Introduction
The School co-ordinates and provides ESRC-recognised research training in all its discipline areas and administers over 30 taught programmes offered by its constituent disciplines. Visiting the details provided by the Discipline Areas (as we call them) shows the exceptionally wide range of academic, professional and vocational areas of study that we offer. Our aim is to promote high quality graduate education and to integrate Masters and PhD students into the social science research community, within and beyond the School. Our philosophy is to ensure that graduate study at masters and doctoral level directly benefits from and contributes to the vibrant research culture in its discipline areas. The scale of the School, in terms of both staff and students numbers, gives us a unique critical mass: students will find that, regardless how specialised their research interests, there is virtually certain to be an expert somewhere in the School able to advise them.
Students coming to the School will join a research community of more than 150 academic staff and 700 graduate students, studying on a full and part time basis for taught Diplomas and Masters degrees as well as MPhil and PhD by research. Many of our graduate students are from overseas, as befits a School engaged in comparative cross-national social research. The School is cosmopolitan in its character, hosting students from more than 70 countries. We also enjoy considerable and sustained success in securing ESRC studentship awards, and in securing ORS awards for our international students.
The School is committed to the pursuit of research in a real life setting and from that point of view, our location in the heart of a major, rapidly changing, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic city, is particularly appropriate.