Program Overview

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Key Information

Duration

3 years (full-time)

Start of Programme

September

Attendance Mode

Full-time or part-time

Location

On campus

Fees

• Home (full-time): £4,860 per year
• International (full-time): £23,390 per year

Entry Requirements

We normally require a 2.1 bachelor's degree (or its equivalent) plus a Masters degree in an appropriate subject area plus one reference. In exceptional cases, we may accept applicants who do not meet these criteria if they show evidence of a strong Masters degree and/or appropriate level of relevant work experience. International applicants should also see Doctoral School English language requirements.

Course Overview

Join our Research Degrees: MPhil/PhD in Religion — as a PhD student at SOAS, you will be welcomed by our research community of doctoral researchers from across the globe and play a vital role in developing our vibrant and intellectual culture.

The SOAS Religions and Philosophies Department offers a vibrant, stimulating, and interdisciplinary research environment. We provide individual research supervision in a wide variety of religious traditions and comparative and interdisciplinary topics. Supervisors are experts in their fields and thoroughly familiar with the religions, cultures, languages, and geographical areas they specialise in.

Structure

A SOAS PhD degree has to be completed within a maximum of four years. A draft of the thesis must be ready at the end of year 3; during year 4, the student is on continuation status, also referred to as an 'extension of writing up'; the completed thesis must be submitted until September 15 of year 4 of registration.

All first-year research students are registered for MPhil status. The outcome of a mini-viva at the end of term 3 conducted by the three members of the student’s supervisory committee determines whether they will be (a) upgraded to PhD candidate status, (b) continue as MPhil candidates, (c) need to revise his or her proposal, or (d) should terminate registration.

Year-by-Year Requirements for Full-Time MPhil and PhD Research Students

Year 1

• During Year 1, the student refines the research proposal and decides in conjunction with his/her Supervisory Committee whether the research project should be directed towards the goal of an MPhil or a PhD degree.
• Students who wish to work towards the PhD must pass the process of upgrading registration from MPhil to PhD candidacy.
• They must provide the following to the Supervisory Committee by the May deadline (exact date to be confirmed by SOAS Registry):
  • Minutes of supervisory meetings have to be recorded by the student on the Moodle logbook throughout.
  • Evidence of obligatory attendance of MPhil/PhD Research Workshop (SRRESWRIT_N1/01)
  • Pre-circulation and brief oral presentation of a draft chapter of the upgrading submission (10,000 words) for discussion in the MPhil/PhD Research Workshop
  • Upgrading submission of 20,000 words in May to the three supervisors and the research tutor via PDF in an email attachment:
    • Introduction (including Literature Review, Sources & Methodology, Chapter Outline, Research Plan & Time Schedule, Draft Bibliography)
    • draft core chapter
    • statement on research ethics in case of fieldwork

Year 2: Fieldwork or Data Collection

• After a successful upgrade to MPhil/PhD status, students can go abroad to do fieldwork or do research in local libraries.
• During the second year, students work on their source material, whether it consists of texts, interviews, surveys, or visual, etc., sources.
• Regular reports must be submitted to supervisor, via email or in person. The other members of the research committee need to be kept informed as well.
• A second core chapter will normally be completed.

Year 3: Completion of Full Draft

• During the third year of their PhD, students are expected to write a draft of their thesis.
• This draft must be ready at the end of the year to proceed to continuation status in year 4.
• Required presentation at the PhD/MPhil Research Seminar.
• Application for continuation status requires the submission of a draft of the thesis at the end of year 3 together with the continuation approval form (not later than 31 August).
• All three members of the supervisory committee read the draft and provide written feedback. All committee members sign the Extension of Writing-Up Form if the Committee is satisfied that the draft thesis can be developed into a thesis of a quality worthy for submission for examination in the subsequent academic year. The final date for submission is September 15.

Year 4: Completion and Submission of Thesis

• The thesis must be completed and submitted by the end of year 4 not later than September 15.
• At the viva (thesis examination), the examiners aim to confirm:
  1. that they have satisfied themselves that the thesis is genuinely the work of the candidate
  2. that the thesis forms a distinct contribution to the knowledge of the subject, and affords evidence of originality by:
  3. the discovery of new facts; and/or
  4. the exercise of independent critical power
  5. that the thesis is satisfactory as regards literary presentation
  6. that the thesis is of a standard to merit publication in whole or in part or in a revised form.

Teaching and Learning

The SOAS Religions and Philosophies Department offers a vibrant, stimulating, and interdisciplinary research environment. Our members of staff cover a wide range of religious traditions, geographic areas, and methodological approaches to the study of religions. We have been very successful in acquiring research funding, we host a number of research centres, and we are actively engaged in professional networks with scholars worldwide.

SOAS Library

Students also benefit from the rewarding learning environment SOAS provides more broadly. The SOAS Library is one of the world's most important academic libraries for the study of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, attracting scholars from all over the world.

Employment

In addition to an understanding of global faiths, histories, and cultures, graduates from the Department of Religions and Philosophies develop the skills to analyse and communicate ideas in a clear, rational, and comprehensive manner. These key proficiencies are valuable in many careers and are transferable to a wide range of sectors and roles.

Recent graduates have been hired by:

• Asia Society
• British Council
• Cabinet Office
• Chatham House
• Edelman
• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
• HELP USA
• King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• Princeton University
• Royal Government of Cambodia
• The Happiness Factory
• The Inter Faith Network for the UK
• The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
• UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
• United Nations Development Programme

Scholarships

• Tibawi Trust Award
• Elisabeth Croll Scholarship for fieldwork in China
• JRC Fuwaku Scholarship
• SOAS Research Studentships - School of Arts
• Kanji Swami MPhil/PhD Scholarship
• CHASE AHRC Studentship
• Felix Scholarships
• Sasakawa Studentships
• Saraswati Dalmia Scholarship
• Shapoorji Pallonji Scholarships
• SOAS Research Studentships
• CSJR Postgraduate Student Bursary
• Meiji Jingu Japanese Studies Research Scholarships

Research Areas and Expertise

• History of precolonial South Asia, in particular Muslim polities and societies; the Deccan, ; South Asia and the early modern Muslim world.
• Material Culture of the Jaina Mendicant Traditions
• Chinese Perspectives on AI in Global Context: Towards a New Ethical Eco-System
• An Inclusive Bodhisattva Path: The Taiwanese Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation and their Global Trans-Faith Humanitarianism
• Mapping religious diversity in modern Sichuan: A spatial and social study of communities and networks
• The multimedia Yasna
• Seals and sealing practices in Sasanian Iran: New evidence from Taxt-e Solaymān
• The multimedia Yasna International image interoperability framework
• From TEI to JSON within IIIF
• Beyond Discovery: Religion, economics and administration in Sasanian Iran through new clay bullae from Taxt-e Solayman
• The non-textuality of knowledge: Orality and symbolism in African philosophy
• Alternative explanations for disability: Inspiring patient-centered care among healthcare practitioners through the arts
• Avestan Ritual in India

Events

• Creating sustainable data resources - escaping the technology obsolescence vortex

Related Content

• School of History, Religions and Philosophies
• Jaina-Prosopography: Monastic Lineages, Networks and Patronage
• MPhil/PhD in Philosophy