Overview

The Department is organised around four Research Clusters: International Institutions, Law and Ethics; Theory/Area/History; International Political Economy; and Statecraft and Security. You will belong to at least one of these clusters during your studies and attend its weekly events. You will also have the chance to participate in the editing of a student-run journal Millennium: Journal of International Studies, which has a major role in the discipline.

The Department has particular 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 strength in the International Relations programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science include foreign policy analysis, nationalism, religion, historical sociology, international environmental politics and strategic and war studies. Many individuals contribute to more than one of these subjects, and there is interdisciplinary work with colleagues in the Departments of Government and International History, as well as through the many research centres at the School.

Careers

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 to roles within the public sector and government.

Top 5 sectors our students work in:

Government, Public Sector and Policy
International Organisations
Consultancy
Information, Digital Technology and Data
Education, Teaching and Research

Programme Structure

Courses include:

Methods in International Relations Research

Bayesian Reasoning for Qualitative Social Science: A modern approach to case study inference

Qualitative Methods in the Study of Politics

Fundamentals of Social Science Research Design

Qualitative Research Methods

Doing Ethnography

Key information

Duration

Full-time
- 36 months

Start dates & application deadlines

Starting 2027-09-29 00:00:00
- Apply before 2027-01-15 00:00:00

Language

English

Delivered

On Campus

Campus Location

London, United Kingdom

Disciplines

International Relations View 48 other PhDs in International Relations in United Kingdom

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Academic requirements

GPA

Required

English requirements

We are not aware of any English requirements for this programme.

Other requirements

General requirements

The minimum entry requirement for this programme is a high merit (65+) in a master’s degree in a subject relevant to the proposed research with high merit (65+) in the dissertation element, or equivalent. Applications which do not meet these criteria (or do not expect to do so on completion of any pending qualifications) are not considered eligible.
Competition for places at the School is high. This means that meeting our minimum entry requirement, does not guarantee you an offer of admission.

Tuition Fees

Tuition fees are shown in and the most likely applicable fee is shown based on your nationality.

International Applies to you

Applies to you

Non-residents

23500 GBP / year

≈ 23500 GBP / year
Domestic Applies to you

Applies to you

Citizens or residents

5006 GBP / year

≈ 5006 GBP / year

Living costs

London

United Kingdom

1137 - 2157 GBP / month

The living costs include the total expenses per month, covering accommodation, public transportation, utilities (electricity, internet), books and groceries.

Funding

The School recognizes that the cost of living in London may be higher than in your home town or country, and we provide generous scholarships each year to home and overseas students.

Find out more about financial support.

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Scholarships Information

Below you will find PhD's scholarship opportunities for International Relations.

Available Scholarships

You are eligible to apply for these scholarships but a selection process will still be applied by the provider.

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