PhD - Doctor of Philosophy

Research students at Spurgeon’s are valued members of the College community, with full use of the library, welcome at worship and prayer, and invited to the College’s social functions. Spurgeon’s is a close-knit community with a relatively small number of research students (most of whom study on a part-time basis). Nonetheless the College wishes to increase the number of research students and to maintain a meaningful and vibrant research community.

The Director of Postgraduate Research is Ian Randall.  Among the teaching staff who can supervise your research are College Principal Nigel Wright, John Colwell, Pieter Lalleman, Roger Standing, Peter Stevenson, and Stephen Wright.

If you are a part-time research student, living some distance from the College, you will be encouraged to participate as fully as possible in any research activities organised by more local academic institutions and departments.

Research students of the College organise an occasional Research Conference at which several students offer papers for discussion. This conference is deemed by our research students to be highly successful and it is has become a regular feature of the College’s life.

As a research student you will be encouraged, together with supervisors and other members of the teaching staff, to attend the post-graduate seminar whenever possible. Since it is important for ideas and methods to be tested in a rigorous academic environment, you are encouraged, as your research proceeds, to present papers at this seminar. The seminar meets weekly during term time. 

Selection, Admission and Induction of Students

Since Spurgeon’s is a relatively small College, with a limited number of staff available for supervision, and with a surprisingly high number of research enquiries during the course of a year, the College’s selection procedures must be rigorous.

Applicants can only be considered by the Research Committee on completion of an application form and on receipt of a research proposal of at least 5000 words.

Viable applications are passed by the College’s Admissions Department to the Director of Post-Graduate Research to be discussed with at least one other member of the College’s Research Committee. Normally candidates will interviewed by two members of Staff (usually a member of the Research Committee and the probable supervisor for the candidate) and candidates will only be accepted if members of the Research Committee are persuaded both that appropriate supervision can be provided and that the candidate is clearly both capable of study at this level and motivated to bring their research to a conclusion. Candidates will normally be expected to hold a good Master’s degree pertinent to their proposed area of research. If a candidate has not previously undertaken a module in research methodology the College may require a candidate to complete such a module before registration as a research student (the College offers a 20 credit Master’s module in Research Methods).

The first year of full-time research, or the first two years of part-time research, are viewed by the College as probationary and at the end of this period a candidate’s progress will be formally reviewed. It is normal practice for research students to be registered initially for the degree of Master of Philosophy and only upgraded for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy if, through this process of formal review, their project and their progress are deemed to be appropriate for this revised registration. 

You will only be accepted as a research student if the Research Committee is able to appoint a supervisor whose expertise is appropriate to the specific subject area of your proposed project. The structure, content, and argument of any dissertation remain your sole responsibility.

Your supervisor will:

• Advise and encourage you in the shaping of a research project and in the identification of a clear and defensible thesis

• Alert you to the possibility of arguments that may represent a challenge to the thesis

• Encourage you to maintain an awareness of other research pertinent to the specific area of study

• Encourage you to participate as fully as possible in the life of the College and to present aspects of the progressing work as papers within the College’s post-graduate seminar

• Advise and encourage you to participate in other seminars and conferences and to submit papers related to the research project for publication in appropriate journals

• Expect to be approached to provide references in support of applications for academic posts

• Usually be willing to attend the oral examination for the thesis (though it is not permitted for the supervisor to participate in discussion unless specifically invited by the Examiners)

• Meet with you up to eight times in the course of a year or, if you are part-time, meet you up to four times in the course of a year

• Following your presentation of written work summarise the key issues of the supervision in writing (a letter, a memo, or a ‘saved’ e-mail)

As noted previously, the first year of full-time research, and the first two years of part-time research, are viewed by the College as probationary and at the end of this period a candidate’s progress will be formally reviewed. For the purpose of this review samples of the candidate’s written work together with an outline of the proposed dissertation will be submitted to an independent reader (a member of the College’s tutorial staff other than the candidate’s supervisor appointed by the College’s Research Committee) who will submit a formal report to the Research Committee. The candidate’s principal supervisor will also submit a report to the Research Committee, commenting on the candidate’s progress and upon the candidate’s active participation in the life of the College and in broader research activities.

You should be aware that the award of degrees of Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy is not based merely on the length of the thesis or the study period but on the nature, focus, quality, and manner of contribution to scholarship.

A copy of the regulations of the University of Wales governing the presentation and assessment of research degrees can be obtained through the College’s Academic Registrar.

Entry Requirements and Contact information

• Qualifications for entry to the course will conform to the appropriate regulations of the University of Wales.
• You will normally be expected to have successfully completed a Master’s degree, examined in part by dissertation, and therefore to have experience of research and familiarity with research methods.
• Should this not be the case, you will normally be expected either to complete one of the College’s Master’s courses or, at least, to complete a module on research methods.
• Applicants can only be considered by the Research Committee on completion of an application form and on receipt of a research proposal of at least 5000 words.