Programme Specification: MPhil/PhD International Relations
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. Application Code
9. First written/last amended
LSE
LSE is an ESRC Doctoral Training
Centre. The MPhil/PhD International
Relations is part of the Political
Science and International Studies
group of accredited programmes for
ESRC 1+3 and +3 (MSc IR Research and IR
MPhil/PhD) funding.
MPhil/PhD
International Relations
3-4 years. Minimum 2, maximum 4
International Relations
N/A
M1ZR
April 2003 / December 2012
10. The programme aims to:
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provide an academically-challenging education, in a research-active environment, to
intellectually able students from a wide range of countries; to provide access to the wider
context of the social sciences;
equip students with analytical and theoretical sophistication, and breadth and depth of
understanding, within the field of International Relations;
enable students who go directly into non-academic careers (e.g. government, the
voluntary sector, international organisations, business and media) to become articulate,
clear- thinking individuals, able to analyse critically complex bodies of material;
equip research students to design, research and write a doctorate within a maximum of
four years;
enable research students to go on to further research and/or to become an academic in
the field of International Relations and cognate areas of the social sciences.
11. Programme outcomes: knowledge and understanding; skills and other attributes
Students completing a PhD degree should possess:
 a critical understanding of the main methodological and philosophical problems
involved in research in the field of International Relations and cognate social sciences;
 knowledge in their field, set out in the ESRC’s Training Guidelines for Postgraduate
Research.
For further information relating to careers.
12. Teaching, learning and assessment strategies to enable outcomes to be achieved
and demonstrated
All research students have regular meetings with their supervisors during which they
discuss their approach, progress and any problems they are encountering with their
research. Every research student is allocated an adviser who provides generic guidance
and support but will not be an expert in the student’s field. Advisers act as an additional
point of contact in the Department for students and can take action, e.g. if there is a
problem with the student-supervisor relationship.
In their first year, research students attend the compulsory International Relations
Research Methods seminar. The seminar provides an introduction to methodology and
research methods relevant to undertaking a research degree in IR to first-year research
students. The principal approaches to contemporary research in the main branches of
International Relations will be addressed. These include: formal analysis, behaviouralism;
quantitative and qualitative methods; comparative case study approaches; documentary
and discourse analysis; and different modes of theoretical argument. In addition the
course will introduce students to the background debates in philosophy of social science
that underpin different methodological approaches. The purpose of the course is to help
students identify the appropriate methodological approach for their project.
In addition, during their first and second years, research students will present outlines of
their research project to the Research Design Workshop where their project is subject to
the constructively critical observations of their peers and the workshop leader.
All research students attach themselves to one or more of the Department’s thematic
research workshops. These afford an opportunity for research students to present
research in progress and to hear presentations of work in progress by leading scholars in
their field. Currently, the Departments runs thematic workshops in the following areas:
international theory; foreign policy; European politics; north-south relations; international
institutions; security, conflict and peace studies; middle-east; Asia-pacific; and political
economy and public policy.
Each research student is assigned to a Research Panel comprising two members of staff
excluding the supervisor but normally including the adviser and, where possible, those
with cognate research interests. Advisers usually take the lead in the Research Panel
process and act as liaison with the supervisor/s. The Research Panel meets to discuss
the student’s progress during the summer term for all first and second year students (and
in subsequent years if the supervisor considers it necessary). The function of the
Research Panel is to encourage progress, identify problems and to suggest further
initiatives to assist progress and completion of the thesis.
The Research Panel recommends upgrading from MPhil to PhD status, normally at the
end of the second year of registration depending on submission of an introduction and two
draft chapters considered of appropriate quality by the supervisor and approved by the
Panel.
The final assessment of PhD students occurs when the supervisor considers the thesis
ready for submission and an internal and an external examiner appointed by the LSE
judge it of sufficient merit to meet the criteria for the award of a PhD degree, following a
satisfactory viva voce examination on the substance of the thesis.
13. Programme structures and requirements, levels, modules and awards
See MPhil/PhD International Relations programme regulations.
AWARDS
ESRC +3 Studentships
The programme has ESRC accreditation. The Department anticipates receiving one ESRC
award each year. Since the introduction of DTCs in the 2011/12 session, two students have
been awarded +3 studentships.
LSE PhD Scholarships
Under the School’s new fully-funded PhD programme, the Department anticipates receiving
between three and six awards each year. In the 2010/11 to 2012/13 sessions, six IR research
students have been awarded LSE PhD Scholarships.
The scholarships cover fees and living expenses each year for four years. They are available
for Home UK/EU or Overseas students undertaking full-time research in any LSE discipline,
with annual renewal subject to satisfactory academic performance at the School.
Scholarships will be awarded on academic merit and research potential.
For further information about LSE PhD Studentships.
IR Department Named Awards
The Department offers named awards, as follows: Goodwin, Michael Leifer, Montague
Burton and RJ Vincent Scholarships. Please see Department of International Relations
awards.
Additional information
14. Criteria for admission to the programme
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A master’s degree with an overall merit (at least 65 per cent) or its equivalent in a
relevant field plus a strong merit in the dissertation or long essay;
A competent research proposal;
The availability of a suitable supervisor.
15. Indicators of quality
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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.
Buoyant demand by well-qualified applicants for the programme and high
qualifications required for admission.
Monitoring of completion rates.
Student questionnaires and feedback via a staff-student liaison committee.
16. Methods for evaluating and improving the quality and standard of teaching and
learning
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Research Postgraduate Sub-Committee meets twice or three times a year and
reports to the Departmental Meeting.
Staff-Research Student Liaison Committee (SRSLC) for all students meets normally
once per term. Representatives for new research students are elected annually at the
second meeting of IR501 Research Methods Training Seminar in Michaelmas term.
Continuing research students are invited to volunteer for SSLC membership. The
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Chair (the Director of Doctoral Programmes) takes actions as necessary and reports
to the Department Meeting.
Research Panels act as a form of peer appraisal for supervisors.
Peer appraisal of academic staff takes place on a regular basis.
School mechanisms
 TLAC review of the Department once every five years.
 The Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC) runs the Postgraduate Research
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 Department of Methodology offers methodological training across all MPhil/PhD
programmes and transferable 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.