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Profile

Research degrees

We offer a range of research degrees including MPhil (in some cases with possibility of transfer to PhD) and PhD.

Candidates for any of these modes will typically hold a first or second class Honours degree from any UK university, or a qualification considered by the Research Degrees Committee to be equivalent.

We attach great importance to the training of our research degree students and, in particular, to the quality of their supervision. All our research students have the opportunity to discuss their work on a one-to-one basis with their supervisors and their progress is monitored regularly.

If you are accepted by LSBU as a research student, your department will nominate an appropriate member/s of academic staff to act as the supervisor/s of your research programme. In cases of joint supervision, one member of staff will be appointed as your Director of Studies.

Your Director of Studies will have overall responsibility for the coordination and management of your research programme. The intensity of supervision will vary ccording to your needs, the mode of study and the nature of your project. Initially full-time students may meet with their supervisor every two to three weeks. And as work progresses to the second and third years, and is developing satisfactorily, meetings may be less frequent as required

Training in research methods

For those professionals who wish to train for a career in the public and social services or as a professional researcher in the private and/or voluntary sector, we run a stand-alone MSc programme in research methods in the Social Sciences. This course also acts as the main basis for our research training for postgraduate research students.

Students who are enrolled on MPhil/PhD projects are eligible to enrol on the MSc course units free of charge. The MSc programme is recognised by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as providing research training (RT).

Students are offered course units in both qualitative and quantitative research methods, ethics, skills and problems in educational, economic and social research, and oral and written presentation skills, including preparation for report writing and viva voce examinations.