DPhil in Migration Studies

University of Oxford

About the course

The DPhil in Migration Studies, offered by the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography (SAME) and the Oxford Department of International Development (ODID), presents the unrivalled opportunity to undertake an interdisciplinary, in- depth project focused on a specific and contemporary challenge facing the world by drawing on world-class research departments, centres and scholars.

As a DPhil student you will undertake your own original research project under the guidance of your supervisor. Academics from SAME and ODID can offer supervision in a wide range of subjects. Examples include migrant integration, identity formation, transnationalism, urban change, diasporas, humanitarianism, asylum and refugees, citizenship, health and wellbeing.

You will also benefit from long established research and teaching programmes on migration, each with particular focus on collaborating with non-academics and generating research ‘impact’. The DPhil programme offers the opportunity to link research training to research practice at the two research centres. The Centre on Migration Policy and Society (COMPAS) and the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC).

Assessment

You will likely be admitted to the course as a Probationer Research Student (PRS), but in some cases Oxford MPhil students may be admitted directly with full DPhil student status.

If you are admitted with PRS status, you will have to apply to transfer to full DPhil student status by the end of the first year for full-time students or the end of the second year for part-time students. Students who are successful at transfer will also be expected to apply for and gain confirmation of DPhil status, to show that your work continues to be on track. Both milestones will involve submission of a c.20,000-word document and an interview with two assessors (other than your supervisor) and therefore provide important experience for the final oral examination. This will normally occur by the 9th term of full-time students and by the 18th term for part-time students.

The course is ultimately examined by the submission of a thesis and oral examination, after three to four years of full-time study, or six to eight years of part-time study.

Graduate destinations

The increasing importance of the issue of migration on the global stage means that there are multiple paths to future employment in academia – where migration is growing in importance, with the establishment of numerous migration-related programmes at universities around the world – but also with significant opportunities in national governments and multilateral organisations.

Oxford graduates in similar programmes have gone on to occupy key posts in leading institutions of international governance, including. UNCHR, Norwegian Refugee Council, European Council on Refugees and Exiles, IOM, ILO, and the European Commission.