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Postgraduate Study

 

Course closed for this cycle: Applied Criminology, Penology and Management is no longer accepting applications for this cycle. It is expected to re-open for new applications in early September.

The MSt programme in Applied Criminology, Penology and Management aims to:

  • Introduce senior criminal justice professionals to some of the most important and cutting-edge ideas and research in criminology, penology, leadership and management, as well as longstanding themes and debates within the field;
  • Provide students with opportunities to reflect on their own practice, as well as criminal justice policy and practice more broadly;
  • Equip students with methodological skills so that they can locate, understand, undertake and evaluate research, and apply it in their professional practice;
  • Provide world-leading instruction, and academic, pastoral and administrative support that enables students to realise their educational goals and gain a University of Cambridge Postgraduate Certificate or Master's Degree in Applied Criminology, Penology and Management.

Learning outcomes

Through an intensive programme of three nine-day; one eight day; and two five-day residential blocks in Cambridge, plus remote teaching and input (including a three-day remote Winter teaching block across two years of study), students are introduced to:

  • Key criminological concepts, including: legitimacy; compliance; desistance and deterrence;
  • Key criminal justice policy and practice debates; and
  • Key methodological skills, including: qualitative and quantitative approaches; ethics; and insider research.

Open Days

The University hosts and attends fairs and events throughout the year, in the UK and across the world. We also offer online events to help you explore your options:

  • Discover Cambridge: Master’s and PhD study webinars - these Spring events provide practical information about applying for postgraduate study.

  • Postgraduate Virtual Open Days - taking place in November each year, the Open Days focus on subject and course information.

For more information about upcoming events visit our events pages.


Departments

This course is advertised in the following departments:

Course closed for this cycle: Applied Criminology and Police Management is no longer accepting applications for this cycle. It is expected to re-open for new applications in early September.

Master of Studies (MSt) in Applied Criminology and Police Management has the following aims, to:

  • Prepare senior leaders and analysts in policing and wider law enforcement to apply the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for their complex and important work.
  • Help police officers, policy officials and analysts to master knowledge of the most important research and theory in applied criminology and policing management.
  • Develop the skills necessary to locate, evaluate, analyse and apply research to police operational strategies and tactics and policy on policing and criminal justice.
  • Develop the behaviours needed for communicating and implementing results of research, conclusions and implementation plans in both written and oral form.

Learning resources include:

  • The Radzinowicz Library, one of the world’s leading collections on crime, justice and policing.
  • Leading academics in police research, globally renowned and cited for their discoveries about policing.
  • Leading police executives from the UK recently or currently employed at the highest levels.
  • The Cambridge residential colleges, which serve as both study centre's and accommodation 25-30 days per year.
  • A student body of police leaders from around the world.

Learning outcomes

Graduates of this course will be able to:

  • Apply the conceptual framework of science to the management of law enforcement resources.
  • Assess options for any decision based on prior relevant research in the UK or abroad.
  • Design and lead innovations in relation to the process and measures of implementation.
  • Assess the accuracy of big data algorithms to better predict & prevent high-harm events.
  • Identify and solve patterns of problems by better use of performance data.
  • Manage simultaneous multiple demands on police and other agencies by strategic planning.
  • Assess quality of research and evaluations on the success of any innovations or technology.

Graduates of this course will have:

  • Completed a research project that contributes new knowledge to the profession and practice of senior and executive leadership.
  • Given an oral presentation of a research project that can improve efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement.
  • Participated in group projects that focus knowledge and research on important policy debates and problem- solving in senior leadership and/or policy making.
  • Assessed strategic issues in a broad intellectual framework of knowledge for policing; focused on the evidence-based policy and practice and use resources where they can do the most good; reviewed evidence and testing for new evidence of alternative practices; and tracked the delivery of professional work in relation to directions of senior leaders.

Open Days

The University hosts and attends fairs and events throughout the year, in the UK and across the world. We also offer online events to help you explore your options:

  • Discover Cambridge: Master’s and PhD study webinars - these Spring events provide practical information about applying for postgraduate study.

