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Masters/PhD in Politics and Public Administration Programme content

Research at University of Limerick in Politics and Public Administration: pursue MA or PhD research on governance, policy and politics with expert supervision.

Key information

NFQ Level NFQ Level 10 Major
Duration One to four years
Attendance Full-time or Part-time
Programme type Research
Delivery In-person
Award Doctorate

In addition to carrying out research, students enrolled on an MA by Research/PhD take part in generic/transferrable skills training, including, for example, research methodologies and statistics, interview skills and career planning, bibliographical management, academic writing and research networking.

MA by Research

  • A Master’s degree by thesis involves in-depth research on a topic leading to a thesis of 60,000 words over the course of one to two years.

MA by Research/PhD

  • Students may start an MA research thesis, but then apply to transfer to a PhD after their first year if research is expanding; or students may register for a PhD thesis directly.

PhD

  • This involves in-depth research on a topic and an original contribution to knowledge, leading to a thesis of 100,000 words, examined by a viva voce exam. The PhD thesis generally takes 4 years to complete.
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