What you will need

When you apply you will need to submit several documents, including:

1. Personal statement
2. Research proposal
3. Two references
4. Degree documents
5. Language testing certificate (if applicable)
6. C.V.

Personal statement

Your personal statement (up to 500 words) should outline why you have chosen this PhD programme and subject, and how it fits with your skills, experience and interest – both academic and vocational. Please use it to communicate your knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment to the research area, to demonstrate to us that you are equipped to study at PhD level, and to reflect on the contribution that a PhD could make to your future career.

In writing your personal statement please address the following:

• What has led you to PhD study, and why you want to do a PhD now.
• The reasons for your choice of research topic and why it interests you.
• Why you are a suitable candidate for the PhD programme (for example, the quality and relevance of your academic credentials; any research training and experience you have; any research papers you have written, presented or had published; evidence of your ability to undertake significant pieces of independent work; and/or how you envisage engaging in University and school-related activities).
• Why you want to do your PhD at the University of Bristol, and at the School for Policy Studies.
• How your research fits in with your future career plans.

Research proposal

Your research proposal is a concise statement (up to 1,200 words) of the rationale for your research proposal, the research questions to be answered and how you propose to address them. We want to see that you can construct a fairly rigorous, high quality research proposal. Your proposal should include the following:

• title;
• background to your research;
• the aims and objectives of your research and the research questions or hypotheses you intend to test;
• your proposed methodology;  
• how your data will be analysed;
• how your research will fit within the School for Policy Studies and the wider academic and non-academic field;
• the anticipated outcomes from your project, its contribution to knowledge and understanding, and potential impact;
• a properly referenced list of the sources you have used in your research proposal (not included in the word count).

Please note: the research proposal should be no longer than 1,200 words.

What we expect from your research proposal

We know that during the early stages of your PhD you are likely to refine your thinking and methodology - your PhD will evolve! However, we want to see that you can construct a fairly rigorous, high quality research proposal, and we do not expect you to radically diverge from it without good reason.

We want you to provide evidence that you will undertake original, high quality academic research that will contribute to an existing body of knowledge and that can be completed within the required timescale. We therefore expect to see evidence in your proposal that you have researched your ideas and that you are familiar with, and can critically assess, the pertinent literature. You also need to describe a methodology to answer your research questions that is appropriate and feasible.

We use your research proposal to help us decide whether you would be a suitable candidate to study at PhD level. We therefore assess your proposal on its quality, originality, and coherence. It also helps us to decide if your research interests match those of academics in the School for Policy Studies and whether they would be able to provide suitably qualified supervision for your proposed research.

Identifying potential supervisor/s

You are expected to look through the biographies of our staff and contact specific academic staff to discuss your proposal before submitting your application. Finding suitable supervisor/s is key to putting together a successful application, as experience shows that applicants who have liaised with a suitable supervisor prior to applying have a greater chance of receiving an offer. You will be required to indicate your preferred supervisors when you apply, and you are strongly recommended to name at least one preferred supervisor on your application. Please note that formal supervision arrangements will only be finalised after an offer has been made. You can find a list of supervisors via the relevant PhD programme page. 

The content of your research proposal

The following headings might be a helpful guide to writing your research proposal:

1. Research context for your proposed project
   Provide a short introduction to your area of interest with a succinct, selective and critical review of the relevant literature. Demonstrate that you understand the theoretical underpinnings and main debates and issues in your research area and how your proposed research will make an original and necessary contribution to this. You need to demonstrate how your proposed research will fill a gap in existing knowledge.
2. Research questions or problems that you intend to address
   Present your research questions to be explored and/or the hypotheses you will test.
3. Methodology of proposed research
   Outline how you plan to conduct the research and the data sources that you will use. We do not expect you to have planned a very detailed methodology at this stage, but you need to provide an overview of how you will conduct your research and your proposed timescale. You need to be convincing about the appropriateness and feasibility of the approaches you are suggesting, and reflective about problems you might encounter (including ethical and data protection issues) in collecting and analysing your data.
4. How your research will fit within the School for Policy Studies, broader academia and non-academic interested parties such as policy makers, practitioners and the public
   Explain how your research will fit within the specialist research areas of academics at the School for Policy Studies, and beyond. Please consider broader collaborations and partnerships (academic and non-academic) that will support your research. Collaborative activity can lead to a better understanding of the ways in which academic research can translate into practice and it can help to inform and improve the quality of your research and its impact.
5. Reference/citations list
   Provide a properly referenced list of the sources you have mentioned in your research proposal.

Prior to submitting your research proposal

We expect your research proposal to be clear, concise and grammatically correct. We recommend that you ask someone else to read it before you submit it to check for clarity and focus – for example you could ask them to comment on the following:

• Is the language clear and easy to understand by someone who is not an expert in the field?
• Is the grammar and spelling correct?
• Can they understand what the proposed research is about and why it is significant?
• What do they think your proposed research will add to our understanding of theory, knowledge or research design?
• What contributions will it make to policy and/or practice?
• What is their understanding of how you will do the research?
• Do they think that you could do the research in the required time?

References

We require two references, one of which must be an academic reference. We recommend two academic referees, but an employment reference that is directly relevant to the topic could be used in addition to an academic reference.

Degree documents

We will need to see original or verified copies of transcripts and certificates relating to all your undergraduate and/or postgraduate degrees and the grades you have obtained, together with official translations if your documents are not in English.

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