  • Postgraduate Virtual Open Days - taking place in November each year, the Open Days focus on subject and course information.

For more information about upcoming events visit our events pages.


Departments

This course is advertised in the following departments:

Course closed for this cycle: Anthropocene Studies is no longer accepting applications for this cycle. It is expected to re-open for new applications in early September.

This MPhil offers a 10-month programme of advanced study and research into the challenges to the contemporary world represented by the idea of the Anthropocene. The course is intended for students with a good first degree in geography or a range of related disciplines.

The aims of the course are:

  1. to enable students to acquire a critical and well-informed understanding of the contested geopolitics and knowledge politics of the idea of the Anthropocene and of its provocation to re-interpret and re-imagine relationships between humans, non-humans and physical processes;
  2. to give students the opportunity to acquire or develop advanced subject expertise and transferable skills relevant to their research interests and career aspirations;
  3. to equip students to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively. Students develop their skills of assessing contrasting theories, explanations and policies; collecting, critically judging, evaluating and interpreting varied forms of evidence; combining and interpreting different types of evidence to tackle specific problems; and recognising the ethical and moral dimensions of study.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Students from this course will:

  • acquire a systematic understanding of knowledge about the idea of the Anthropocene, and a critical awareness of the challenges and creative potential of the idea;
  • gain a comprehensive understanding of techniques of analysis, interpretation and communication applicable to their own research or advanced scholarship;
  • learn how to apply knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in this field;
  • gain a conceptual understanding that enables them to evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in the area of Anthropocene Studies, to evaluate methodologies and, where appropriate, to propose and test new hypotheses.

Skills and other attributes

Students from this course will be able to:

  • deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences;
  • exhibit proficiency in use of a range of software, knowledge of alternative IT sources, understanding and introductory experience in survey methods, statistical methods and a range of qualitative and ethnographic concepts and methods;
  • demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level to continue to advance their knowledge and understanding.

Continuing

Admission to the PhD following the MPhil is not automatic and if you wish to be considered for the PhD in Geography you must:

  • apply for and meet the criteria for admission to the PhD via the normal University admissions process
  • obtain a good pass level in the MPhil and in your dissertation
  • demonstrate your suitability to undertake a PhD, and submit a suitable research proposal
  • have the pre-agreement of an available and suitable supervisor to supervise your PhD research proposal

Open Days

The University hosts and attends fairs and events throughout the year, in the UK and across the world. We also offer online events to help you explore your options:

  • Discover Cambridge: Master’s and PhD study webinars - these Spring events provide practical information about applying for postgraduate study.

  • Postgraduate Virtual Open Days - taking place in November each year, the Open Days focus on subject and course information.

For more information about upcoming events visit our events pages.

Please visit the Department of Geography website to sign up for programme specific Q&A sessions.

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is among the leading environmental research centres in the world. It is an institute of the UK Research & Innovation - Natural Environment Research Council (UKRI-NERC) and is responsible for the UK's national scientific activities in Antarctica.

Its skilled science and support staff based in Cambridge, Antarctica and the Arctic work together to deliver research that uses the Polar Regions to advance our understanding of Earth and our impact on it.

Through its extensive logistic capability and know-how, BAS facilitates access for the British and international science community to the UK polar research operation. Numerous national and international collaborations, combined with an excellent infrastructure, help sustain a world-leading position for the UK in Antarctic affairs. The UK is one of over thirty countries operating scientific research facilities in Antarctica.

In partnership with the University of Cambridge, BAS offers a PhD in Antarctic Studies. Students undertake a research project under the joint supervision of a research scientist at BAS and a University supervisor in a relevant partner Department. Students are usually based at BAS in Cambridge but will be registered for their degree at the University of Cambridge under one of the partnering departments: Archaeology, Plant Sciences, Zoology, Earth Sciences, Geography and Scott Polar Research Institute, Applied Mathematics & Theoretical Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, or Computer Science & Technology.

