Program Overview

The Department of Politics at the University of Surrey is a thriving space for cutting-edge research and advanced training on a range of political areas. The department has an active PhD community pursuing leading research around several major political themes. Our students have the opportunity to work closely with their supervisor and other members of the academic community, in an active research environment.

The University of Surrey is 33rd in the UK rankings for overall research quality by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021. The University is now ranked in the top 20 in the UK for the overall quality of research outputs – research papers and other published works. Forty-one per cent of Surrey’s research is rated as world-leading, the highest possible rating, up from 22% when REF last took place in 2014. Eighty-three per cent of the research submitted by the Department of Politics is now rated as being world-leading or of internationally excellent quality, with 100% of our impact case studies being considered by REF as having outstanding and very considerable impact in terms of their reach and significance.

Our department has two well-established research centres bringing together our students, members of staff and visiting researchers:

Our PhD students undertake research in the following areas: