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OII’s Graduate Degree Programmes Approved as a Doctoral Training Pathway for Research Students in Oxford University’s ESRC-funded Social Science Doctoral Training Centre (DTC)

We’re delighted to announce that the OII’s graduate degree programmes have been approved as a recognised doctoral training pathway for research students in Oxford University’s ESRC-funded Social Science Doctoral Training Centre (DTC). Launched last year, the DTC provides a rich opportunity for research students to maximise the benefits of Oxford’s unique academic environment, combining the benefits of a strong departmental base with shared training provision and inter-disciplinary collaboration. Whilst our students and teaching were already well-embedded within the Centre, this new development means that from October 2012 we will be able to award doctoral studentships to UK or EU students at the OII with funding provided by the ESRC.

The University of Oxford’s Social Sciences Doctoral Training Centre is one of 21 centres across the UK accredited by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for its research training excellence, and will play a key part in the ESRC’s newly-created national Doctoral Training Network. Oxford’s Social Sciences DTC has been awarded 45 ESRC studentships per year for the next five years, providing opportunities for academically outstanding students to benefit from the research preparation Masters and doctoral training we provide across a wide range of social science disciplines and inter-disciplinary subject areas.

The OII offers two graduate degree programmes. Our DPhil programme in Information, Communication and the Social Sciences provides an opportunity for cutting edge research into the societal implications of the Internet and related technologies in the context of this dynamic and supportive multi-disciplinary department. Our MSc programme in Social Science of the Internet is a full-time intensively taught Masters course, with a core syllabus designed to ensure that all students attain an in-depth understanding of the social science concepts, theories and methods (including Internet-specific research methods) required to undertake and assess rigorous empirical research or policy analysis of Internet-related issues.