Philosophy PhD

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

You will meet regularly with your supervisors, who will advise you on the steps to take towards producing your thesis. In their first year, students also participate in the proseminar, which provides an opportunity to learn about a wide range of philosophical topics and to meet different academic staff members.

All doctoral students are encouraged to participate in a bi-weekly postgraduate work-in-progress research seminar, and to take advantage of regular professional development and research training seminars offered within and outside the department.

Most PhD students will gain undergraduate teaching experience, for which you will be given training and mentoring.

Find out more about our community

The School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences is home to a large, supportive and active student community, hosting events and activities throughout the year which you can join. As a postgraduate student you will have access to a range of research resources, state of the art facilities, research seminars and reading groups.

• Find out more about our community

Many of our PhD graduates choose to remain in academia as lecturers and researchers.

Post-doctoral opportunities

Recent graduates have successfully attained post-doctoral positions at:

• University of Montreal
• British Academy Postdoc at Sheffield University
• University of Barcelona
• Ruhr University Bochum
• University of Trier
• Kansai University
• University of York
• University of Helsinki
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

As well as faculty positions at:

• Nanyang Technological University
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Hokkaido's Center for Human Nature, Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience
• Anderson University
• Fudan University
• University of Glasgow

Find a research opportunity that matches your interests.

We strongly encourage you to get in touch with a potential supervisor, and to include their name in your application. When contacting a potential supervisor, please include a draft proposal and CV as this will provide the starting point for discussion. You can introduce yourself by explaining why their work interests you.

Writing your research proposal

Your research proposal will be used to consider whether supervision can be provided for the research that you propose, so it is important that your basic aims and area of investigation are clear.

We understand that it can be difficult to formulate research plans for a proposal well in advance of carrying out the work, but we encourage you to formulate your ideas clearly. You should expect to draft your proposal several times, and, ideally, seek comments on it from people able to discuss it with you (perhaps from your referees or former lecturers) before submitting your application.

Your proposal should be around 1000 words. This does not include any references or bibliography – you are encouraged to refer to relevant literature and may include a set of references as well as a proposal of the length described above.

Your proposal should include:

• A title for the project.
• A discussion of the research questions or hypothesis that you intend to address, along with a justification for them: what makes the problem or questions interesting and important?
• A brief explanation of the ideas or concepts that the research will investigate.
• A description of the research context in which you aim to work – you should refer explicitly to work which is similar to that which you are planning or which is influential on your ideas, and you should include the details of this work in a bibliography or list of references.
• An indication of feasibility: how will you go about answering the question in the timeframe of the PhD? What skills/knowledge do you need to acquire?

Given the limited scope of a PhD dissertation, you will not resolve a big, longstanding philosophical problem in your dissertation. Instead aim for a medium-sized contribution (i.e. greater scope than a single journal article, but no more than a short monograph) to a current debate in philosophy or philosophical scholarship.

If your application is successful, we expect that your research will develop. It is likely that your supervisor will suggest changes or developments to your research. Therefore, you will not be held to the ideas that you explain in your proposal during your research.

Prepare and submit your application details

To ensure full consideration of your application we ask that you submit your complete application including all supporting documentation.

You should include a sample of academic writing, such as an essay or article, written in the past two years. Ideally, your work sample should be about 2000 words and on a topic related to your proposed area of research. Longer samples are accepted, but the admissions panels are not expected to read significantly longer samples to completion.

You will be asked to add contact details for your referees. We will email them with information on how to upload their reference directly to your online application. Please allow plenty of time as we can only consider your application once we have received your full application, including your references.

Prepare a funding application

Our PhD positions do not come with automatic funding. The AHRC, specifically the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH), is a main source of funding for our PhD students.

• AHRC information

All applicants in the first round (November deadline) are strongly encouraged to prepare an application to the SGSAH. This application is submitted to PPLS immediately after your application for a PhD position at PPLS. Do not wait to be offered a place to study first.

We select a number of proposals based on academic merit and funding potential to be considered by the SGSAH. If you do not complete the SGSAH application, you greatly diminish your chances of receiving funding for your PhD.

Shortlisted candidates will have the opportunity to work on their proposal further prior to final submission to SGSAH.

• Find out more about the application process

Pre-application Checklist

To receive a pre-arrival checklist to help you with your application, please email the PPLS Postgraduate Office at pplspgoffice@ed.ac.uk

Please complete this checklist to keep track of your application preparations. Please submit the completed checklist as an additional document to your application.

These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2025.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in philosophy.

Your application will also be considered if you have a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in another subject and a postgraduate masters level degree in philosophy.

Your academic achievements will be assessed by a panel of academics along with the research proposal submitted as part of your application.

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 6.5 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 23 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 185 with at least 176 in each component.
• Trinity ISE: ISE III with passes in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 73 with at least 65 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online..
• Oxford ELLT: 8 overall with at least 7 in each component. Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

• English language requirements

Tuition fees

Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.

Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:

• borrowing money

  • taking out a loan

  • family support

• personal savings

• income from work

• employer sponsorship

• scholarships

Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study

Only applications received by the Round 1 deadline will be considered for University of Edinburgh based funding. You may be able to secure external funding outside of this deadline.

Featured funding

• Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities Funding
• [College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Awards] (https://www.ed.ac.uk/ppls/philosophy/prospective/postgraduate/funding/arts-humanities-soc-sci-research-awards)
• [Edinburgh Doctoral College Scholarships] (https://www.ed.ac.uk/student-funding/postgraduate/international/other-funding/doctoral-college)

UK government postgraduate loans

If you live in the UK, you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan from one of the UK’s governments.

The type and amount of financial support you are eligible for will depend on:

• your programme
• the duration of your studies
• your tuition fee status

Programmes studied on a part-time intermittent basis are not eligible.

• UK government and other external funding

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding