UNIVERSITY OF KENT

NEW ROUTE PhD PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION

  1. Award and Title

New Route PhD in Politics and International Relations

This is one of five New Route PhD programmes. The others are:

Anthropology

Economics

Management

Psychology

  1. Length and Mode of Registration

Four years’ full-time.

  1. Entry Requirements

Admission to the programme will require evidence of (i) a good honours degree in Anthropology or equivalent, (ii) the appropriate English language qualification and (iii) an acceptable research proposal.

Applications for admission to postgraduate research will be considered by the department’s director of research and the potential supervisor(s). Where practicable an interview will take place. Students will be registered for the Masters degree (MPhil) in the first instance. Change of registration will be subject to satisfactory progress. The directors of research will give careful consideration to the suitability and qualifications of applicants and will be satisfied that there are available appropriate expertise for supervision and adequate resources for the proper conduct of the research.

Where the applicant’s first language is not English, evidence will be required of proficiency in written and spoken English in line with the IELTS, TOEFL, Cambridge Certificate in Proficiency in English or Cambridge Advanced Certificate in English standards required by the University at the time of admission and published in its prospectus. Where further English language training is required the director of research will ensure that appropriate arrangements are made.

  1. Anticipated Total Student Registrations

Five

  1. Programme Management

The Department of Politics and International Relations is responsible for the programme. This responsibility will be managed under the auspices of the department’s director of research.

The director of research will ensure the appointment of a supervisor(s) and a doctoral committee for each student. The supervisor will guide the student in the selection and integration of appropriate modules for his/her programme of study. The doctoral committee will monitor and guide the student in the production of the thesis.

  1. Proposed Start Date

September 2004. Candidates must commence their registration at the beginning of the Michaelmas term (September) or the Lent term (January).

  1. Opportunity and Need

"Every year Britain welcomes hundreds of thousands of students from all over the world. They come because British universities and colleges have a very strong international reputation for research and teaching. And they are attracted by the huge choice of high quality programmes. I am delighted that this choice will be increased with the introduction of a new route to the PhD, designed to give students from both home and abroad a competitive edge in the knowledge economy of the Twenty First Century." Tony Blair, 10th April 2001[1]

“The New Route PhD is a national initiative to provide PhD students with the highest quality of taught materials and practical experience alongside advanced research. This integrated approach offers students a learning environment in which to broaden and deepen subject knowledge while providing the opportunity for inter-disciplinary study to extend their expertise in new directions.
“This innovative and seamless scheme has been developed by a consortium of 31 of the leading universities across the UK. It has the full support of the UK government, the Higher Education Funding Council of England (HEFCE) and the British Council. It meets UK doctoral standards and the principles laid down by the Quality Assurance Agency of the UK, including normal quality assurance mechanisms such as the provision of external examiners. In terms of the research student experience as well as the standing and value of the awards for which these students study, the New Route PhD is a landmark in the provision of educational excellence.”[2]

Outline approval for UoK’s programmes was given by the New Route PhD Consortium in the summer 2002.

  1. Aims and Objectives

“The knowledge-based economy of today puts far greater demands upon Doctoral graduates. There will always be a need for the subject specialist, but the competition for jobs in all sectors, whether public or private, is increasing and many find that having specialist knowledge - even at Doctoral level - is not sufficient. Increasingly, the traditional PhD is seen as too 'narrow' and students wishing to study for a PhD must carefully consider how employable they will be on graduation.
“The New Route PhD combines a specific research project with a coherent programme of formal coursework. This seamless programme of research methods training, taught subject specific modules and inter-disciplinary studies will both broaden and deepen students subject knowledge and extend their expertise in new directions. At the same time, tuition and support of the highest quality will encourage students to develop a range of professional skills which employers around the world in both the public and private sector now demand. The result is a PhD with real added value.”[3]

The programme aims:

  • To attract high-calibre students from home and overseas;
  • To offer focussed and supportive research-training;
  • To produce high-quality doctoral graduates with the skills necessary for pure and applied research within their chosen areas of employment, including higher education, public bodies and the private sector.

