Fully-funded studentships are available for study in the PhD programme in Political Science at Trinity College Dublin, paying tuition plus a stipend of up to €15,000 per year. Application for this financial support is automatically considered as part of the normal admissions process. The Department of Political Science normally admits six students per year, and typically provides financial support in the form of tuition grants, stipends, teaching and research assistantships, and support for postgraduate conference and research travel.

Our four-year doctoral programme is designed to give students the highest level of training to become scholars at the forefront of the discipline. Most of our Ph.D. graduates have gone on to careers in research and teaching at established universities, while others have gone on to careers in government and business.

The Department of Political Science at Trinity ranks among the best political science departments in the world according to independent evaluations of its research and teaching (e.g. in the global ranking of political science departments conducted by Professor Simon Hix at the London School of Economics). Ph.D. researchers also benefit from the Department's strong links with Institute for International Integration Studies at Trinity College Dublin (http://www.tcd.ie/iiis/). This Institute brings together researchers from different disciplines to study international integration. In addition, the Department is involved in the Dublin School of Social Sciences, which provides graduate training in collaboration with University College Dublin.

The doctoral programme is designed to impart substantive knowledge about politics, and to train students in the techniques, including quantitative methods, necessary to recognize, design and implement cutting-edge research. The writing of a dissertation of original research follows a rigorous training in how to design and conduct research.
We seek outstanding and motivated graduates for entry to our doctoral programme in September 2009. Applicants are particularly welcome from students who wish to conduct research in areas in which the Department has particular research strengths: comparative European politics, European Union politics and policies, European law, American politics (especially legislative and judicial politics), Irish politics, African politics, political economy, political institutions, public policies, electoral systems, political parties, legislative politics, public opinion and electoral behaviour, international law, international organisation, conflict in developing countries, political geography, and political theory. The Department also invites applications from students whose research develops innovative quantitative methods, such as the quantitative analysis of political texts, as this is another strong area of research among staff.

Prospective students are encouraged to consult the webpages of members of staff (http://www.tcd.ie/Political_Science/), and to email individual staff members who could be potential supervisors for their Ph.D. dissertations. General enquiries may be directed to the Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. William Phelan (phelanw@tcd.ie).

Further details of the Ph.D. programme can be found at http://www.tcd.ie/Political_Science/postgraduate/phdindex.php
The deadline for applications to the doctoral programme for entry in September 2009 is April 1st 2009. Students who require an early decision on their entry to the doctoral programme are encouraged to contact the Director of Graduate Studies.