Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
A PhD is structured to train you as a researcher with a well developed all-round knowledge of your discipline and a specialist area.
I decided to study at Edinburgh, not just because of the research facilities and the University’s prestige as a major educational and scientific development centre, but because of the great atmosphere in the School of Informatics. Being in an environment that stimulates collaboration and encourages discussion is a great catalyst and source of inspiration.
Our PhD degrees
List of Informatics PhD degree programmes- see individual degree pages for tuition fees and other detailed information.
Applying
Programme aims
As one of our students, you will be part of a small and specialised research community in your immediate area, as well as a member of the wider Informatics community, which includes around 400 MSc and PhD students, from all over the world. Each PhD student is hosted within one of our six research Institutes. Further information on each of our Institutes can be found on the reserach topics page.
Programme structure
The period of study is 36 months if studying full-time, or between 48 and 72 months if studying part-time.
The first year of PhD studies is probationary. Your supervisor will identify your training needs, if any, and invite you to attend lectures relevant to your research topic. These lectures may be selected from those offered to MSc students, or may be specialist courses and seminars organised by the School's various research groupings.
Towards the end of the first year you will be expected to submit a thesis proposal which identifies a specific research topic, reviews the relevant literature, outlines a plan of research to address the topic, and describes progress made so far.
Your progress is reviewed annually with submission of a thesis expected at the end of the third year, followed by an oral examination. You will be awarded a doctorate if your thesis is judged to represent an original contribution to knowledge in your chosen area.
Informatics regular talks and seminars