Our seven Polar Science for a Sustainable Planet teams consist of Atmosphere, Ice & Climate; Biodiversity, Evolution & Adaptation; Ecosystems; Ice Dynamics Palaeoclimate; Palaeo Environments, Ice Sheets & Climate Change; Polar Oceans; Space Weather & Atmosphere.

We welcome research enquiries from those working for first degrees or Masters in earth science subjects, physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology and related areas. BAS is a UKRI institution, hence, our students will undertake research within the areas of the NERC funded CREATES Doctoral Landscape Award (DLA).

All research students registered at the institution have a BAS supervisor and a University supervisor in a cognate department; progression and examination requirements are as for research students in the partner department.


Open Days

The University hosts and attends fairs and events throughout the year, in the UK and across the world. We also offer online events to help you explore your options:

  • Discover Cambridge: Master’s and PhD study webinars - these Spring events provide practical information about applying for postgraduate study.

  • Postgraduate Virtual Open Days - taking place in November each year, the Open Days focus on subject and course information.

For more information about upcoming events visit our events pages.


Departments

This course is advertised in the following departments:

The MPhil in Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic (ASNC) is designed for students who have already undertaken a first degree incorporating work in some of the subjects encompassed by the Department. Our MPhil programme provides a nine-month course (October to June) in the scholarly methods and disciplines relevant to the study of the history, languages, literatures, and material culture of the peoples of Britain and Ireland, Brittany and Scandinavia in the earlier Middle Ages.

The course enables candidates to achieve an understanding of early Insular culture as a whole, as well as specialising in aspects of particular interest, whether historical, palaeographical, literary, or linguistic. Training is given in scholarly methods and practices, complemented by instruction in the candidate's particular fields of interest.

Educational aims of the programme

• To give students with relevant experience at a first-degree level the opportunity to carry out focused research under close supervision in one or more of the following areas: Anglo-Saxon history; Old English language and literature; medieval Scandinavian history; Old Norse language and literature; the histories of the Brittonic- and Gaelic-speaking peoples; Medieval Irish language and literature; Medieval Welsh language and literature; Insular Latin language and literature; palaeography; Germanic philology, Celtic philology, and textual criticism.

• To give students the opportunity to acquire or develop skills in the unique range of subjects offered by the Department.

• To provide students with an overview of important texts in the major subject areas listed above and related areas.

• To prepare students for doctoral research in one or more of the ASNC subject areas.

These aims are achieved by:

1. Giving students the guidance necessary to formulate a plausible research proposal and produce written work based on such a proposal within a strict timetable.

2. Broadening their appreciation of the principal issues which shape the field of their dissertation topic, and encouraging them to develop insights which might form the basis of an original contribution to the field.

3. Developing students' competence in bibliographical searching (including the use of information technology) and in the critical assessment of research in the field.

4. Providing teaching in a range of specialist linguistic, literary, historical, and palaeographical topics and giving students the opportunity to prepare written exercises for assessment in two of these areas.

5. Developing students' competence in contributing to a weekly text-based seminar, and in presenting their own work and discussing the issues arising from it with an audience of peers and senior members of the Department.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

During the MPhil, students should have:

  • developed a deep and critical knowledge of their chosen area within Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic
  • developed an understanding of critical debates which allows the evaluation of current research in their dissertation field
  • shown independent judgement based on their own research

Skills and other attributes

By the end of their course, students should have:

  • acquired and/or consolidated linguistic, palaeographical or other scholarly skills
  • participated effectively in seminar discussions and made an oral presentation of their research
  • learned how to schedule independent research to produce written work of a high standard to a strict deadline

Continuing

To continue to the PhD in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, students must apply through the University’s admission processes, considering funding and application deadlines. Readmission is not automatic and each application is considered on its own merits. The expected standard for continuation is an overall mark of at least 70%, including at least 70% of the dissertation, the same hurdle that would apply to those applying from elsewhere.


