MPhil/PhD in International Development
London, United Kingdom
DURATION
3 up to 6 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 22,490 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for overseas student full-time | GBP 4,860 home student full-time | overseas student part-time: GBP 11,245 per year | home student part-time: GBP 2,430 per year
Introduction
Study our on-campus MPhil/PhD in International Development Studies at SOAS to realise your potential to define and solve pressing global forces and transform the world with your research impact.
As a PhD researcher, you’ll join our renowned globally diverse research community with access to research and teaching opportunities, as well as a substantial series of seminars presented by leading development professionals and practitioners.
Students may follow the PhD pathway in International Development by being based at either SOAS, LSHTM or IoE. All PhD students on the International Development pathway will attend an advanced research training seminar run by LIDC.
The series will provide students in the ESRC Doctoral Training Centre's International Development Pathway with a broad understanding of interdisciplinary approaches to development, and a detailed understanding of selected areas of interest.
All MPhil/PhD in International Development research students will participate in the compulsory course work and attend research student seminars in the college and department where they are registered for the MPhil/PhD. At SOAS the Economics and Development Studies departments hold seminar series and students will be expected to involve themselves in the work of the relevant research clusters.
Why study MPhil/PhD in International Development at SOAS?
- We are ranked second in the world for Development Studies (QS World University Rankings 2023)
- We are ranked 27th in UK for Economics (QS World University Rankings 2023)
- We are top 40 in the UK for Economics (Complete University Guide 2023)
- This is an on-campus programme, as such you will receive the benefit of learning and working in close proximity with the Department's expert scholars and researchers
- Our academic staff create an intellectually stimulating and challenging space across the many branches of international development and humanitarianism that make up Development Studies. All modules engage with questions of climate crisis, recognising its impact and interaction with processes of inequality and change
- Our staff specialise in a range of thematic areas including sustainability and climate change, migration and displacement, conflict, humanitarian action, labour, political ecology, and aid and institutions
- Combined with exceptional resources and our interdisciplinary approach, we offer a unique learning and research opportunity for our diverse and vibrant student community
Admissions
Curriculum
This Course Has Been Created to:
- Encourage and Enable Students to Complete an Original Thesis in the Expected Time
- Provide Training and Experience in Fieldwork and Across a Variety of Schools of Thought and in a Variety of Statistical Techniques
- Allow Flexibility in Training to Suit Students With Different Backgrounds and Subsequent Research Needs
- Make Available and to Monitor First Class Research Supervision With the Involvement of at Least Two Members of Staff Through Individual Research Student Committees
- Encourage Knowledge of Other Relevant Disciplines and the Adoption of an Interdisciplinary Approach Where Appropriate
- Equip Students With the Ability to Assess One Another's Work Critically, Whether in Response to Written or Spoken Presentation
- Obtain Language Skills as Appropriate
- Ensure a Congenial and Productive Environment for the Conduct of Research Through Availability of a Wide Range of Facilities and Full Participation in the Intellectual Life of the Department and School. Library Facilities Are Outstanding and Computing Facilities Are Attuned to Student Needs
- Emphasise the Relevance of Research to Theoretical, Empirical and Policy Issues
- Draw Upon the Department's Particular Strengths, Especially Its Expertise in Different Approaches to Economic Problems and Its Experience in Problems of Development, Specific Regions, and Comparative Analysis
- Involve Students in the Specialised Centres of the School Where Appropriate
- Form Part of the Academic Community of the Department, Participating Where Appropriate in Collaborative Research With Members of Staff, With Some Opportunities for Teaching
- Offer Unique Opportunities for Interdisciplinary and Regional Research, and the Scope to Learn or Improve a Language Where Appropriate
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
A degree from the Department of Development Studies at SOAS will further develop your understanding of the world and how society is organised, with specific focus on violence and conflict, the role of aid, refugees and forced migration. Graduates leave with a range of transferable skills, including critical thinking, analytical skills and cultural awareness.
Recent graduates have been hired by:
- Amnesty International
- BBC World Service
- British Embassy Brussels
- Department for International Development
- Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)
- Embassy of Japan
- Government of Pakistan
- Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office
- International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
- International Labour Organization (ILO)
- KPMG LLP
- Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
- National Health and Medical Research Council
- Overseas Development Institute
- Oxfam
- Royal Norwegian Embassy
- Save the Children UK
- The World Bank
- Thinking Beyond Borders
- US Department of State
- UN World Food Programme
- UN High Commissioner for Refugees
- WaterAid