MPhil

• Applicants must normally have obtained a good relevant undergraduate degree or an equivalent qualification. The College recognises as an equivalent qualification any degree, diploma, certificate or other evidence of formal qualification awarded by a university or other higher education establishment where the award is made following the successful completion of a course of at least three years’ study, the programme of research being open, as a general rule, only to persons holding a certificate awarded on the successful completion of a full course of upper secondary education.
• Exceptionally, other qualifications may be approved, providing that the Academic Board for Concessions and Discipline (ABCD) is satisfied that the applicant has the ability to pursue the programme of research successfully.
• Applicants should normally be aged over 21 years by 1 September of the proposed year of admission.

PhD

Applicants must have a relevant research Master’s degree or an equivalent qualification. The majority of successful applicants are accepted onto the MPhil register in the first instance, with a view to transferring to the PhD register following their first or second year of study.

The first step in applying to do a research degree at the RCA is to approach the Research Coordinator responsible for the programme in which you want to study. If your research is interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary and you are uncertain as to which programme to apply, we suggest that you e-mail your proposal to the Research Coordinator in each of the relevant programmes. Following initial feedback from the Research Coordinator, you may then be encouraged to submit a formal application.

Using the MPhil/PhD Application Form, applicants must set out a detailed research proposal including:

• proposed methods of investigation
• an indication of source material already consulted and to be consulted
• evidence of ability to carry out research

You might find it helpful to consider the following issues when completing your research proposal:

• What is your particular research question, hypothesis or area?
• How do you propose to address this question or to develop the field (what is your methodology)?
• How do you see your work in the wider context of the discipline?
• How does it relate to existing work in the area?

At the RCA it is possible to pursue a research degree through thesis-only study or through a combination of studio-based and thesis study. If you are proposing to undertake a studio-based research degree, how will the studio and written work relate to each other? If you are proposing to undertake a PhD, what is the original contribution to knowledge and understanding? How do you propose to reflect upon or analyse critically your approach to the project?

For MPhil and PhD by project, applicants should also submit a portfolio illustrating their prior achievements and background to the proposal. For MPhil and PhD by thesis, applicants should also provide evidence of preliminary study and previously completed written work.