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PhD by Distance

The PhD by Distance programme allows students who are unable to commit to basing themselves in Edinburgh to study for a PhD in a field of History, Classics or Archaeology from their home country or city.

What's involved?

The PhD by Distance mode is available to all applicants for eligible HCA PhD programmes, who will apply via the Postgraduate Degree Finder . Applicants will select between on-campus and distance options, as well as between part-time and full-time options.

PhD by Distance students will receive the same level of support and supervision as on-campus students. The frequency with which students will meet with their supervisors, and method of communication for supervision sessions, will be provisionally agreed at the point of application and confirmed during induction. 

Please be aware that some funding bodies do not permit students to study by distance, for example both  ESRC  and  AHRC  regulations currently state that students must be residents at the Institution where they are studying.

Entry requirements

The entry requirements for the PhD by Distance are the same as for the School’s on-campus PhD programmes.  

In addition, applicants to the PhD by Distance will also be required to complete a PhD by Distance Applicant Admission Form. This form must be emailed to the Postgraduate Research Office ( [email protected] ) who will upload this to your application on your behalf.

Applicants should provide information about previous experience of distance study together with a statement detailing the potential risks and characteristics of distance learning. It is important that student’s applying for this mode of study recognise its particular challenges. While experience of studying at a distance is desirable in applying for the programme, this is not a specific requirement for admission. All of this should be discussed with the potential supervisor(s) prior to application and can be reflected on further during the admissions interview.

Applicants should also use this additional application form to provide details of the access they will have to research facilities at the normal site of study and where the core datasets that they will rely on are located.

Working whilst studying

The School understands that many students will take on paid work alongside their studies. The University’s guidance for full-time PhD students is that they should work no more than an average of 9 hours per week for across the academic year, to ensure they have time for their studies . While there are no specific rules about how many hours part-time students can work, the School recommends that part-time students allocate at least two to three days a week, on average across the year, to their PhD research. You should discuss any working patterns that you have with your proposed supervisor and reflect on the time you are devoting to your studies throughout your programme, particularly if you are struggling to make sufficient progress; this might well be a topic for discussion at annual reviews. Please note that if you need to apply for an extension at the end of your programme, you cannot use the fact that you had a job alongside your studies as a justification for this – an extension request can only be based on unforeseen circumstances. If you need to take on more work for a temporary period of time and this will impact on your studies, you should consider an Authorised Interruption of Studies.

PhD in Financial Technology

Building on our established PhD in Management programme, we have developed an innovative new doctoral programme in the field of Financial Technology.

PhD in Financial Technology allows students to pursue their own research topic in the area of Financial Technology or apply for specific industry projects, where students will be able to address complex industrial challenges to gain real-world experience.

This programme aims to prepare students for a diverse array of careers in finance. Approximately 50% of students who pursue the industry pathway, can expect to build on the networking opportunities available to them from studying at the international partners' premises during their study and move into a permanent career in that company, or the industry after graduation.

PhD in Financial Technology at a glance

• Study over three years full-time or six years part-time, with an additional 'writing-up' year available to all.
• Develop advanced techniques and in-depth knowledge in the field of Financial Technology.
• Study an independent research topic or participate in fully funded opportunities working with leading industry partners.
• For those on the industry pathway, study both at the University of Edinburgh campus and at an industrial partner's location, with guidance from academic colleagues and industry specialists at all times.
• We encourage our students to aim higher, presenting papers at prestigious conferences and submitting articles for publication.
• Access to a wide range of professional and personal development opportunities during your studies.
• While we invite students from around the globe to join our community, we don't offer this programme online or by distance learning.

Entry requirements

Find out our academic, English language, and application requirements for the PhD in Financial Technology.

Programme overview

View the learning outcomes and a typical training course schedule for a first-year student.

Fees and living expenses

When budgeting please consider associated administration fees and expenses as well as our funding support.

Ready to apply?

Review our application checklist and make your application to the PhD in Financial Technology.

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School of Social and Political Science

End of first year review board.

This section gives information on the PhD first year review process.

For information on the annual review form within EUCLID see the Annual Review system page:

PhD Annual Review system

Purpose of the review

The first year of a PhD is considered to be probationary, and is assessed by the End of First Year Review Board.

The Board is an opportunity to evaluate:

• whether the candidate is capable of doing a PhD
• whether the work is sufficiently developed, and of the required standard, to justify confirmation of PhD registration

The Review facilitates support and timely completion of the research by ensuring that students proceed only when they have acquired the necessary expertise.

The Review is a genuine hurdle, but the preparation provided by the Research Training courses, coupled with guidance from supervisors and PG advisor, provide the support needed.

Timing of the review

All full-time PhD candidates should have their review board within 9 to 12 months of enrolment on the PhD programme.

Occasionally it may take place slightly earlier, particularly if an MSc by research has been completed prior to  beginning the PhD.

Part-time students operate to the same timescale as full-time students, however they will not be expected to have made as much progress within this time.

