesis that will meet the criteria for award of an LSE PhD
degree (by making’ a direct contribution to knowledge of the subject and affording evidence
of originality… by the exercise of independent critical power’) OR produce a thesis that will
meet the criteria for award of an MPhil degree (generally by ‘producing an ordered and
critical exposition of existing knowledge in some field’)
 prepare students for careers in research and academia.
11. Programme outcomes: knowledge and understanding; skills and other attributes
Programme Outcomes and Knowledge and Understanding:
 detailed knowledge of current frontier work in a range of sub-fields within philosophy
and in particular philosophy of science and social science
 a high level of philosophical analytical ability
 understanding of the process of philosophical research and the ability to apply that
understanding to tackle research problems
 the ability to produce a PhD thesis as defined by the London School of Economics
regulations OR an MPhil thesis (all students are initially registered for an MPhil but are
retrospectively registered for PhD once it becomes clear that the student is capable of
producing a PhD thesis).
Skills and other attributes:
 skills in IT for general and academic purposes
 Library and internet research skills
 Ability to produce sharp analytical arguments addressing an open problem
 Ability to construct an extended philosophical argument exhibiting the background to a
problem within the literature and the ability to tackle that problem and make
contributions to it
 High level of presentational skills through participation in graduate and research
seminars both through hearing high level researchers and fellow research students
present their work (and commenting on those presentations) and through the
student’s own presentations in seminars and research group meetings.
 Teaching skills through class teaching experience gained within the Department.
12. Teaching, learning and assessment strategies to enable outcomes to be achieved
and demonstrated
Teaching and learning strategies:
 Research students take the equivalent of four graduate level courses in each of their
first two years (if they have not taken an MSc with us) and in their first year (if they
have). Some of these are also taken by MSc students in the department, while others
are attended only by research students. These courses are aimed at developing
written communication and oral presentation skills. All courses are given by full-time
LSE academic staff with high international reputations, sometimes supplemented by
full-time Tutorial Fellows, all of whom have PhDs from prestigious institutions.
 An obligatory summer project, which they design in consultation with their supervisor,
in each of the first two years – including one extensive literature review in the area of
their proposed research. Aimed at developing skills in devising research projects and
implementing them.
 Attendance is required in all years at the regular Departmental Seminar, joining in
discussion of research papers; and strongly encouraged at events organised by our
Research Centre. Most research students become involved in research projects at our
Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science and are strongly encouraged to
make presentations there themselves.
 A thesis-reading seminar meets several times a term – all students present their work
regularly to their colleagues at this seminar
 Students are directed to the following School courses:
 Introduction to Study for the MPhil and PhD
 Information Skills
 Authoring a PhD.
 Those doing research on an issue in the foundations of the Social Sciences may also
be directed to one of several courses on Social Science methodology.
 Students whose mother tongue is not English are required to attend language
courses.
 Basic word-processing skills are presupposed; but both specific individual support,
and courses on specific IT topics are provided by the LSE IT Support Team
throughout the year.
 Most research students are offered undergraduate class teaching from year 2 onward
(and all from year 3). Attendance at induction sessions is required and performance
monitored by the teacher responsible for the course.
 Students are encouraged to offer papers at recognised research conferences for
which funding is available.
 All students are assigned two supervisors - one of whom is nominated as in charge.
The role of the supervisor is initially to help the student find a fruitful philosophical
problem, to aid him or her in beginning to tackle that problem and then to
Assessment strategies:
 Initial assessment: An initial meeting is held to explain course requirements and
available resources - immediately followed by an extensive initial meeting with the
main supervisor who is charged with making any necessary specific arrangements.
 Assessment of needs throughout the year
a. Written communication skills: Each of the courses in the programme
mentioned above have an associated coursework (4 or 6 pieces per course
per year) – and in some cases a final examination. The coursework is marked
by the seminar leader and discussed with the student. Students may be
required to rewrite essays.
b. Oral communication skills: Students are required to discuss their seminar
presentations with the seminar leader in advance and again after the
presentation. The seminar leader communicates with the main supervisor,
especially if specific difficulties arise.
c. Information skills Students are directed to the courses mentioned and then to
either IT or Library staff as appropriate once specific needs are identified.
d. Knowledge and understanding of their research topic Regular meetings with
Supervisors assess progress and continuing needs.
