MPhil/PhD
Communities and Social Justice
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Why study MPhil/PhD Communities and Social Justice at Goldsmiths
Goldsmiths is home to world-renowned researchers in social justice, community work and youth work, making it a perfect home for postgraduate research studies in these areas.
On completion you'll be able to demonstrate:
- Competence as an independent researcher in your discipline, who can systematically search for, discover, access, retrieve, sift, interpret, analyse, evaluate, manage, conserve and communicate an ever-increasing volume of knowledge from a range of sources-materials.
- A critical understanding and engagement of challenges to produce innovative solutions and new knowledge.
- Advanced awareness of research integrity and any relevant ethical and professional considerations.
- The ability to act autonomously in planning, managing and delivering projects, justifying methodologies and practical choices, evaluating research and critically engaging with ethical considerations.
- The ability to act autonomously in critical decision-making in exercising professional standards in practice, research and research integrity, and engage in professional practice, including ethical, legal, and health and safety aspects.
- Self-direction in supporting, collaborating with and leading colleagues, using a range of teaching, communication and networking skills to influence practice and policy in diverse environments.
- Critical engagement in research and practices with impact, and to be able to communicate it to diverse audiences, including the public.
Contact the department
If you have specific questions about the degree, contact Panagiotis Pentaris.
Length
3-4 years full-time or 4-6 years part-time
Entry requirements
You should normally have (or expect to be awarded) a taught Masters in a relevant subject area. You might also be considered if you aren’t a graduate or your degree is in an unrelated field, but have relevant experience and can show that you have the ability to work at postgraduate level.
Department
Examples of research topics
Recent topics of other research students include:
- ‘Community Participation in New Deal for Communities Programmes’
- ‘Participation, Power, Authority and Empowerment: Case Studies from West London’
- ‘Parental Participation and Local Budgeting: Comparing and Contrasting Experiences in the UK and in a Southern Context’
Find out more about the research interests of our staff, and about research degrees at Goldsmiths.
Entry requirements
You should normally have (or expect to be awarded) a taught Masters in a relevant subject area.
You might also be considered for some programmes if you aren’t a graduate or your degree is in an unrelated field, but have relevant experience and can show that you have the ability to work at postgraduate level.
International qualifications
We accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the qualifications we accept from around the world.
If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 7.0 with a 7.0 in writing to study this programme. If you need assistance with your English language, we offer a range of courses that can help prepare you for postgraduate-level study.
How to apply
Apply directly to Goldsmiths using our online application system.
We advise you to get in touch with the programme contact, listed above before you apply for a research programme. It may also be possible to arrange an advisory meeting.
Before you start at Goldsmiths, the actual topic of your research has to be agreed with your proposed supervisor, who will be a member of staff active in your general field of research. The choice of topic may be influenced by the current research in the department or the requirements of an external funding body.
If you wish to study on a part-time basis, you should also indicate how many hours a week you intend to devote to research, whether this will be at evenings or weekends, and for how many hours each day.
Submitting your application
Before submitting your application you'll need to have:
- Details of your education history, including the dates of all exams/assessments
- The email address of your referee who we can request a reference from, or alternatively an electronic copy of your academic reference
- Contact details of a second referee
- Made contact with potential supervisors from STaCS department and name a supervisor in the application who is willing to oversee your project.
- A personal statement – this can either be uploaded as a Word Document or PDF, or completed online Please see our guidance on writing a postgraduate statement
- If available, an electronic copy of your educational transcript (this is particularly important if you have studied outside of the UK, but isn’t mandatory)
- Details of your research proposal (see below)
You'll be able to save your progress at any point and return to your application by logging in using your username/email and password.
Research proposals
Along with your application and academic reference, you will also need to upload a research proposal at the point of application.
Your research proposal should respond to each question set out in our STaCS departmental research proposal form (download here).
Obviously what you put on the form and exactly what you end up researching may be rather different, but in order to judge whether or not to offer you a place, the Department needs to know whether you have the broad outlines of a viable project. This means:
- A project that is both worthwhile and interesting, but not over-ambitious
- A project that can realistically be achieved within the confines of PhD on a full-time (four years typically) or part-time (six years maximum) basis
- We need to be sure that you have thought about it carefully and are fully committed to the research
- We need to be sure that you understand what is involved in doing a PhD
- Your research proposal should give us enough information to be able to interview you (if you are in the UK) or reach a decision as to whether to admit you if you are not based in the UK
When to apply
We accept applications from October for students wanting to start the following September.
We encourage you to complete your application as early as possible, even if you haven't finished your current programme of study. It's very common to be offered a place conditional on you achieving a particular qualification.
If you're applying for external funding from one of the Research Councils, make sure you submit your application by the deadline they've specified.
Selection process
Admission to many programmes is by interview, unless you live outside the UK. Occasionally we'll make candidates an offer of a place on the basis of their application and qualifications alone.
Fees and funding
Annual tuition fees
These are the PG fees for students starting their programme in the 2025/2026 academic year.
If your fees are not listed here, please check our postgraduate fees guidance or contact the Fees Office, who can also advise you about how to pay your fees.
It’s not currently possible for international students to study part-time under a student visa. If you think you might be eligible to study part-time while being on another visa type, please contact our Admissions Team for more information.
If you are looking to pay your fees please see our guide to making a payment.
Funding opportunities
ESRC/SENSS Doctoral Studentships
Fully funded ESRC studentships are available to research students via this Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP).
Use the Goldsmiths scholarships finder below to find out what other funding you may be eligible for.
Paying your fees
Find out about paying your tuition fees.
If you are a UK student you may be eligible for a postgraduate loan.
Meanwhile our Careers Service can also offer advice on finding work during your studies.
Additional costs
In addition to your tuition fees, you'll be responsible for any additional costs associated with your course, such as buying stationery and paying for photocopying. You can find out more about what you need to budget for on our study costs page.
There may also be specific additional costs associated with your programme. This can include things like paying for field trips or specialist materials for your assignments.
