MPhil/PhD International Relations

London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London

Be part of one of the world's leading departments in the study of international relations, while undertaking a substantial piece of work that’s worthy of publication. On this programme, you’ll have the opportunity to make an original contribution to the field of study. You’ll begin on the MPhil and be upgraded to PhD status at the end of your first year of registration. The department is organised around four research clusters: International Institutions, Law and Ethics; Theory/Area/History; International Political Economy; and Statecraft and Security. You’ll belong to at least one of these clusters during your studies and attend its weekly events. You’ll also have the chance to participate in the editing of a student-run journal called Millennium: Journal of International Studies, which has a major role in the discipline. The Department has strengths in international relations theory, security studies, international political economy, and European studies. As well as Europe, its specialist areas cover Russia, Central, Northeast and Southeast Asia, the USA, South America, the Middle East, and Africa. Other areas of research include foreign policy analysis, nationalism, religion, historical sociology, international environmental politics, and strategic war studies. Often, our faculty will contribute to more than one of these subjects. As such, there’s interdisciplinary work across the Departments of Government and International History, as well as the many research centres at the School. Students who successfully complete the programme often embark on an academic career. Recent doctoral graduates have also gone into careers in consultancy, education and teaching, NGOs and charities, international organisations, and roles within the public sector and government.