Structured PhD (Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences) (English)

Course details

As part of the doctoral training available on the Structured PhD programme, students avail themselves of a range of interdisciplinary taught modules. The wide menu of available options include modules that:

• are Discipline-Specific in that they augment the student’s existing knowledge in their specialist area
• are Dissertation-Specific in that they supply core skills which are essential to completion of the research project, e.g., additional language skills
• acknowledge a student’s professional development, e.g., presentation of a paper at an International Conference
• enhance a student’s employability through generic training, e.g., Careers Workshops, computer literacy.

Each student will be assigned a primary Supervisor(s) and a Graduate Research Committee made up of experienced researchers to plan their programme of study and to provide on-going support to their research.

A PhD dissertation should make a substantial and original contribution to its field of knowledge. The PhD degree is awarded for work that is 'worthy of publication, in whole or in part, as a work of serious scholarship' ( NUI Galway Calendar). The length of the dissertation in English is normally 60,000 to 80,000 words. The duration of research is usually.

Entry requirements

The minimum qualification necessary to be considered for admission to the PhD programme is a high honours, primary degree (or equivalent international qualification), or ’other such evidence as will satisfy the Head of Department and the Faculty of his/her fitness’ (NUI Galway Calendar). It is more usual, however, for successful applicants to have already gained a Master's degree.