The department welcomes DPhil candidates who are interested in a wide range of areas of social intervention and policy evaluation research, including evaluation methodology, and policy and intervention research in areas such as violence and injury prevention, neighbourhood and urban health, reduction of poverty and social inequality, alcohol and drug misuse, mental health and antisocial behaviour in children and youth, parenting and family interventions including those delivered across the perinatal period, school-based interventions, HIV prevention, AIDS-affected children, the Sustainable Development goals, violence against children and cross-cultural adaptation of interventions.
PhD Program Requirements
A first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours.
A relevant master’s or honours degree with sufficient methods training.
For applicants with a degree from the USA, a bachelor’s degree with a minimum overall GPA of 3.5 out of 4.0, or 4.0 out of 5.0 is sought.
The qualification(s) above should be achieved in one of the following subject areas or disciplines:
- public health and epidemiology
- economics
- political science, public policy and public administration
- psychology
- social policy
- social work
- sociology; or
- closely related fields.
PhD Funding Coverage
The University expects to be able to offer over 1,000 full or partial graduate scholarships across the collegiate University in 2024-25.
You will be automatically considered for the majority of Oxford scholarships, if you fulfil the eligibility criteria and submit your graduate application by the relevant December or January deadline.
Most scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit and/or potential.
Application Requirement
1. Online Application
2. Official transcript(s): Your transcripts should give detailed information of the individual grades received in your university-level qualifications to date. You should only upload official documents issued by your institution and any transcript not in English should be accompanied by a certified translation.
3. Research proposal: Your research proposal should comprise a detailed outline of your proposed research. The proposal needs to have a clear research question, a research design and methods section, and should discuss the background, existing literature and significance of the topic, as well as providing a brief timeline. We recommend you have section headings for each of these parts. You must also indicate a potential thesis supervisor in the proposal.
4. Personal statement: Your personal statement should explain your motivation for applying for the course and its specific focus on evidence-based social intervention and policy evaluation at Oxford, your relevant experience and education, and the specific areas that interest you and/or you intend to specialise in.
5. Written work: Academic essays or other writing samples from your most recent qualification, written in English, are required. Extracts of the requisite length from longer work are also permissible.
6. GRE General Test scores: No Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or GMAT scores are sought.
7. English language proficiency: This course requires proficiency in English at the University’s higher level. If your first language is not English, you may need to provide evidence that you meet this requirement.
Application Deadline
1 March 2024
Application Fee
An application fee of £75 is payable per course application.
