Overview

Research and education in the School are driven by a concern to encourage innovative and critically incisive ways of thinking about a wide range of problems we encounter as citizens and as human beings.

The subjects we research in the School all contribute to the scholarly investigation of these challenges. The School is proud to be part of the driving force in Northern Ireland’s cultural, political and intellectual renaissance.

We pride ourselves on our global outlook within the School. This is reflected in our wide range of international partners and in the diverse nationalities represented across the staff and student bodies. The School hosts international visitors and speakers throughout each academic year and students benefit from the wide range of national and international topics being discussed and researched within the school.

About the Programme
The aim of the programme is to produce students who are fully-fledged independent researchers, and students are from the outset given encouragement to disseminate their work at seminars and conferences and by publishing in high-quality locations. The programme culminates in the submission of an 80,000-word dissertation.

The School has a strong international reputation for innovative research, across a wide range of specialist research strengths:

• Political parties, elections, and deliberative democracy
• Governance and Public Policy, with a particular emphasis on European Union politics, international political economy, gender studies, governance.
• Contemporary Irish Political History
• International Relations

•Security, Terrorism and International Relations.
•Political Theory: contemporary republicanism, ethics of work, recognition, toleration, freedom of expression, Critical Theory, emotions and politics, green political thought.

In each of these, important and pioneering work has been published by members of staff and major projects of research are ongoing. In addition, the School is committed to the supervision of high-quality research students in all areas.

Scholarships:
NINE DTP – Northern Ireland and North East Doctoral Training Partnership. Please see: https://www.ninedtp.ac.uk/ for further details.

Northern Bridge DTP – Northern Bridge Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership.
Please see: http://www.northernbridge.ac.uk/ for further details

DfE Studentship – Department for the Economy Postgraduate Studentship scheme
Please see: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/department-economy-postgraduate-studentship-scheme for further details.

Further PhD opportunities are available through the LINAS Doctoral Training Programme.
Please see https://www.qub.ac.uk/Research/GRI/mitchell-institute/Study/linas/Projects/ for more details

Research Resources
The Political Theory/Philosophy weekly research workshop for staff and students
The Political Studies and International Relations seminar for staff and students

Mode of study/duration
Registration is on a full-time or part-time basis, under the direction of a supervisory team appointed by the University. You will be expected to submit your thesis at the end of three years of full-time registration for PhD, or two years for MPhil (or part-time equivalent).

Community
We provide a challenging intellectual atmosphere for our postgraduates. You’ll see our thriving research culture yourself, through visits and talks, conferences and workshops, reading groups and the staff seminar series.

Our PhD student body reflects a growing and diverse global community giving you near unrivalled opportunities to make new friends, debate aspects of your research with a substantial peer group, and begin making those networks that will stand you in good stead throughout you careers.
You’ll become part of our vibrant postgraduate research culture, focused on areas including contemporary Irish political history, governance and public policy, security, terrorism and international relations, and philosophy and political theory.

The postgraduate community within the School is lively, energetic and diverse and, contribute enormously to the research culture of the school. It includes many of our own graduates, as well as graduates of British and Irish universities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Oxford, and UCD, and international institutions such as Princeton, Georgetown and Minzu University Beijing.

Careers
We are proud of the students who have graduated with their doctorates. Where possible we stay in touch so that the link and relationships remain long after a student has left the School. View our alumni here.

Employability is at the heart of the Queen’s curriculum. Key to this is the delivery of a programme that fully equips all of its students to succeed in their careers and give them a competitive edge in the graduate job market. Social science graduates are in demand for their critical thinking skills as they are equipped to question received views and explore new approaches and solutions. Graduates of the School have found success in a wide range of careers including journalism, PR, marketing, policy research, social work, teaching, civil service and government posts.

Subject Summary

You’ll become part of our vibrant postgraduate research culture, focused on areas including; • Political parties, elections, and deliberative democracy • Governance and Public Policy, with a particular emphasis on European Union politics, international political economy, gender studies, governance. • Contemporary Irish Political History •Security, Terrorism and International Relations. • Political Theory: contemporary republicanism, ethics of work, recognition, toleration, freedom of expression, Critical Theory, emotions and politics, green political thought. You’ll see our thriving research culture yourself, through visits and talks, conferences and workshops, reading groups and the staff seminar series.

Politics Highlights

Industry Links

• With Queen’s being part of the ESRC Northern Ireland and North East Doctoral Training Partnership (“NINE DTP”) and the AHRC Northern Bridge Consortium, there are opportunities for co-supervised doctoral work with staff across several universities across the north of England and Northern Ireland. Further international collaboration is facilitated via the wide range of institutions and partners across the world with whom members of staff and PhD students work.

Career Development

• Queen’s is ranked in the top 170 in the world for graduate prospects (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022).

Internationally Renowned Experts

• Ours is an excellent department in which to pursue a wide range of postgraduate research projects in close collaboration with academic supervisors, leading to the degree of PhD. Our postgraduate community comprises over 40 part time and full-time research students whose research is facilitated by a range of supportive research centres including:
  
  • The Democracy Group
  • Centre for Gender in Politics
  • Centre for the Study of Ethnic Conflict
  • Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action
  • The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice
• Ranked 14th in the UK for research quality (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022).

Student Experience

• HAPP has a flourishing programme of events, seminars, and research groups complements our postgraduate courses and doctoral supervision.
• Queen’s ranked 17 in the world for international outlook (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022).
• 16% of the Queen’s student population are international students (Queen’s Planning Office, 2023).
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Key Facts

• HAPP has a flourishing programme of events, seminars, and research groups complements our postgraduate courses and doctoral supervision.
• Politics was ranked joint 1st in the UK for Research Intensity (Complete University Guide 2021).
• Queen’s is ranked in the top 75 universities in Europe for Teaching Excellent (Times Higher Education, 2019).
• Queen’s is ranked 22nd in the world for international outlook (Times Higher Education World University Rankings, 2020).
• Queen’s is ranked in the top 140 in the world for graduate prospects (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2020).