For our new arrivals, welcome to the UCD School of Politics and International Relations (SPIRe), and for the others, welcome back! This page provides you with the necessary information to pursue your studies at our School. Since we are continually making improvements to our research degree programmes, the structure and requirements are evolving over time. The information below is designed to answer your basic questions about the school’s and university’s requirements and procedures for graduate study. For more information about the school and its staff, I recommend that you review both the Graduate Research Student Handbook and the SPIRe PhD Handbook for additional information specific to the school. In addition, the Welcome Note from the Dean of Graduate Studies provides useful information on registration, fees, support services and orientations. And the following website offers more information about college and university-level regulations and services for graduate students:
Graduate Studies Resource Hub (click on link)
While studying at UCD, you will notice that there are fellow PhD students in a large variety of different specializations within SPIRe, as well as on specialized thematic PhDs that cross various disciplines. Within SPIRe, we have students working on British-Irish studies, European studies, political theory and human rights, development studies, nationalism and ethnic conflict, et cetera. SPIRe also houses students in thematic PhD programmes such as Quantitative and Computational Social Science, European Law and Governance, Global Human Development Studies, Complex Systems and Computational Social Science and Quantitative Social Science . The course requirements for these students differ but overlap with those taking the PhD in Politics and International Relations. Therefore, some of the contents of the SPIRe handbook will apply only to students on the Politics and International Relations PhD programme, while other contents apply to all students with SPIRe supervisors.
The handbook for those students on the Quantitative and Computational Social Science programme can be found here
If after reading this handbook you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or anyone listed under the contact details section.
Prof Ben Tonra
SPIRe PhD Programs Director