MPhil/PhD International Relations

Be part of one of the world's leading departments in the study of international relations, while undertaking a substantial piece of work that’s worthy of publication.

On this programme, you’ll have the opportunity to make an original contribution to the field of study. You’ll begin on the MPhil and be upgraded to PhD status at the end of your first year of registration.

The department is organised around four research clusters: International Institutions, Law and Ethics; Theory/Area/History; International Political Economy; and Statecraft and Security. You’ll belong to at least one of these clusters during your studies and attend its weekly events. You’ll also have the chance to participate in the editing of a student-run journal called Millennium: Journal of International Studies, which has a major role in the discipline.

The Department has strengths in international relations theory, security studies, international political economy, and European studies. As well as Europe, its specialist areas cover Russia, Central, Northeast and Southeast Asia, the USA, South America, the Middle East, and Africa.

Other areas of research include foreign policy analysis, nationalism, religion, historical sociology, international environmental politics, and strategic war studies. Often, our faculty will contribute to more than one of these subjects. As such, there’s interdisciplinary work across the Departments of Government and International History, as well as the many research centres at the School.

Students who successfully complete the programme often embark on an academic career. Recent doctoral graduates have also gone into careers in consultancy, education and teaching, NGOs and charities, international organisations, and roles within the public sector and government.

• The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide to Turning your PhD into a Job. Karen Kelsky (Three Rivers Press, 2015)
• How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing. Paul J. Silvia (American Psychological Association, 2007)

The Department of International Relations is one of the largest of its kind in the world, home to 500 students, from 30 countries.

Founded in 1927, our department is a leading centre for teaching and research in international relations – ranked second in the UK and fourth globally in the QS World University Rankings 2023.

Many leading thinkers in the field – including Martin Wight, Hedley Bull and John Vincent – have taught in the department and pioneered new developments and thinking in the field. The department also helped found the student-run Millennium: Journal of International Studies – one of the most prestigious international relations journals.

We have around 225 undergraduates, 220 postgraduates and 30 postgraduate research students on our programmes. Our aim is to provide a wide range of study options, covering diverse themes such as major theoretical perspectives on international relations, the study of conflict and conflict management, the work of international institutions and the major regions of the world, from Europe to the Middle East.

We’re proud of the broad international profile of our department – with students and staff from Europe, North America and further afield. As a department we’ve played a pivotal role in training diplomats and academics and we’re proud of their success in various fields.

Learn more about our programmes and research.

Department of International Relations

We welcome applications for research programmes that complement the academic interests of our staff at LSE. For this reason, we recommend that you take a look at our staff research interests before applying.

We encourage research projects which will expand and diversify the research profile of the department.

We strongly encourage applications from high calibre students of all nationalities studying across all research areas at the School but, in particular, we are seeking to support applications from:

• UK students
• Black, Minority Ethnic (BME) students, especially from Black African / Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage

Please note: Prospective candidates aren't expected to contact potential supervisors in advance of their application. Due to the high volume of enquiries, potential supervisors are unlikely to be able to provide feedback on enquiries and outline proposals. Individual academic members of staff are not able to make commitments to supervise prospective students outside of the formal application process involving selection by the Department PhD Sub-Committee.

We apply our entry criteria rigorously, so if you don't already meet or expect to meet them with any pending qualifications, you won't be eligible. We carefully consider each application on an individual basis, taking into account all the information presented on your application form, including your:

• academic achievement (including existing and pending qualifications)
• statement of academic purpose
• references
• CV
• a research proposal of up to 4,000 words with a title and abstract (300 words max.) included at the beginning. The proposal should meet the criteria outlined on the department's MPhil/PhD webpage
• sample of written work.

See further information on supporting documents.

You may need to provide evidence of your English language proficiency. See our English language requirements.

Please note that LSE allows part-time PhD study only under limited circumstances. If you wish to study part-time, you should mention this (and the reasons for it) in your statement of academic purpose, and discuss it at interview if you're shortlisted.

The application deadline for this programme is 15 January 2025.

This includes applications for School scholarships and externally-funded applications.

See the fees and funding section below for more details.

The fee is likely to rise over the full duration of the programme. The School charges home research students in line with fee levels recommended by the Research Councils.

Learn more about fee status classification.

The fee is likely to rise over the full duration of the programme in line with the assumed percentage increase in pay costs (ie, four per cent each year).

Learn more about fee status classification.

Students who successfully complete the programme often embark on an academic career. Recent doctoral graduates have also gone into careers in consultancy, education and teaching, NGOs and charities, international organisations and to roles within the public sector and government.

Further information on graduate destinations for this programme

Hear from some recent graduates

Victor Bojbov
Head of Cooperation in the Delegation of the European Union in Azerbaijan

Giovanni Angioni
Head of Government Social Research Strategy at the HM Treasury

Kiran Phull
Assistant Professor in IR, Department of War studies at King’s College, London

Marnie Howlett
Lecturer in Politics, Oxford

Check our recent completion page.

From CV workshops through to careers fairs, LSE offers lots of information and support to help you make that all-important step from education into work.

Many of the UK’s top employers give careers presentations at the School during the year and there are numerous workshops covering topics such as job hunting, managing interviews, writing a cover letter and using LinkedIn.

See LSE Careers for further details.