The Masters’ Dissertation is an independent programme of study of an approved topic within the field of Politics and International Relations relating to each of the specific MA programmes offered by the Department completed over the spring and summer months (April-August) of your degree programme. It is a compulsory element of your degree amounting to sixty credits (providing one-third of the credits for your degree). It is designed to enable students to undertake independent research and, through this, allow them to develop a specialised knowledge in an area of the Politics discipline which is of particular interest to them. It will usually draw upon and develop an existing topic or issue associated with a module that they have studied in the earlier part of their programme. Although the dissertation is meant to be an exercise in independent research and writing, each student will be offered guidance and support through the assigning of a supervisor who will oversee the progress of the dissertation.
