The Trinity Ph.D. programme in political science covers four years, combining intensive taught courses with a substantial research thesis.
Students take a series of courses during their first and second years.
On satisfactory completion of these, and an oral examination on the basis of a written research proposal, they proceed to writing a thesis. During the final two years of the programme, students concentrate full time on supervised thesis research. The programme involves a set of core courses on key substantive fields in political science. These are based on an intensive programme of lectures, seminars, discussion groups and written work. Performance is assessed on the basis of coursework and examination.