On successful completion of the programme, students will have:

  • acquired a good grounding in research and professional skills;
  • developed a broad knowledge of their subject area;
  • acquired specialist knowledge in relation to their chosen area of research to a standard sufficient to make an original contribution to knowledge;
  • carried out a research project using appropriate research methods;
  • produced a thesis displaying and applying a broad knowledge of the subject at an advanced level.

Those students who are not upgraded to the PhD and who successfully complete the MPhil programme will have:

  • acquired a good grounding in research and professional skills;
  • developed a broad knowledge of their subject area;
  • acquired specialist knowledge in relation to their chosen area of research to a standard sufficient to conduct an original investigation;
  • carried out a research project using appropriate research methods;
  • produced a thesis displaying and applying a broad knowledge of the subject at an advanced level.

Assessment will be undertaken in accordance with the University’s Assessment Criteria for Research Degrees.

  1. Programme Outline

(a)Details of the Research Training that the student will be expected to complete.

The first two years of the programme will comprise taught modules in research and professional skills training and subject-specific modules and a research element in each year. Years three and four will be devoted to the research project and production of the thesis although candidates will be expected to participate in careers related modules. Years three and four may also included modules that will complement the students specific research topic to be directed at the discretion of the supervisor and doctoral committee.

A schematic diagram of the structure of the programme is attached (Appendix 1). A full list of research and professional skills training courses, including those available through the Staff Development Programme, is included in Appendix 2. Subject-specific research-training modules are listed in Appendix 3.

(b)Details of other courses students may benefit from eg: Health & Safety, IT, writing skills, English language, library skills etc

See appendices. See also section 12, below.

(c)Details of progression milestones that the student will need to reach and successfully pass (to include transfer from a lower qualification to a higher qualification eg MPhil to PhD)

Students will be assessed annually and will be required to successfully complete each year of study (180 credits) before they may progress to the next year. The supervisor and the doctoral committee will oversee this process and recommend (or otherwise) that the student be permitted to proceed. Candidates must ordinarily successfully complete years one and two (360 credits) before they can be confirmed as PhD candidates. In accordance with University policy, all students will be registered for the degree of MPhil in the first instance; the decision to transfer a student to PhD candidature will take place during year two and must take into account progress and performance in the first two years and will be made in accordance with section 6 of the Faculty Code of Practice.

Subject to approval of the relevant programme specifications, candidates may exit from the programme at different stages and may be eligible for the award of Postgraduate Certificate (minimum 60 credits), Postgraduate Diploma (minimum 120 credits) or a Master’s degree (minimum 180 credits) depending on the satisfactory completion of appropriate modules during the period of their registration that satisfy rubrics set out in programme specifications.

(d)Details of the assessment method (eg: by thesis etc)

Modules are assessed either by coursework, essays, presentations, examinations or a combination of any such methods. Students will be marked on each module and will be required to satisfactorily pass all modules in order to proceed with the programme. In certain circumstances students who fail a module may be permitted either to re-sit the assessment or to re-take the module.

Students will be assessed on the basis of a thesis of not more than 100,000 words, following the rules and procedures laid down in Regulations for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy and Instructions to Candidates for Examination for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.[4]

  1. Approved Supervisors

Dr Ruth Abbey / Dr Steffan Rossback
Dr Gulner Aybet / Dr Thomas Saalfeld
Dr Christopher Daase / Professor Richard Sakwa
Dr Paolo Dardanelli / Dr Jarrod Weiner
Professor John Groom / Professor Andrew Williams
Dr Sarah Hyde / Dr Andrew Wroe
  1. Research Environment

The doctoral programme of the Department of Politics and International Relations provides a combination of formal research training and individual supervision within a supportive environment with regular interaction between staff and students. All students in the doctoral programme participate in the graduate community and environment provided by the graduate research training seminar and the Department’s research centres. The research environment, facilities and support structure for research students include:

