PhD
The Department has around 45 PhD students at any one time, their thesis topics covering a wide range of subjects across the history and philosophy of the sciences and medicine.
A student can only be admitted if there is a supervisor, approved by the Degree Committee, who is willing to supervise the PhD. The supervisor is responsible for guiding the student's studies. The student is expected to submit written work to the supervisor at regular intervals.
An advisor, chosen by the student, is appointed at the end of the first term. The student is encouraged to submit written work to the advisor at any time during the course.
At the end of each year the student should submit a substantial piece of work and an overall outline of the thesis to form the basis for a meeting with the supervisor and advisor.
Doctoral students will normally be resident in Cambridge for at least nine terms (not including any terms of an MPhil), though leave to work away from Cambridge for part of this time may be granted.
The PhD thesis cannot normally be submitted until a student has been registered for eight complete terms, and must be submitted by the end of the student's fourth year. The thesis should be of no more than 80,000 words, including footnotes but excluding the bibliography.
Continuation from MPhil and Part III
MPhil students wishing to continue to the PhD must submit an application to continue during their MPhil year. The application process and deadlines are the same as for other applicants – see how to apply – but there is some additional guidance:
Part III students wishing to continue to the PhD should apply in the normal way: follow the instructions at how to apply. Please note that you must submit a transcript as part of your application but it is acceptable to use the unofficial transcript generated by CamSIS.
Continuing students will be interviewed in early July. The interviewers will usually be the prospective supervisor and an examiner of the student's MPhil or Part III dissertation. The student's research proposal will be discussed at the interview.
The normal preconditions for continuing to the PhD are an overall mark of a distinction in the MPhil or Part III, a satisfactory performance in the interview and agreement of the PhD proposal with a potential supervisor. However, in exceptional circumstances, the Degree Committee reserves the right to admit continuing students who fail to meet these conditions. The Department also reserves the right not to interview a candidate and make its decision solely on the basis of the performance in the MPhil or Part III.
Students can defer their application to continue by up to two terms, but not across an academic year. If students wish to continue in another academic year, they will need either to make a new application to continue or to ask for their original continuation papers to be resubmitted as a new application.
Supervising undergraduate students
The Department organises supervisions for undergraduates taking History and Philosophy of Science courses in the Natural Sciences Tripos. These supervisions are often given by PhD students in the Department, who are paid by the undergraduates' Colleges for this service. The University and the Department organise sessions at the start of each academic year on how to supervise undergraduates.