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All students fill in self-assessment forms at the end of the year and are charged with
completing the form that records their coursework and examination results.
Annual assessment: The first Staff meeting in the Second Term includes a review of
all first year research students to identify any early problems. At the end of the
academic year, a half-day meeting is held to review the progress of all research
students. Continued registration, and upgrade from MPhil to PhD registration are
dependent on satisfactory performance in courses and projects. Specific difficulties
are identified and remedial action (which may in extreme cases involve repeating the
year) decided upon.
The Departmental Director of the Doctoral Programme is in overall charge and is
required to monitor the continuing progress of all research students.
13. Programme structures and requirements, levels, modules and awards
See the MPhil/PhD Philosophy programme regulations.
Additional information
14. Criteria for admission to the programme
The usual route is for students first to take one of the MSc courses offered by the Department;
they will usually not be accepted for the MPhil/PhD programme unless they obtain a distinction
grade on that degree. Students who do not have a background that overlaps considerably with
our Masters provision will generally be required to take an extra year of coursework to fill in that
background (as indicated above).
15. Indicators of quality
 The School participates in the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES)
which provides indicators of student satisfaction with various aspects of their research
degree programme. Results from this survey have been positive for the School.
 Examiners’ reports from viva examinations are considered centrally within the School
and provide indicators on the quality of the research student experience and
supervision quality.
 The LSE Careers Centre website provides data on career destinations of LSE
research graduates.
 The Department scored a rating of 5* (‘centre of international excellence’) in each of
the last two Research Assessment Exercises.
 The Department has the highest concentration of researchers in philosophy of
science and philosophy of social science in the UK and is internationally recognised.
 In the past 3 years we received a total of 69 applications for the degree of whom 11
were accepted.
 The Department currently has some 24 registered research students and its former
PhD students can be found in Philosophy Departments in the UK, in Europe, and in
the USA. The great majority of students are ‘upgraded’ to PhD and successfully
complete the degree (mostly within the prescribed timeframe).
16. Methods for evaluating and improving the quality and standard of teaching and
learning
Departmental Mechanisms:
Every graduate level course is reviewed annually at a full Departmental meeting. Those that
are also available to MSc students are subject to the scrutiny of External Examiners.
The Department has a very successful Graduate Student-Staff forum with representatives
from all MSc programmes and from each year of the MPhil/PhD. Issues about individual
courses, about the overall structure of the provision and about practical questions concerning
IT and other provision are all regularly raised at the meetings of this Forum – issues are then
reported to a full Departmental Meeting.
School mechanisms:
 The Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC) runs the Postgraduate Research
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Experience Survey (PRES) and distributes results to departments. Survey results are
considered by School Committees (Research Degrees Sub-Committee & Teaching,
Learning and Assessment Committee) as well as within academic departments. Any
issues arising from the PRES would be addressed by the appropriate
body/department.
Taught courses on MPhil/PhD programmes are included in the School’s internal
student satisfaction survey, where such courses are provided at the Masters’ level, as
conducted by the Teaching Quality Assurance and Review Office.
Departments review their programmes according to their own system of periodic
review.
The Methodology Institute offers methodological training across all MPhil/PhD
programme and transferrable study skills training courses are offered by the TLC for
all MPhil/PhD students: this central resource enhances the standard of teaching and
learning for all research students across the School.
A TLAC review of the Department once every five years.
regular staff appraisal and review
improvements in teaching technique are effected by the TLC through observations,
advice and further training;
induction programme and mentoring scheme for new members of staff;
Student satisfaction surveys by the Teaching Quality Assurance and Review Office;
a system for ensuring that External Examiner’s comments/recommendations are fed
through to Departments and acted upon;
TLAC which regulates all aspects of teaching quality;
Graduate Studies Sub-Committee and Research Degrees Sub-Committee oversee all
postgraduate programmes and courses and ensure that significant changes to
programmes and courses pass through a sequence of formal stages. This ensures
that curricular changes are appropriate and compatible with other developments.