PhD in Philosophy

I started my PhD in 2019, having done the MPhil here in 2017-2018 and an undergrad in the Netherlands (in Utrecht) before that. It can be stressful to move to a new country where they don't speak your first language, but Cambridge has been very welcoming and there are plenty of international students in the Faculty. 

Needless to say, the academic environment in Cambridge is really very great. The academic staff, as well as the administrative staff, are very approachable and generous with their time. There are many regular workshops, seminars and reading groups, attended by both postgraduate students and staff, and also a work-in-progress seminar just for postgraduate students. I mainly work in theoretical philosophy and the history of analytic philosophy, and have benefited most from attending the Moral Sciences Club, the Serious Metaphysics Group and several smaller reading groups, but there are specialist workshops and seminars for most areas of philosophy. There are also plenty of opportunities to teach and develop your pedagogical skills, which I have found to be very rewarding. Finally, and very importantly, the postgraduate student community has really made my time in Cambridge special. It is hard to overestimate how much I have gained from being part of this friendly and supportive group

Wouter Cohen, PhD student (May 2023)

I did the MPhil at Cambridge several years ago, at the time not knowing if I wanted to continue with philosophy. To my surprise, I enjoyed the experience so much, I returned for the PhD.

My PhD project is interdisciplinary and lies at the fringes of mainstream analytic philosophy. However, I have been given nothing but support and encouragement. If anything, I have been actively pushed to develop the more ambitious claims in my work. Graduate study at Cambridge gives you enough breathing room to develop your own ideas and approaches. The department is also eager to support your extra-curricular activities - I recently applied for some funding to run a social project and the staff were incredibly helpful with the application.

One of the very special things about studying philosophy at Cambridge is the graduate student community. I have found it to be welcoming and supportive. My peers have given me very helpful feedback on my work and are endlessly encouraging. And if you are ever feeling down - there is a cadre of stuffed dinosaurs in the graduate centre available for cuddling!

Sahanika Ratnayake, PhD student (May 2019)

I came to Cambridge in 2015, having done my B.A. and B.Phil. in Oxford.  That the Faculty’s academic standard is extremely high goes without saying, as does the cultural and intellectual wealth of the wider university.  What is really distinctive here is the warm and collaborative culture among the graduate students, and the great extent to which the Faculty operates as an intellectual community.  This is a thing of great value, and one that absolutely cannot be taken for granted.  Among its happy consequences for me is that fact that, though I came to Cambridge primarily to do specialist work on one topic, it remained easy and natural to learn about many areas of philosophy throughout time as a doctoral student.  I also want to mention the Faculty’s tremendous administrative staff, who contribute so much not only to the efficient running of the Faculty, but also to its relaxed and friendly culture.

Samuel Hughes, PhD Student (May 2019)