We attach great importance to timely completion of PhDs, and the completion rate in our Department is very high. The maximum length of the thesis is 80,000 words. This traditional research degree leads suitably qualified postgraduates to explore a specialist topic beyond the current state of the art. Students undertake independent research in an industrial or academic setting. They work in close co-operation with a supervisor and are free to join research projects.
Training focuses on good research practice.
This programme offers well-qualified applicants an opportunity to complete a PhD within three years of registration. Students take advanced courses for the first nine months, corresponding broadly to one of the MSc Computer Science degrees. After passing the exams, the remainder of the three-year programme is devoted to the preparation of a PhD thesis not exceeding 60,000 words in length. The MPhil in Computer Science involves two years of full-time work and the results must contain a commensurate element of novelty. The main components of the MPhil degree are the initial research and experimentation followed by the preparation of a substantial research thesis.