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SOAS University of London

London , England ,United Kingdom

Research Degrees: (MPhil) Religions and Philosophies

Join our Research Degrees: Religions and Philosophies at SOAS — as a PhD student at SOAS you will be welcomed by our research community of doctoral researchers from across the globe and play a vital role in developing our vibrant and intellectual culture.

The SOAS Religions and Philosophies Department offers a vibrant, stimulating, and interdisciplinary research environment. We provide individual research supervision in a wide variety of religious traditions and comparative and interdisciplinary topics. Supervisors are experts in their fields and thoroughly familiar with the religions, cultures, languages, and geographical areas they specialise in. 

In addition to individual supervision the Department offers research training at various levels: an obligatory research writing workshop which prepares year 1 MPhil students for their upgrade to the PhD level; a weekly seminar for PhD students in years 2 and 3 to discuss work in progress and receive feedback before submitting their thesis; a departmental research seminar in which both staff and students present papers on their research projects and discuss them in an interdisciplinary setting.

You will also have the opportunity to attend seminars, lectures, and conferences offered by the various specialist SOAS Research Centres: Jewish Studies, Study of Japanese Religions, Buddhist Studies, Jaina Studies and World Christianity. Our centres run regular evening lecture series, workshops, and conferences which host visiting speakers from other universities in Britain, Europe, and globally.

As you think about commencing your PhD with us, we invite you to contact a potential supervisor in your area of interest, ideally with a first draft of your project proposal. This member of staff will then advise you on your project and on any questions you might have before making your application.

Intakes

  • Sep

Application Processing Time in Days: 40

Minimum English Language Requirements

English Level Description IELTS (1.0 -9.0) TOEFL IBT (0-120) TOEFL CBT (0-300) PTE (10-90)
Expert 9 120 297-300 86-90
Very Good 8.5 115-119 280-293 83-86
Very Good 8 110-114 270-280 79-83
Good 7.5 102-109 253-267 73-79
Good 7 94-101 240-253 65-73
Competent 6.5 79-93 213-233 58-65
Competent 6 60-78 170-210 50-58
Modest 5.5 46-59 133-210 43-50
Modest 5 35-45 107-133 36-43
Limited 4 32-34 97-103 30-36
Extremely Limited < 4 < 31 < 93 < 30

Job Opportunity Potential

We offer the following services to all full-time and part-time SOAS students on an on campus course:

  • Access to jobs, internships and volunteering opportunities through our careers management system, CareersZONE.
  • One-to-one careers advice on how to decide on a career path, as well as information and advice on the application process, including CVs, cover letters and application forms.
  • Practice Interviews to help students prepare their upcoming recruitment process, including assessment centres
  • A large selection of SOAS-specific events such as Careers Fairs, Alumni Workshops and Skills Sessions throughout the academic year
  • Assistance with navigating our virtual careers information resources on MySOAS Student
  • Provide information resources, including books, on further study, jobs, internships and volunteering.
  • Access to SOAS Connect, our eMentoring platform designed to help connect SOAS alumni and students around the world for peer-to-peer careers advice and guidance

PSW Opportunity

Psw 2 yrs

Admission Requirement / Eligibility Criteria

Applicants should have a first or good second class honours bachelors degree from a UK university, or international equivalent, in a subject appropriate to that of the programme to be followed. If an applicant does not have a bachelors degree in an appropriate field they may be required to complete a qualifying year or a one year diploma before entering the masters programme.

Relevant work experience may also be taken into consideration. Individual courses may have specific entry requirements, so you are advised to consult the postgraduate prospectus for further information.

International students who are unable to meet the Academic or English requirements for post graduate studies at SOAS, should consider our specifically designed programmes at IFCELS which could help you achieve your goals.

Fluency in English language is recommended for SOAS Online Academic Summer Schools. As a guide, we recommend that non-native English speakers should meet the following scores:

IELTS, 6.5 overall or higher, with at least 6 in all sub scores.
TOEFL Paper based test we require a minimum of 583 with minimum 53 in all skills and for TOEFL Internet Based Test we require a minimum of 93 with minimum 20 in all skills. 
Pearson Test of English a score of 59-64
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) Grade B