Application


Application Procedure
Admissions Criteria
Research Proposal
Fees
Scholarships

Applications are invited from students wishing to take an MPhil/PhD in Psychoanalytic Studies and the History of Psychological Disciplines at University College London.Students can register on a full-time or part-time basis. Overseas students (non UK/EU) are required to register as full-time students due to visa requirements. A full-time PhD at UCL should be completed within 3-4 years and a part-time PhD should be completed within 4-6 years. The PhD programme is not available via distance learning.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Applications should be made online: 
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate-study/application-admission/

Please use the following information for your online application:
Department: Division of Psychology and Language Science
Programme Group: Postgraduate Research
RRDPLSSCEH01  Research Degree: Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology Division of Psychology and Language Sciences 

Please state in either your personal statement / research proposal that you are applying for the MPhil/PhD in Psychoanalytic Studies

There is currently no formal deadline for applications. If you are self-funded then you are strongly advised to apply by May of the year that you wish to begin studying. Any later means that there may be no space on the programme or it may be too late to arrange an interview. If you are applying for a UCL scholarship you should apply in good time in order to have completed the application process in full and be put forward for selection (we would recommend an application by December of the previous year). A list of available scholarships and their deadlines can be found here.

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA

  1. (i) a 1st class or 2:1 standard honours degree of a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard obtained after a programme of study extending over not less than three years in a university (or educational institution of university rank), in a subject appropriate to that of the programme to be followed; or
    (ii) a 1st class or 2:1 standard Master's degree from a UK University in a subject appropriate to the programme to be followed; or
    (iii) a professional or other qualification obtained by written examinations and approved by UCL as an appropriate entrance qualification for the MPhil or PhD degree in question.

    For information about equivalent overseas qualifications please click here.

  2. Two academic references.

  3. Full transcripts of the academic record at university.

  4. A detailed research proposal of circa 1000-1500 words outlining proposed subject of the thesis, with a working title, and including an indication of the methodology to be adopted and sources to be used. Applications without a clear research proposal cannot be considered. The application must fall within an area where supervision can be offered. For more details about the research proposal click here.

  5. There will be an informal preliminary interview with the Director and/or Graduate Tutor which, if successful, will be followed by a formal interview with members of the Selection Committee. For overseas applicants these can be arranged by telephone. Agreement of the proposed supervisor must be secured prior to acceptance.

  6. Candidates whose first language is not English or who did not obtain a degree at a University where the medium of instruction was English must take a language proficiency test. For a list of tests accepted by UCL please click here. For PhD study, applicants must achieve ‘Advanced level’: 

  7. Applicants who are considered not to have sufficient knowledge of psychoanalysis but who are otherwise well qualified will be advised to take the MSc in Theoretical Psychoanalysis before embarking on a PhD.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

A research proposal of 1000-1500 words in length has to be submitted with the UCL graduate application form. The full research proposal is an extremely important part of your formal application.

You should indicate what aspect of psychoanalysis you are interested in and how you intend to study it. For example, if you are interested in literature and psychoanalysis, who the author(s) are that you would like to look at and what psychoanalysis ideas would you want to focus on to help elucidate the work of that person. If your interests are in conceptual research,  you should identify not only the concept that you want to work on, with a discussion of relevant background, but also the methodology that you are interested in, such as studying historical texts including Freud, or looking at how the concept is currently used, or both, etc. If you are interested in conducting empirical research, your proposal should contain a brief discussion of the relevant theoretical background, previous research in this area, a clear rationale for the study, and a proposal for methodology. Moreover, we strongly encourage research that combines conceptual and empirical research. The Director of the programme will be available to discuss the suitability of your proposal.


The research proposal should be your own work, though the supervisor and other Unit staff may also give advice. It should clearly state the research question, and its importance. The word limit includes all sections and appendices. Only key references rather than a lengthy reference list should be included. In addition to the Research Proposal, you should use the 'Personal Statement' section of the UCL Graduate Student Application form to give any details on why you think you are particularly suited for your chosen area of research. Some guidelines for preparing a research proposal are below:

  • A paragraph setting out your proposal in terms of the research question it is asking.
  • Indicate briefly a way in which this might be an original contribution to knowledge.
  • Explain briefly in what ways this makes use of psychoanalysis or investigates psychoanalytic concepts.
  • Provide a time line indicating what you think are the main areas of research you will need to undertake, when you will undertake them and how much time will be devoted to each.
  • Suggest chapter headings for the thesis. These will not be fixed in stone, but will give an indication that the topic is manageable within the required framework.
  • Bibliography. Provide key readings for each of the above sections.
  • Suggested supervision/supervisors.
  • Any courses (such as history or language courses) that you feel you could profitably audit within UCL.

FEES

For 2013/4 MPhil/PhD fees are as follows:

Full-time UK/EU students - £ 4,400 per academic year
Part-time UK/EU students - £2,200 per academic year
Full-time Overseas students - £20,250 per academic year

In 2012/13 MPhil/PhD fees are as follows:

Full-time UK/EU students - £ 4,200 per academic year
Part-time UK/EU students - £2,100 per academic year
Full-time Overseas students - £19,250 per academic year

Please click here for further information about tuition fees.

Please note, we cannot accept overseas students on a part-time basis due student visa regulations. More information about student visas can be found here.

SCHOLARSHIPS

UCL offers a range of scholarships to both UK/EU and Overseas Graduate students. It should be noted that competition for scholarships is extremely high and applicants are advised not to rely solely on these to fund their studies.

Information regarding relevant UCL scholarships can be found by clicking here.

If you are applying for a UCL scholarship you should make your PhD aplication as early as possible in order to have completed the application process before being forward for selection. Please check the relevant deadlines which are often quite early.