Overview

The Department of European and International Studies produces world-leading research in the fields of European studies, International Political Economy, and European and International politics and affairs. We have a wide range of expertise from critical theory to social sciences and political science, international political economy and heterodox economics. Through the activities of our research groups, we provide specific expertise in research designed to understand the European and global order. Our research contributes to academic scholarship and impacts public life, with staff actively engaging policymakers and politicians around the world. We have thriving postgraduate and early career researcher communities through which we are developing the next generation of scholars capable of tackling the European and global challenges of tomorrow.

Course detail

For this degree, we foster an interdisciplinary approach to understanding Europe and the global order. During your PhD in European and International Studies, you will be part of an inclusive research culture bolstered by our vibrant research groups

Current PhD thesis titles from across the department:

• How has the United Kingdom responded to anti-imperialism from the Commonwealth of Nations? (Owen Buchan)
• Cocoa Farmers in Gold Coast Anticolonial Nationalism (Malick Doucoure)
• Pride and Prejudice? The Fluctuating Boundaries of Inclusion across the European Right - A Mixed Methods Analysis (Jesse Grainger)
• ‘Because We are Europe’: the myth of exceptionalism and the legitimation of the European Project (Michael Higham)
• Organising in the Furrow. Farmworkers’ Power, Organisational and Technological Fixes in North-West Mexico’s Export Agriculture” (Diego M. Macías Woitrin)

Meet our current students: Claire Burchett Catherine Comyn Daniela Horta

The Department is host to a cluster of internationally recognized specialists in European Studies, International Political Economy, and European and International politics and affairs. Applications are invited to work with and under the supervision of these scholars.

Please note that this is our only distance-learning PhD degree at EIS. The admission requirements and the structure and timeline of the degree do not differ from our in-person study options.

This pathway is intended for well qualified students whose professional commitments prevent their fulfilling the normal residency requirement of the MPhil/PhD programme at King’s as well as for international/EU students who may benefit by retaining connections in their home countries.

Supervision will normally be at a distance, and students will be expected to participate in the six-monthly formal progress reviews which manage study on the programme. The programme will be supported by online training provided by the King's Doctoral College and the London Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Training Partnership (LISS-DTP) supported by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council.

Students are also encouraged and expected to participate in the academic activity of the department as their other commitments allow.

Minimum attendance requirements on this pathway require the student to attend in London at three key points:

1. Enrolment and Induction (late September/early October or mid-January/early February, depending on start date). All students must enrol (register) in person at the start of their course and attend the programme induction. This is a good opportunity to meet other students on your course and to arrange a meeting with your supervisor(s).
2. Formal upgrade from MPhil to PhD status (after around two years part-time registration or one year of full-time). As with other PhD programmes within in the department, the upgrade to a PhD degree from an MPhil is not automatic: students who wish to be considered for the PhD go through a formal upgrade. This is to ensure that all students have an appropriate research project which can be completed within the allotted timescale.
3. Final Examination for the degree (at the end of your course).

Most facilities on campus for postgraduate research students remain at the disposal of distance-learning students visiting London. Beyond the formal attendance requirements of the programme set out above students are welcome to visit King's and engage personally with supervisors and other research students as often as their schedule permits (international students should note the student visa information below for requirements of their visits to London).

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must meet the same academic entry requirements as for the standard MPhil/PhD programme. Further to those requirements, please note that the Blended Distance Learning option is intended for mid-career professionals whose work commitments prevent them from fulfilling the normal residency requirement of the MPhil/PhD programme at King’s. Students will usually be working in an area relevant to this area of study and be based outside the UK. As this is a distance learning programme requiring only short visits to the UK, many of our students need to enter the UK as a ‘Student Visitor’. Find out about VISA requirements.

Information is current, but staff members can change.

Head of group/division The Post-Graduate Research Director is Dr Charis Boutieri (charis.boutieri@kcl.ac.uk). The Deputy Director is Dr. Russell Foster (Russell.foster@kcl.ac.uk) and he should be the first point of contact regarding admissions queries. General questions about the application process should be directed to the Postgraduate Admissions Team.