The PhD in Law may be awarded after three to four years of full-time study or five to seven years of part-time study (including a probationary period) of supervised independent research on the basis of a thesis not exceeding 100,000 words, exclusive of bibliography, table of contents and any other preliminary matter.

A doctoral candidate's thesis must demonstrate all of the criteria below:

1. a significant contribution to the field of study through the creation and interpretation of new knowledge, connection of previously unrelated facts or the development of new theory or revision of older views;

2. submission of work of a quality in whole or in part of a standard to merit publication (whether or not subsequently published);

3. provides evidence of the acquisition of knowledge and a detailed understanding of applicable techniques for research and advanced academic enquiry;

4. is of a quality and quantity to reflect three years of full-time postgraduate study (or part-time equivalent).

A PhD research proposal of between 2,000 and 3,000 words in length (inclusive of footnotes but exclusive of bibliography) should be submitted at the time of application for consideration by the Faculty's Degree Committee.

This course is designed to meet the needs of two groups:

• those who have developed an interest in Latin America through study or work and wish to develop this for personal or professional reasons
• those who intend to proceed to a doctorate, and possibly an academic career in the field

The course seeks to provide participants with a critical understanding of Latin America in all its complexity, and of the means and methods that have been devised to study and understand it better.

The criteria for the assessment of the 30,000-word thesis is rather more stringent than on Master’s programmes at most other Universities, where (in the UK) the thesis typically represents only a quarter of the year’s work. In particular, there is a requirement for originality, which must be met either by research using primary sources (documents, interviews, official publications, or the like) or else by developing a distinctive approach to an existing debate or literature. This is consistent with the aim of the thesis, which is to develop advanced skills of research and expression.

The Centre of Latin American Studies (CLAS) offers a full-time and a part-time PhD programme. The Centre currently has approximately 15 PhD students at different stages of the programme, working in a range of areas.

Full-time PhD students are required to be resident in Cambridge for the duration of their degrees, with the exception of extended fieldwork trips. It is important to note that the part-time PhD at Cambridge is not a distance-learning course. Part-time students are expected to fully engage with the Faculty, to integrate into the research culture of the University and to attend the University on a regular basis for supervision, study, skills training, research seminars and workshops.

The students form a lively academic and social community, playing a full part in the Centre's activities, meeting regularly to present their latest research to each other and organizing seminars and conferences with the Centre's support.

Further information, including current and past student profiles, is available on the Centre's website.

Most of our PhD students come here to work on their thesis with leading scholars in their fields, but we are also committed to helping you develop your future career. CLAS provides specialized in-house training on a range of topics, including:

• teaching undergraduates
• publishing in Latin American studies
• improving your academic writing
• applying for academic posts

CLAS' own training provision is complemented and augmented by a wide range of skills training sessions offered by the University, including research skills, IT, personal development, communication skills and careers advice. Bursaries are available for those wishing to take language courses, and CLAS is currently able to offer specialist in-house training in Brazilian Portuguese. Whatever your future aspirations, you will be encouraged, if you wish, to take the opportunity to gain valuable teaching experience during your time here, in the form of small group supervisions and/or lectures.

This course is designed to meet the needs of two groups: those who have developed an interest in Latin America through study or work and wish to develop this for personal or professional reasons, and those who intend to proceed to a doctorate, and possibly an academic career in the field. The course seeks to provide participants with a critical understanding of Latin America in all its complexity, and of the means and methods that have been devised to study and understand it better. This is achieved through the three main elements of the course:

• A core course, highlighting key critical issues in Latin American Studies and providing a forum for interdisciplinary debate;
• Modules in a range of different fields, of which each student selects four, providing some sense of contrasting disciplinary methods;
• A dissertation of up to 15,000 words, providing an opportunity to study a topic in depth.

The dissertation is a very substantial element of the MPhil. course, and the examination process and criteria for the assessment of the dissertation are accordingly rather more stringent than on Master’s programmes at most other Universities, where (in the UK) the dissertation typically represents only a quarter of the year’s work. In particular, there is a requirement for originality, which must be met either by research using primary sources (documents, interviews, official publications, or the like) or else by developing a distinctive approach to an existing debate or literature. This is consistent with the aim of the dissertation, which is to develop advanced skills in research and expression.