  • An active research environment with 18 research-active academic staff, three research centres (European and Comparative Governance, Peace and Conflict, Contemporary Political Theory and Ethics), and over 50 research students;
  • Dedicated physical resources (equipment, facilities, dedicated rooms, study space for research students);
  • Extensive information resources (ICT & network provision, library holdings, other collections, access arrangements);
  • A cosmopolitan research culture including a regular visiting speaker series, several visiting researchers per term, six taught postgraduate programmes, extensive exchanges between our two centres in Canterbury and Brussels, as well as external links to four international associations and two professional journals.
  1. Student Support and Guidance

Support facilities for students include the centrally located and well stocked Templeman Library (over one million books and periodicals) which has study places for 1,300 students and over 200 public access PCs and the University’s computing service which provides extensive computing facilities for all students to include 600 public access systems - Kent has one of the highest number of computers per student in the country. There are additional departmental computer facilities specifically designated for use by postgraduate students in a dedicated study space (the Vera Cameron room). Students can also avail themselves of the IT training provided to university staff via the Computing Service and the Unit for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching.

In addition to the support students receive in the department, the University’s support services include: the English Language Unit (ELU) which in addition to providing pre-sessional courses also provides English language support to registered students; the Unit for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (UELT) which provides both training and guidance in effective learning; the Careers Advisory Service is able to offer advice and support as students progress from university to employment; and the Student Development Unit in the Students’ Union which houses the Jobshop (a job centre for students), supports the Kent Student Certificate for Volunteering (an award bearing voluntary scheme) and an Advice Centre. The University Medical Centre, Counselling Service, the Chaplaincy, the Day Nursery and the Disability Support Unit are all available to students in the support of their health and welfare. In addition, the International Office has specific responsibility for the induction and oversight of the welfare, to include the management of any available hardship or scholarship funds and immigration advice, of overseas students.

  1. Departmental Quality Assurance and Enhancement

Each individual student’s progress will be monitored by the doctoral committee. Student feedback is sought and monitored on the taught modules. Supervisors and students are required to complete bi-annual progress-monitoring reports, which are overseen by the department’s Research Committee (on which there is research student representation) and the Faculty’s Research Committee. The department’s research programmes are also subject to periodic review. External examiners oversee the taught components of the programme, which are subject to thorough monitoring and review in accordance with the University’s Code of Practice for Quality Assurance.

  1. Departmental Resource Implications

Negligible.

  1. Professional Accreditation

The New Route PhD in Politics and International Relations:

  • Is a participant in the consortium of Britain’s leading 31 universities responsible for the New Route PhD programme (
  • Is founded on the benchmark Statement for Politics and International Relations of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (
  • Aims at achieving the qualifications at doctoral level as described by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (

IM/DRC

Updated 19 January 2004

S:\Research Committee\Programmes\New Route PhD Programme Specification (Pol&IR).doc

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Appendix 1

Generic Schematic Diagram of the Kent New Route PhD
Year 1Modules Credits Exit Points[5]
Research
Training /
  • Research Design and Data Collection
  • Using Secondary and Qualitative Data
/ 20
20 / 60 credits = PG Certificate
120 credits = PG Diploma
Subject Specific
Training /
  • Philosophy and Methodology of Politics and International Relations[6]
  • Subject-specific modules (see appendix 3)
/ 20
20
Professional Skills Training /
  • Learning, Teaching and the Academic Environment
  • Effective Research in Higher Education
  • Optional non-credit bearing modules
/ 30
15
Research
Project / 55
Total / 180
Year 2 Modules Credits Exit Points
Research
Training /
  • Philosophical Approaches to Research[7]
  • Quantitative Analysis and Presentation of Results
/ 20
20 / 120 credits = PG Diploma
180 credits = MA/MSc
Subject Specific
Training /
  • Subject-specific modules (see appendix 3)
/ 40
Professional Skills Training /
  • The Inclusive Curriculum

