Philosophy PhD

Find a research opportunity that matches your interests

We strongly encourage you to get in touch with a potential supervisor, and to include their name in your application. 

When contacting a potential supervisor, please include a draft proposal and CV as this will provide the starting point for discussion. You can introduce yourself by explaining why their work interests you.

Writing your research proposal

Your research proposal will be used to consider whether supervision can be provided for the research that you propose, so it is important that your basic aims and area of investigation are clear.

We understand that it can be difficult to formulate research plans for a proposal well in advance of carrying out the work, but we encourage you to formulate your ideas clearly. You should expect to draft your proposal several times, and, ideally, seek comments on it from people able to discuss it with you (perhaps from your referees or former lecturers) before submitting your application.

Your proposal should be around 1000 words, excluding references and bibliography. You are encouraged to refer to relevant literature and may include a set of references as well as a proposal of the length described above.

Your proposal should include:

• Title for the project
• Discussion of the research questions or hypothesis that you intend to address, along with a justification for them
  • What makes the problem or questions interesting and important?
• Brief explanation of the ideas or concepts that the research will investigate
• Description of the research context in which you aim to work; you should refer explicitly to work which is similar to that which you are planning or which is influential on your ideas, and you should include the details of this work in a bibliography or list of references
• Indication of feasibility
  • How will you go about answering the question in the timeframe of the PhD?
  • What skills/knowledge do you need to acquire?

Given the limited scope of a PhD dissertation, you will not resolve a big, longstanding philosophical problem in your dissertation. Instead, aim for a medium-sized contribution (greater scope than a single journal article, but no more than a short monograph) to a current debate in philosophy or philosophical scholarship.

If your application is successful, we expect that your research will develop. It is likely that your supervisor will suggest changes or developments to your research. 

Therefore, you will not be held to the ideas that you explain in your proposal during your research.

Prepare and submit your application details

To ensure full consideration of your application, we ask that you submit your complete application, including all supporting documentation.

You should include a sample of academic writing, such as an essay or article, written in the past two years. 

Ideally, your work sample should be about 2000 words and on a topic related to your proposed area of research. Longer samples are accepted, but the admissions panels are not expected to read significantly longer samples to completion.

You will be asked to add contact details for your referees. We will email them with information on how to upload their reference directly to your online application. Please allow plenty of time as we can only consider your application once we have received your full application, including your references.

Prepare a funding application

Our PhD positions do not come with automatic funding. The AHRC, specifically the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH), is a main source of funding for our PhD students.

AHRC information

All applicants in the first round (November deadline) are strongly encouraged to prepare an application to the SGSAH. This application is submitted to PPLS immediately after your application for a PhD position at PPLS. 

Do not wait to be offered a place to study first.

We select a number of proposals based on academic merit and funding potential to be considered by the SGSAH. If you do not complete the SGSAH application, you greatly diminish your chances of receiving funding for your PhD.

Shortlisted candidates will have the opportunity to work on their proposal further prior to final submission to SGSAH.

Find out more about the application process

Pre-application checklist

To receive a pre-arrival checklist to help you with your application, please email the PPLS Postgraduate Office: 

pplspgoffice@ed.ac.uk

Please complete this checklist to keep track of your application preparations. Please submit the completed checklist as an additional document to your application.