DPhil in Criminology

University of Oxford

About the course

The DPhil Criminology is offered as either a full-time 3-4 year degree, or a part-time 6-8 year degree. The DPhil entails researching and writing a thesis of between 75,000 and 100,000 words under the guidance of at least one supervisor who will be an acknowledged authority on their chosen topic.

As a first-year full-time student, or in your first two years as a part-time student, you will follow courses of instruction in criminological research methods to develop your skills whilst working under the guidance of at least one supervisor who will be an acknowledged authority on their chosen topic. After three or at most four years (no later than eight years for the part-time pathway) you are expected to submit your final thesis.

Criminology DPhil skills training sessions are offered by the Centre for Criminology. You must complete both modules during your DPhil and you can choose which term/academic year it would be most useful for you to take each.

he areas in which members of the Centre for Criminology are able to offer supervision include.

• policing and security
• sentencing
• crime, risk and justice
• human rights and criminal justice
• victims
• procedural justice and legitimacy
• prisons
• sociology of punishment
• restorative justice
• the death penalty
• border control and the criminalisation of migration
• public attitude and responses to crime
• the politics of crime and justice
• crime and the family
• race and gender
• miscarriages of justice
• crime, criminology and social/political theory
• youth justice

Assessment

You will be admitted in the first instance to Probationer Research Student (PRS) status.

In your third term (sixth term for the part-time pathway), you will normally apply for transfer from PRS status to full DPhil status by submitting a research outline and a substantial piece of written work. These are assessed by two members of the Centre for Criminology, who will also interview you about your work. A similar exercise then takes place in your sixth term (twelfth term for the part-time pathway) when you will apply for Confirmation of DPhil status.

After three or at most four years (no later than eight years for the part-time pathway) you are expected to submit your final thesis. Your thesis of between 75,000 and 100,000 words will be read by two examiners who conduct an in-depth oral examination with the student, known as a viva voce. On the basis of their report, you will either be awarded the DPhil or referred back to make revisions to the thesis.

Graduate destinations

Recent graduates of the DPhil Criminology have pursued careers in the following areas.

professional careers in criminal justice agencies and the law
university research and teaching in academic criminology and law schools
research careers
government departments
voluntary organisations in the crime and justice field.