Open Days

The University hosts and attends fairs and events throughout the year, in the UK and across the world. We also offer online events to help you explore your options:

  • Discover Cambridge: Master’s and PhD study webinars - these Spring events provide practical information about applying for postgraduate study.

  • Postgraduate Virtual Open Days - taking place in November each year, the Open Days focus on subject and course information.

For more information about upcoming events visit our events pages.


Departments

This course is advertised in the following departments:

This research degree is usually examined after three years of research by a thesis of up to 80,000 words. The criteria for obtaining the degree are that the thesis represents a 'substantial contribution to knowledge' and that it also represents a realistic amount of work for three years of study. The department can offer doctoral supervision on topics in a variety of early medieval languages and literatures (Old English, Old Norse, Medieval Welsh, Medieval Irish, Insular Latin), in the history of a comparable range of geographical areas (Anglo-Saxon England, Scandinavia, Ireland, Wales, Brittany, and Scotland), as well as in palaeography.

Applicants for the PhD who have not previously taken an MPhil, MA, or similar research foundation course in a closely related discipline to the one in which they wish to pursue their research are usually required to take the MPhil course before registering for the PhD. Those with relevant master's qualifications admitted into the PhD programme are registered for the degree towards the end of their first year if progress has been satisfactory.

As part of a PhD student's learning and development, regular postgraduate seminars are held throughout each term, where papers are given both by current students and by guest speakers. In addition, the third term (Easter) Postgraduate Symposium is a more informal setting in which students present their research in a variety of formats (including posters and round-table discussions). ASNC postgraduate students also organise their own annual day-long conference (Cambridge Colloquium in Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic) and are involved in running two inter-university conferences. The Department and Faculty organise training and professional development sessions to supplement the University's provision.


Continuing

To continue to the PhD in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, students must apply through the University’s admission processes, taking funding and application deadlines into consideration. Readmission is not automatic and each application is considered on its own merits. The expected standard for continuation is an overall mark of at least 70%, including at least 70% in the dissertation.


Open Days

The University hosts and attends fairs and events throughout the year, in the UK and across the world. We also offer online events to help you explore your options:

  • Discover Cambridge: Master’s and PhD study webinars - these Spring events provide practical information about applying for postgraduate study.

  • Postgraduate Virtual Open Days - taking place in November each year, the Open Days focus on subject and course information.

For more information about upcoming events visit our events pages. You are also welcome to contact potential supervisors directly. General questions about either course should be referred in the first instance to postgrad@asnc.cam.ac.uk.


Departments

This course is advertised in the following departments:

American history at the University of Cambridge is a dynamic field which covers the history of what is now the United States, from the colonial period to the modern era. The MPhil in American History enables students to develop expertise in this ever-expanding field of historical scholarship.

The MPhil in American History combines taught and research elements over a nine-month full-time programme. The taught elements include three modules, as well as training workshops and seminars. All students will also complete a substantial piece of independent research (a dissertation of 15,000–20,000 words).

Throughout the course, students will be supervised by a dedicated member of staff, who will guide their research towards the completion of a dissertation on a subject chosen and developed by the student.

Cambridge graduates in American history have taken up posts in universities and academic-related spheres of work around the world. The MPhil in American History provides a point of entry into this rich tradition. However, the MPhil has also provided an excellent basis on which to proceed to a career in other, non-academic professions.

Learning outcomes

Students on the MPhil in American History will be provided with an in-depth study of some of the key areas of research in American history. All students will be assigned a supervisor who will guide them through the requirements of the course and, most crucially, the dissertation.

In this manner, all students are provided with the historiographical knowledge and analytical skills necessary to understand and evaluate existing research and to pursue research in their own fields of intellectual interest. Through the individual supervisions and group classes, students are introduced to the more specialised and intensive nature of research required at a postgraduate level.

