The Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion (PPR) is one of the most highly ranked departments in the country and is an outstanding department for postgraduate researchers in the following areas:

• Politics and International Relations
• Philosophy
• Religion
• Interdisciplinary research involving one or more of the above areas. (Many scholars in PPR are engaged in creative interdisciplinary research within and beyond the department.)

As a researcher within PPR:

• you will be supervised by leading scholars in their area;
• you will be stimulated by an enthusiastic, research intensive environment;
• you will develop skills that will be useful to you, both in your academic work and in your future career;
• you will be able to attend stimulating weekly research seminars led by key thinkers from around the UK and beyond;
• you will have access to a world class library and excellent IT facilities;
• you will be able to participate in regular faculty-wide workshops, presentations, and training sessions;
• you will belong to a lively and cosmopolitan graduate school;
• you will study on a safe, attractive, and well designed campus, with a purpose-built graduate college;
• and, last, but certainly not least, if you choose to live in Lancaster, you will be close to some of Britain’s most beautiful countryside, including the Lake District National Park (just north of the University).

When completing your application, please note that there is considerable demand for doctoral places in PPR. Consequently, we will only consider applications with proposals that are coherent and cogent. While there is no single way of producing such a proposal, we expect you to include the following:

• A clear rationale for your project that makes it clear why it’s important. How will it contribute to knowledge in the area?
• A literature review that establishes the disciplinary context of the project. What key works have been published in the area and why are they important?
• A clear statement about the method to be employed and why this makes sense for your project.
• A provisional plan for the shape of the thesis.
• An academic bibliography.