This course combines taught elements and research methods training with a significant level of independent research. Students admitted to this course will be those who have a strong background in land economy-related subjects and who may already have some research experience. They will normally be those aspiring to and who have good prospects of proceeding to the PhD prior to an academic career.

Candidates study one core or two optional modules chosen from a list of options taught by the Department of Land Economy. They are also required to satisfactorily attend and complete the Social Sciences Research Methods Centre (CaRM) training programme, and to complete a 20,000-word dissertation, supervised by one of the academic staff within the department. The dissertation will review the literature and develop research hypotheses, and possibly involve some preliminary data collection and analysis.

The CaRM programme is described on the CaRM Website. Candidates must take six CaRM core modules and produce a research methods essay of not more than 4,000 words as part of this programme. It is anticipated that the research training provided by the CaRM plus the dissertation (20,000 words) and the choice of specialised modules from the other Land Economy MPhils will provide the necessary and sufficient background for commencing PhD research.

MPhil courses offered by the Department of Land Economy share common aims:

• Enable students of high calibre to pursue their education at an advanced applied level drawing on the primary disciplines of economics, planning and environmental policy, with additional specialisms in finance and law.

• Provide students with opportunities both to build on and develop material which they may have studied at the undergraduate level as well as to broaden their knowledge base.

• Equip students with the necessary skills to pursue careers at a high level in a range of areas, including business and finance, civil service, public service, property professions, environmental agencies and organisations, national and international agencies and further study.

• Provide opportunities for education in a multidisciplinary environment so as to advance the understanding of cognate disciplines and their applications.

• Provide opportunities for learning with colleagues from different social, economic and legal systems.

• Provide students with appropriate skills and experience to enable them to use information and resources critically and to equip them with the means to undertake their own research.

• Provide an educational environment with a strong research ethos that brings together students from a wide variety of backgrounds and fosters an international approach to common problems.

This is a thesis-only MPhil and the Department will not admit students to it unless it can be satisfied that they have the necessary research skills, together with a clear vision of their topic and a good grasp of the appropriate methodology to explore it. Further details are given on the course page on the Department of Land Economy website.

MPhil courses offered by the Department of Land Economy share common aims:

• Enable students of high calibre to pursue their education at an advanced applied level drawing on the primary disciplines of economics, planning and environmental policy, with additional specialisms in finance and law.

• Provide students with opportunities both to build on and develop material that they may have studied at an undergraduate level as well as to broaden their knowledge base.

• Equip students with the necessary skills to pursue careers at a high level in a range of areas, including business and finance, civil service, public service, property professions, environmental agencies and organisations, national and international agencies and further study.

• Provide opportunities for education in a multidisciplinary environment so as to advance the understanding of cognate disciplines and their applications.

• Provide opportunities for learning with colleagues from different social, economic and legal systems.

• Provide students with appropriate skills and experience to enable them to use information and resources critically and to equip them with the means to undertake their own research.

• Provide an educational environment with a strong research ethos that brings together students from a wide variety of backgrounds and fosters an international approach to common problems.

Land Economy offers a full-time and a part-time PhD programme. The department currently has over 70 PhD students at different stages of the programme, working in a range of areas.

Our department leads the field in the UK's latest Research Excellence Framework rating of Land Economy's joint submission with Architecture. 87.5% of our impact case studies, including research on the transition to a low-carbon economy, were judged to be 'world-leading'.

Further information is given on the department's website.

The aims of the PhD programme are:

• to enable students of high calibre to pursue their education at an advanced applied level, drawing on the primary disciplines of economics, planning and environmental policy, with additional specialisms in finance and law

• to provide students with opportunities both to build on and develop material which they may have studied at the undergraduate level as well as to broaden their knowledge base

• to provide opportunities for education in a multidisciplinary environment so as to advance the understanding of cognate disciplines and their applications

• to provide opportunities for learning with colleagues from different social, economic and legal systems

• to provide students with appropriate skills and experience to enable them to use information and resources critically and to equip them with the means to undertake their own research

• to provide an educational environment with a strong research ethos that brings together students from a wide variety of backgrounds and fosters an international approach to common problems.

The Italian Section in Cambridge has seven full-time faculty members available to supervise doctoral research. Their research interests span a broad range of topics in the Italian peninsula's languages, literatures, visual cultures, and history, from the medieval period to the present day.