By the end of the programme, students will have:

  • knowledge of key debates and trends in American history and historiography
  • greater understanding of issues, events, and people in American history
  • skills in presenting work in both oral and written form
  • advanced research and writing skills at postgraduate level

Continuing

The Faculty’s MPhil programmes provide excellent preparation for doctoral study and many of our MPhil students choose to stay at Cambridge to pursue a PhD.

Students wishing to continue to the PhD are normally expected to achieve an overall mark of 70 in their MPhil with a mark of at least 70 in their dissertation.

Admission to the PhD is always subject to the availability of a suitable supervisor.


Open Days

The University hosts and attends fairs and events throughout the year, in the UK and across the world. We also offer online events to help you explore your options:

  • Discover Cambridge: Master’s and PhD study webinars - these Spring events provide practical information about applying for postgraduate study.
  • Postgraduate Virtual Open Days - taking place in November each year, the Open Days focus on subject and course information.

For more information about upcoming events visit our events pages.

Course closed for this cycle: AI Ethics and Society is no longer accepting applications for this cycle. It is expected to re-open for new applications in early September.

The programme aims to equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary to address the ethical and societal challenges arising from the use of artificial intelligence. It will provide a professionally relevant teaching and learning environment informed by the forefront of research on AI and its ethical and societal impacts.

The programme of study aims to:

● Ensure that engagement with the ethical and societal challenges of AI is thoroughly informed by the knowledge, theories and methods of relevant established academic disciplines

● Provide a critical overview of the state of current interdisciplinary research on the challenges of AI

● Develop the critical research skills and analytical abilities needed to identify and address ethical challenges as they arise in practice from applications of AI

● Instil thorough knowledge of the role that different governance approaches can play in navigating the challenges of AI, and the ability to critically analyse those approaches

● Develop experts in the ethical and societal implications of AI with the ability and initiative to identify and address the challenges of AI across sectors and society

● Create a network for such experts to collaborate and continue learning as leaders in the field of AI ethics and governance

Successful completion of the MSt at a high grade may allow students to progress to a PhD either at the University of Cambridge or another institution.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

By the end of this programme, students will be able to:

● Discuss the ethical and societal challenges of AI with a full understanding of its history and its relationship to other disciplines and technologies

● Identify the capabilities of current AI systems, their key applications and the potential ethical and societal challenges of those applications

● Evaluate key ethical and societal challenges arising from the use of AI and the existing critical literature

● Apply theories and methodologies from a range of established disciplines and demonstrate their use in addressing ethical and societal challenges raised by AI

● Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of current governance approaches for addressing the challenges posed by AI

● Apply the systematic understanding of AI ethics and governance to develop new insights

Skills and other attributes

By the end of this programme, students will be able to:

● Synthesise and analyse research and advanced scholarship across disciplines

● Put theoretical and academic knowledge into practice

● Structure extended pieces of written work and present arguments clearly and effectively

● Plan and implement an independent research project

● Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, and show originality in tackling and solving problems


Open Days

Please refer to the ICE Website for more information about our previous and upcoming events and Open Days. These are a great way of finding out more about our courses, including content and delivery, and hearing from our academics and students. Recordings of these open events are also available to view on our YouTube channel.


Departments

This course is advertised in the following departments:

Course closed for this cycle: African Studies is no longer accepting applications for this cycle. It is expected to re-open for new applications in early September.

The MPhil in African Studies offers a taught course with a substantial research component and provides an excellent foundation for students wanting to develop their knowledge of Africa. It is designed for students who wish to enhance their historical and contemporary understanding of Africa’s societies, politics, economics, and cultures, as well as for those who wish to apply for advanced research degrees. The degree thus offers a highly regarded postgraduate qualification relevant to a wide range of professional careers, as well as intensive research and language training for students planning to prepare a doctoral dissertation.

The course introduces the latest research approaches and methodologies in African studies at an advanced level. Students have the advantage of developing an interdisciplinary approach to critical thinking and academic writing, the opportunity to develop skills in an African language, and also receive specialist research training.

