Program start date | Application deadline |
2023-09-18 | - |
2023-05-02 | - |
2023-09-26 | 2023-07-17 |
2024-01-16 | - |
Program Overview
Course overview
This programme offers advanced training to students who intend to undertake a doctorate in Anthropology, and it presents a valuable stand-alone research degree in and of itself that allows students to apply for researcher positions.
How to choose between MRes and MPhil/PhD
All research students are encouraged to register for the MRes in order to complete the requisite training for carrying out a doctoral research project in Anthropology regardless of whether they hold a degree in Anthropology.
Students who complete the MRes successfully will transfer to MPhil status after completing the dissertation (usually in September) and register for the MPhil/PhD degree afterwards.
However, if you hold an MA in Anthropology with a substantial methods training component it is possible to register directly for the full-time
MPhil
programme provided the Department and your future supervisor(s) agree after interviewing you.MPhil-registered students are expected to audit the courses available to the MRes students and present assessed material similar to the MRes dissertation during their first year to be upgraded to PhD status.
Only after they have been upgraded successfully they can start fieldwork or other forms of data-collection.
Students cannot be registered as PhD students without having gone through this process.
Contact the department
If you have specific questions about the degree, contact
Dr Henrike Donner
.Program Outline
Structure
In the week before the beginning of the academic year in mid-September there is an Induction Programme for all new research postgraduates at Goldsmiths.
You will be introduced to College and Departmental facilities and procedures, and attend workshops on what is involved in doing a research degree.
The MRes is a training year, in which work on your own research project is coupled with general training in Anthropological and Social Science Methods - run both within the Department and by the Goldsmiths College Research Office - as follows:
Doing Ethnography (10 weeks x 2 hours)
Research Design (10 weeks x 2.5 hours)
Quantitative Research Methods (15 sessions of 2 hours each)
Department of Anthropology Research Seminar
You may also take other modules depending on your specific training needs, such as learning a language, or auditing an MA course, either in the Department or elsewhere, of particular relevance to your research project.
You are also encouraged to attend seminars in other parts of the University of London, attend conferences, and go on outside modules such as those organised by GAPP (Group for Anthropology in Policy and Practice). There are Departmental funds to enable you to attend such events.
At the end of the year, MRes students present a 15,000-word dissertation in September, which discusses in depth their proposed research topic and the relevant literature.
Download the programme specification
.Download the
programme specification
. If you would like an earlier version of the programme specification, please contact theQuality Office
.For 2021-22 and 2020–21, we have made some changes to how the teaching and assessment of certain programmes are delivered. To check what changes affect this programme, please visit the
programme changes page
.How to apply
Apply now
You apply directly to Goldsmiths using our online application system.
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
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
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.
Before you apply for a research programme, we advise you to get in touch with the programme contact, listed above.
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.
Research proposals
Along with your application and academic reference, you should also upload a research proposal at the point of application.
This should be in the form of a 2-5 page statement of the proposed area of research and should include:
How detailed a research proposal are we looking for on the application form?
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:
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
Once we receive your application form, it is forwarded to the Postgraduate Convenor, who normally sets up a formal interview with two other members of staff with relevant expertise. You may wish to contact the convenor as well.
At the interview you will be asked about your academic background and to elaborate on your plans for research, and you can also ask questions.
Find out
more about applying
.How to apply
Apply now
You apply directly to Goldsmiths using our online application system.
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
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
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.
Before you apply for a research programme, we advise you to get in touch with the programme contact, listed above.
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.
Research proposals
Along with your application and academic reference, you should also upload a research proposal at the point of application.
This should be in the form of a 2-5 page statement of the proposed area of research and should include:
How detailed a research proposal are we looking for on the application form?
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:
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
Once we receive your application form, it is forwarded to the Postgraduate Convenor, who normally sets up a formal interview with two other members of staff with relevant expertise. You may wish to contact the convenor as well.
At the interview you will be asked about your academic background and to elaborate on your plans for research, and you can also ask questions.
Find out
more about applying
.