Additionally there is the option to defer the progression decision and/or confirmation of registration to the second annual review.

Composition of the panel

The Review is carried out by a Board which normally consists of:

• both supervisors
• one or two 'external' examiners

These staff members will usually be from within the Subject Area/Centre.

The 'external' examiners should not have been involved to any significant extent, either academically or administratively, with the student.

The composition of the panel can vary slightly between subject areas, this can be confirmed with the Postgraduate Advisor for your Subject Area/Centre.

There is no formal University requirement for any of the examiners at a PhD First Year Review Board to be external to the School, although it could include someone from outside the School or the University, if appropriate.

The University guidance is in section 3.2 of the  Code of Practice for Supervisors and Research Students .  It lays out the process and explains what you should expect.

What is required

Research proposal.

Around 3-4 weeks in advance of the board, you should complete your section of the  online annual review form  and submit a written full research proposal to the online system and email a copy to your Board members.

The proposal:

• specifies the research question and locates it in the appropriate academic literature
• fully elaborates the research design, methodology and anticipated contribution to knowledge
• discusses ethical, political and practical issues
• includes a timetable and a programme of work

As a guide, this should be around 12-15,000 words.

Your report is required to be submitted to  Turnitin  by your supervisor and the similarity report made available to the board members prior to the meeting.

Please ensure you raise this requirement with your supervisor in a timely manner to ensure the report is available.

In addition to submitting the proposal in advance of the meeting of the Board, you may choose to make a short oral presentation.

Ethics self-assessment

Students should also complete, or have in progress, an ethics self-assessment in conjunction with their supervisors, and the process should be integrated into their First Year Review Board. Self-assessment is conducted via an online ethics form and draft applications can be saved as a PDF to share with supervisors and submit to the Review Board. Once finalised, the ethics form is submitted for approval. Details of the 3-level approval approach to ethical approval are given in Point 5.1 of the PhD Handbook.

Review meeting

The meeting discusses the proposal – asking questions, giving constructive feedback and making suggestions.

It may last for up to 2 hours, to allow enough time for a full assessment of the work, of the student, and of the supervisory team.

Possible outcomes of the review

After the review meeting, the Principal and/or Lead Co supervisor will complete their section of the  online annual review form  and upload the minute and/or report of the review board meeting.

This report makes clear the recommendation and the basis of the decision. This report is confirmed by all members of the review board, including the student.

Information on the recommendations available to the review panel are available in the  Code of Practice for Supervisors and Research Students  and the  Postgraduate Assessment Regulation for Research Degrees , and outlined below.

Postgraduate Assessment Regulations for Research Degrees:

Extract from the Postgraduate Assessment Regulations for Research Degrees:

Regulation 14 | Annual progression review recommendation

(a) confirmation of registration, for example for PhD, MPhil;

(b) a repeat progression review must be undertaken within three months before confirmation of progression;

(c) for part-time students only for the first progression review: deferment of the confirmation decision to the second annual review;

(d) registration for a different research degree such as MPhil or MSc by Research;

(e) registration for a postgraduate taught degree (for example MSc) or diploma can be recommended if the student has undertaken the coursework for that qualification;

(f) exclusion from study.

Where a serious problem is identified or discontinuation is considered, the Review Board will normally write a report stating where the proposal is deficient and explaining what work needs to be done to bring the proposal up to the required standard.

A second review will be arranged at which the student has the chance to present a revised proposal.

Outcome 14(b)

If the outcome of the annual review is 14(b) then the three month period starts from the date of issue of the progression decision to the student.

The outcomes of a repeat are the same as for the initial review, with the exception of 14(b) - only one repeat review may be undertaken.

If the Review Panel still finds that the student has not met the required standard, then discontinuation will be recommended.

Section 3.2 of the  University Code of Practice for Supervisors and Research Students  outlines the procedures in full.

Administrative procedures

After the board review you should ensure that you have:

• completed the  online Research Ethics form
• asked your supervisor to submit a Leave of Absence form on your behalf if you are intending to leave Edinburgh for research purposes/fieldwork
• completed the Travel Plan and Risk Assessment form , if you are conducting your fieldwork outside Edinburgh

Any queries regarding the administrative procedures can be directed to the PG Research Support Team .

A-Z of courses

Use this A-Z and search tool to explore all of Oxford's graduate courses. 

Non-standard application processes

The instructions in our Application Guide are relevant to applications for all graduate courses at Oxford, except for :

• Biochemistry (Skaggs-Oxford Prog.) , DPhil
• Biomedical Sciences (NIH OxCam) , DPhil
• Clinical Psychology , DClinPsych
• EcoWild , NERC CDT
• Medicine (Graduate Entry)  eg BMBCh
• Saïd Business School courses

Important notice

Please note that websites external to the University of Oxford may hold information on our courses.  Those websites may contain incomplete and inaccurate information. Please refer to this website which provides the definitive and up-to-date source of information on any graduate course offered by the University.

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