The MPhil in African Studies is structured by four key elements: a core course, an option course, a dissertation and language training. Full details of the course can be found on the Centre’s website.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students should have acquired:

  1. a deeper knowledge and understanding of African studies and its critical debates;
  2. a conceptual and contextual understanding enabling the evaluation of past and present research on Africa and its methodologies;
  3. the knowledge and technical skills required for pursuing original research in their chosen area;
  4. the ability to situate their own research within current and past methodological and interpretative developments in the field; and
  5. increased proficiency in speaking an African language or language spoken in Africa (other than English)

Continuing

The Centre of African Studies does not offer a PhD course, but every year several of our MPhil students go on to study for a PhD in Cambridge or elsewhere. Requirements for different Cambridge departments vary: a high pass or distinction at the master's level is not uncommon.


Open Days

The University hosts and attends fairs and events throughout the year, in the UK and across the world. We also offer online events to help you explore your options:

  • Discover Cambridge: Master’s and PhD study webinars - these Spring events provide practical information about applying for postgraduate study.

  • Postgraduate Virtual Open Days - taking place in November each year, the Open Days focus on subject and course information.

For more information about upcoming events visit our events pages.


Departments

This course is advertised in the following departments:

This four-year doctoral training programme in Aerosol Science is part of the multi-institutional EPSRC Aerosol Science Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) and aims to provide scientists and engineers with a broad overview of the aerosol science sector in addition to in-depth training in detailed measurements, analysis and application approaches.

The initial full-time training phase of the doctoral training programme is aimed at building skills through taking taught courses at the University of Bristol, followed by a thematic broadening research placement that allows for complementary skills building. The taught courses provide training in the underlying physical science governing the properties and transformation of aerosols. Final research projects are agreed upon at the start of the PhD and will be advertised for students to select.

Training within the initial phase will provide the student with skills enabling:

  • the acquisition of a broad understanding of core aerosol topics, as well as transferable skills in a substantial body of knowledge which is at the forefront of an academic aerosol discipline or area of aerosol professional practice;
  • the creation and interpretation of new knowledge, through original research or other advanced scholarship, of a quality to satisfy peer review, extend the forefront of the discipline, and merit publication;
  • the development of a PhD thesis for an examination that they can defend in an oral examination.

This CDT operates in collaboration with the Universities of Bristol, Bath, Birmingham, Hertfordshire, Imperial College London, Surrey and Manchester.

Learning outcomes

Learning Outcomes

After completing the taught and training elements in the first year, students will have:

  • broad knowledge underlying physical science governing the properties and transformation of aerosols;
  • facility in applying measurement, sampling and analysis techniques used within the field;
  • working knowledge of programming and data analysis applied to aerosol science;
  • an understanding of how aerosol science is applied in industrial or applied research facilities;
  • experience of working in multidisciplinary teams, ensuring you have the agility to work at the interfaces of the traditional disciplines;
  • training in research methods, transferable skills and professionalism, and in entrepreneurism and the translation of research into new products, policy and practice;
  • a network of aerosol scientists from the wider community across eight universities and 50 industry and public sector partners.

By the end of the PhD programme, students will have:

  • the ability to conceptualise, design and implement a project for the generation of new knowledge, applications or understanding at the forefront of the discipline, and to adjust the project design in the light of unforeseen problems;
  • a detailed understanding of applicable techniques for research and advanced academic enquiry;
  • produced a thesis for examination.

Continuing

As this CDT contains a large element of training in the first year, and as admissions are arranged with several other Universities, there is no particular link between attainment on any MPhil course and admission to this programme.


Open Days

The University hosts and attends fairs and events throughout the year, in the UK and across the world. We also offer online events to help you explore your options:

  • Discover Cambridge: Master’s and PhD study webinars - these Spring events provide practical information about applying for postgraduate study.
  • Postgraduate Virtual Open Days - taking place in the autumn each year, the Open Days focus on subject and course information.

For more information about upcoming events visit our events pages.


Departments

This course is advertised in the following departments: