You'll pursue academic interests in the friendly and supportive environment of the Institute, where your research will be enhanced by the outstanding libraries of the University of London, including the Institute's own prestigious collection.
With guidance from our expert supervisors, you'll carry out extensive independent research culminating in a thesis of up to 100,000 words. Broadly speaking the focus of research degrees has increasingly been on the humanities and cognate social sciences, particularly on the subjects of human rights, globalization and development, politics, and Commonwealth history.
Full-time study for the Commonwealth Studies degree from School of Advanced Study, University of London entails three or a maximum of four years' independent research, part-time students complete the same programme in six, or a maximum of eight years. You'll initially be registered for our MPhil and then, providing your progress has been satisfactory, be upgraded to our PhD programme.
Career
The SAS Careers Service works with students and graduates of all ages and at all stages of career development across all the institutes. Our mission is to provide high-quality information about careers and skills, and professional advice and guidance. We help students with their career development, either within their current field of work or in something completely new.
SAS students can access 1-2-1 guidance appointments throughout their studies and for up to 2 years after graduating, to help them plan their next steps, whatever they might be. We also offer CV, cover letter, and application advice as well as mock interviews with the SAS Careers Consultant who will empower you to feel more confident in your interview performance.
Programme Structure
The Institute of Commonwealth Studies offers doctoral research supervision in the following broad areas:
- Human rights
- Genocide studies
- African politics, governance and development
- Ethnicity: conflict and accommodation in plural societies
- Protection of refugees
- Minority and Indigenous rights protection
- Ecocide, environmental destruction and human rights
Admission requirements
Academic requirements
We are not aware of any specific GRE, GMAT or GPA grading score requirements for this programme.
English requirements
IELTS: 7
Other requirements
General requirements
- To apply, please send an initial email to Dr Olivia Lwabukuna, Director of Graduate Research Studies, on olivia.lwabukuna@sas.ac.uk. Dr Lwabukuna will require your proposed field of study in order to allocate an appropriate Supervisor.
- Before agreeing to accept you, the School will require you to submit a research proposal, so it is worthwhile to have drafted this before formally applying.
Tuition Fees
Tuition fees are shown in AUD and the most likely applicable fee is shown based on your nationality.
- International: 32,908 AUD / year (≈ 17,430 GBP / year)
- Domestic: 12,283 AUD / year (≈ 6,506 GBP / year)
Additional Details
Part-time tuition fees:
Living costs
London, United Kingdom
2,147-4,072 AUD / month
The living costs include the total expenses per month, covering accommodation, public transportation, utilities (electricity, internet), books and groceries.
