Programme Structure

General Structure

The academic year is structured around three terms as follows – first term (September to December), second term (January to April), and third term (May to August).

The Research Degree Programme commences in September each year and there are no variable start dates. In addition, the School of Business does not offer distance learning study options.

The Research Degree Programme facilitates the pursuit of an M.Litt., M.Sc. or Ph.D. degree on either a full-time or part-time basis. The related registration periods are as follows.

The First Year of Registration

During the first year of registration, all graduate research students are required to satisfactorily complete the following structured elements of the Research Degree Programme:

• Social Science Research Philosophy – normally scheduled on Thursdays during first term.
• Social Science Research Methods – normally scheduled on Thursdays during second term.
• Social Science Research Practice – normally scheduled on Thursdays during first and second term.

Individual graduate research students may be required to complete additional modules as set forth in Additional Programme Requirements below.

The Second Year of Registration

During the second year of registration, all graduate research students (except M.Litt. and M.Sc. students) are required to satisfactorily complete the following structured elements of the Research Degree Programme:

• Social Science Research Practice – normally scheduled on Thursdays during first term to support students intending to proceed for confirmation on the PhD register.
• Submission of Confirmation Report and attendance at Confirmation Interview – normally scheduled during first term.

In the case of part-time graduate research students intending to proceed for confirmation on the PhD register, students may elect to prepare the Confirmation Report and attend the Confirmation Interview at the beginning of either the second or third year of registration.

All graduate research students (except M.Litt. and M.Sc. students) must satisfactorily complete the Confirmation Process in order to be confirmed on the PhD Register.

Subsequent Years of Registration

During subsequent years of registration, graduate research students are encouraged to actively participate in the following structured elements of the Research Degree Programme:

• Social Science Research Practice – normally scheduled on Thursdays during second term to support students at an advanced stage in their fieldwork and the production of a draft PhD thesis.

This series provides a strong collaborative learning environment in which advanced students present their work to an invited audience of faculty and peers from both within and outside the School of Business.

Additional Programme Requirements

The Academic Supervisor, in consultation with the Director of Doctoral Studies, may require a graduate research student to satisfactorily complete one or more additional modules in order to compensate for any apparent deficiencies in the student’s knowledge that may be essential to the proposed programme of research. Such modules may be drawn from, but not limited to, the options outlined below.

• Modules offered by the School of Business in the areas of Quantitative Research Methods and Qualitative Research Methods.
• Modules offered as part of the suite of taught postgraduate programmes within the School of Business (http://www.tcd.ie/business/masters/).
• Modules offered by partner institutions as part of the Dublin Region Higher Education Alliance (http://www.drhea.ie/about_us.php).
• Modules offered in the area of research philosophy and / or research methodology by other Schools within the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (http://ahss.tcd.ie/).
• Modules offered by the School of Computer Science and Statistics as part of the Postgraduate Certificate in Statistics (https://www.scss.tcd.ie/postgraduate/dipstats/).

Graduate research students should note that any such modules are in addition to the core programme requirements set forth earlier.

Personal and Professional Development

Throughout the period of registration, graduate research students are encouraged to avail of modules focused on the development of generic and transferable skills. The list of centres currently offering such modules includes:

• Careers Advisory Service (http://www.tcd.ie/Careers/).
• Centre for Academic Practice & Student Learning (http://www.tcd.ie/CAPSL/).
• Innovation Academy (http://www.tcd.ie/Graduate_Studies/InnovationAcademy/index.php).
• Student Learning & Development (http://www.tcd.ie/Student_Counselling/student-learning/).

Graduate research students who avail of modules focused on the development of generic and transferable skills should note that such modules are in addition to the core programme requirements set forth earlier.