Technology in Learning and Teaching

  • Optional non-credit bearing modules
/ 15
15
Research
Project / 70
Total / 180
Year 3 Modules Credits Exit Points
Research
Training / 180 credits = MA/MSc
360 credits = MPhil
Subject Specific
Training
Professional Skills Training /
  • Learning and Teaching Innovation
  • Research Programme Supervision
  • Optional non-credit bearing modules
/ 15
15
Research
Project / 150
Total / 180
Year 4Modules Credits Exit Points
Research
Training / 360 credits = MPhil
540 credits = PhD
Subject Specific
Training
Professional Skills Training /
  • Optional non-credit bearing modules

Research
Project / 180
Total / 180
Grand total / 720 / 720 credits = NRPhD

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Appendix 2

Research and Professional Skills Training Modules

The following research and professional skills training modules are available to all New Route PhD students. The research training modules are the basis of the faculty-based research training masters, the MA in Methods of Social Research. The professional skills training modules are offered as part of the University’s Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education which forms the basis of training and induction for all staff and for postgraduate students who have teaching commitments. All modules are assessed and have been validated through the University’s quality assurance mechanisms and approved via the University’s Learning and Teaching Board. The wide range of non-credit professional skills modules are co-ordinated by the Unit for the Enhancement and Learning and may be taught by members of this unit or from members of staff from other departments (eg Library or Computing Service) or external training consultants. Those who successfully complete the necessary modules may be awarded the European Computer Driving Licence. Modules are indicated as compulsory or optional although supervisors and doctoral committee may instruct students to enrol on particular modules as they see fit. The ECDL modules are optional but students who do not yet possess these computing skills are strongly encouraged to enrol.

Research Skills Modules / Compulsory/ Optional / Credit
Rating / Year of
Study
Research Design and Data Collection / Compulsory / 20 / 1
Using Secondary and Qualitative Data / Compulsory / 20 / 1
Philosophical Approaches to Research / Compulsory / 20 / 2
Quantitative Analysis and Presentation of Results / Compulsory / 20 / 2
Professional Skills Modules / Compulsory/ Optional / Credit
Rating / Year of
Study
Learning, Teaching and the Academic Environment / Compulsory / 30 / 1
Effective Research in Higher Education / Compulsory / 15 / 1
The Inclusive Curriculum / Compulsory / 15 / 2
Technology in Learning and Teaching / Compulsory / 15 / 2
Learning and Teaching Innovation / Compulsory / 15 / 3
Research Programme Supervision / Compulsory / 15 / 3
Web-based Learning: pedagogical principles / Optional
E-teaching: Using on-line discussion to support
student learning / Optional
Web-based Assessment / Optional
Learning Technologies for Multi-site Training / Optional
Assertiveness and Confidence Building / Optional
Introduction to Project Management / Optional
Paths into the Internet / Optional
Web of Science / Optional
Finding Articles in the Social Sciences / Optional
News and Newspapers on the Net / Optional
Full-text to your desk top: Electronic Full-text Services / Optional
Library Catalogues on the Net / Optional
Beyond the Web: Usenet Newsgroups & Email Lists / Optional
Effective Communication Skills / Optional
Time Management / Optional
Interviewing Skills for Recruitment and Selection / Optional
Cultural Awareness in Higher Education / Optional
Introduction to Good Practice in Working with Staff & Students with a Disability / Optional
Persuasive Communication / Optional
European Computer Driving Licence Modules / Compulsory/ Optional / Credit
Rating / Year of
Study
Basic Concepts of IT / Optional / 1
Using the Computer and Managing Files / Optional / 1
Word Processing / Optional / 1
Spreadsheets / Optional / 1 or 2
Databases and Filing Systems / Optional / 1 or 2
Presentation and Drawing / Optional / 1 or 2
Information Network Services / Optional / 1 or 2

Appendix 3