Details of individual specialisms can be found on the Section's webpages. We have a lively group of doctoral students in the section working across periods and topics, supported by careful one-on-one supervision and mentoring, in the context of a rich research culture of seminars, symposia, conferences, lectures, and postgraduate training. Visiting scholars and students from other institutions regularly contribute to the Section's research culture. Students are also free to undertake comparative work across languages and national boundaries, supported by the wide range of expertise within the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics and Cambridge as a whole.

In British universities, the PhD (Doctorate of Philosophy) is traditionally awarded solely on the basis of a thesis, a substantial piece of writing in English that reports original research into a closely defined area of enquiry. The completion of the PhD thesis is generally expected to take three to four years, and most funding is based on this assumption. It's also possible to take a part-time route through research degrees, and the expected timeframe would be four to seven years.

During your research, the student will have the opportunity to work closely with a Supervisor who is a specialist in the candidate's research area. In addition to the Supervisor, the candidate will normally also be able to draw on the help and support of one further academic advisor and consult other academics working in related fields. The student might reasonably expect to see their Supervisor fortnightly or at least three times per term.

In addition to providing specialist supervision, the Faculty runs a programme of professional training for the benefit of all research students. The programme includes seminars and workshops on library resources, giving conference papers, publishing, applications and interviews, teaching skills, specialist linguistics training, and film-making. The School of Arts and Humanities runs a central programme covering a range of topics from PhD skills training, to language training and writing and editing skills. If you wish, you are likely to be given the opportunity to gain experience in small-group teaching from Colleges. There may also be opportunities to gain some experience in language teaching in the Faculty.

The PhD in Interdisciplinary Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NanoDTC) aims to train the next generation of academic and industrial leaders equipped with the skills to navigate and bridge the technical realm with the broader commercial and social landscape.

The programme offers an initial six-month intensive training & PhD project selection period, which aims to prime students from competent learners to effective researchers. Students are challenged and stretched beyond their various academic backgrounds, imbuing them with ‘technical multi-lingualism' and holistic, problem-focused thinking. High-quality training in advanced nanoscience concepts & experimental skills is delivered with a strong emphasis on applied learning formats (hands-on practicals & workshops) rather than traditional lectures. Modules undertaken by students during this phase include Applied Nanoscience which comprises practicals on a broad spectrum of experimental and data analysis techniques, System Integration for Experimentalists, and two experimental research projects (Mini and Midi projects). An additional module on Innovation for Scientists will help students develop a wider perspective, including training on innovation, sustainability and responsible research.

At the six-month point, students select their interdisciplinary PhD research project, with two supervisors from two research groups in the Departments of Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Materials or another relevant department across the University. Normally, the Midi research project would be closely linked to the PhD choice so that the students have a chance to get some experience in the prospective PhD lab before confirming their choice.

By joining the NanoDTC programme, students will benefit from being a member of a vibrant and growing ecosystem, interacting with like-minded researchers across academic departments, as well as university spinouts and companies in the Cambridge innovation network. The programme's cohort-based approach to PhD training provides opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and mutual support, a strong network for sharing information on facilities and tools for research, and fertile ground for novel research ideas.

We are seeking students who are keen to move beyond the silo of a single scientific discipline and undertake a holistic, rounded research experience within this unique environment. The programme welcomes applicants from across the physical sciences including Chemistry, Physics, Materials, Engineering and any other subject that gives applicants a good background to undertake a PhD in nanoscience and nanotechnology.

The MPhil in Innovation, Strategy and Organisation (ISO) is an intensive nine-month master's degree combining advanced study and research.

The MPhil ISO programme has been designed for students seeking to extend their knowledge of social science methodologies and their application to the interdisciplinary study of organisations. The MPhil ISO programme is oriented to those seeking to prepare for a career in academic research.

Advanced study and research in this degree focus on innovation and change through three interconnecting themes: innovation and work practices, innovation and strategic change, and organisation theory. One taught module is provided in each of these areas. Modules in research methods and taught electives will also be offered. The MPhil ISO programme offers a route to a PhD.

The Educational aims of this programme are:

• to give students, with relevant experience at the first-degree level, the opportunity to carry out focused research under close supervision in the fields of strategy, organisational theory and information systems relevant to innovation; and
• to give students the opportunity to acquire or develop skills and expertise relevant to their research interests.