The PhD in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies is a three-year course consisting of individual supervisions and guided research. Students are given guidance in areas specific to their subject and in advanced research methods. In the Easter term of the first year, students submit a PhD progress examination, which usually consists of a critical essay and a general statement about progress to date and the likely course of their future research.

Further information about the following pathway options can be found on the Faculty's website:

• PhD in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Chinese Studies)
• PhD in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (East Asian Studies)
• PhD in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Hebrew Studies)
• PhD in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Korean Studies)
• PhD in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Japanese Studies)
• PhD in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies)
• PhD in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Sanskrit and South Asian Studies)

Learning Outcomes

At the end of each PhD programme, students will be expected to have:

• acquired the ability to read, interpret  and translate primary sources fluently into their subject area (both spoken and written);
• acquired an excellent knowledge of the general scholarship on their chosen research topic;
• acquired an in-depth and focused knowledge of the secondary literature relevant to the subject of their thesis;
• developed the ability to formulate original research questions and produce a well-constructed argument to answer them, in the form of an independent piece of research based on the use of primary and secondary sources; and
• developed advanced, independent library- and internet-based research skills concomitant with successful completion of a higher research degree.

Continuing

Students who wish to continue onto the PhD in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies will need to achieve the continuation mark of 67 per cent overall in their current MPhil degree and satisfy any pre-existing requirements also set by the Degree Committee, ie English language requirement.

The standard condition for continuation to a PhD for those students who have taken a FAMES MPhil degree by Research only, is a 'pass' and for both examiners to recommend that the student is suitable to continue to the PhD.

EU and International students can find information about their country's equivalent continuation mark from the Graduate Admissions International Qualifications page.

Open Days

The University of Cambridge will be hosting its Cambridge Postgraduate Open Day on Friday 1 November 2019. Visit the Postgraduate Open Day page for more details.