Research Degrees (MPhil/PhD) in Southeast Asian Studies
London, United Kingdom
PhD
DURATION
6 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2027
TUITION FEES
GBP 23,390 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for international students full-time | GBP 5055 - for home students full-time | GBP 11695 - for international students part-time | GBP 2525 - for home students part-time
Key Summary
About: The South East Asia Section offers doctoral research in Burmese, Indonesian/Malay, Thai and Vietnamese languages, literatures, cinema and cultures, including Islam, gender, oral literature, translation, phonetics and language pedagogy. Researchers register for an MPhil and may transfer to PhD after one year; the thesis must be completed within 48 months.
Career Outcomes: Recent graduates have been hired by media, government, NGO and research organizations such as BBC, UNHCR, Google and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Typical roles include researcher, policy analyst, diplomat, journalist, programme officer, consultant, translator and academic posts in area studies, international development, media and public policy.
The South East Asia Section offers research and supervision across a wide range of South East Asian languages and literatures, with primary commitment to Burmese, Indonesian/Malay, Thai and Vietnamese and related literatures, cinemas and cultures. Research interests include classical Malay literature; modern literature in Malay, Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese; Islam in South East Asia; language pedagogy; phonetics; gender studies; oral literature and folklore; cinema in South East Asia; and translation.
All doctoral researchers register initially for an MPhil and may transfer to a PhD after one year (full-time), subject to School approval. A full research training programme is provided at the faculty level, and students are encouraged to participate in discipline-specific training from the Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies (CCLPS) and the Doctoral School. Students are assigned a supervisory committee (primary and secondary supervisors) and are expected to meet their main supervisor regularly.
Assessment and milestones: Year 1 includes a compulsory Common Core Research Module (5000-word piece, submission around mid-December) and, for full-time students, submission of a core chapter and research proposal of about 10,000 words by mid-May for upgrade consideration. The upgrade from MPhil to PhD is based on an assessment of the core chapter and an oral presentation. Year 2 is normally devoted to research (fieldwork, library research). Year 3 is for writing up the PhD thesis; the thesis must be completed within 48 months from registration (or part-time equivalent). The thesis may not exceed 100,000 words and is examined by two external examiners.
- Year 1: All students register as MPhil students. They undertake faculty-wide first-year research training and departmental Research Training Seminar. Year 1 students must submit a 5,000-word piece for the Common Core Research Module (mid-December) and, for full-time students, a core chapter and research proposal (about 10,000 words) by mid-May for upgrade review. Students complete a data management plan and online Research Ethics training.
- Year 2: Normally spent on research (fieldwork, library research and material collection) as agreed with supervisors.
- Year 3: Devoted to writing up the PhD thesis; students present draft chapters to supervisors and give departmental seminar presentations. Thesis submission and viva follow. The thesis must be completed within 48 months from registration (or part-time equivalent) and should not exceed 100,000 words.
Graduates gain linguistic and cultural expertise together with skills in written and oral communication, analysis and problem solving.
- Tibawi Trust Award
- Felix Scholarships
- SOAS Teaching Scholarships
- NSTC Taiwan Scholarship
Recent graduates have been hired by:
- Africa Matters;
- Amnesty International;
- Arab British Chamber of Commerce;
- BBC World Service;
- British High Commission;
- Council for British Research in the Levant;
- Department for International Development;
- Edelman;
- Embassy of Jordan;
- Ernst & Young;
- Foreign & Commonwealth Office;
- Google;
- Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies;
- Middle East Eye;
- Saïd Foundation;
- TalkAbout Speech Therapy;
- The Black Curriculum;
- The Telegraph;
- United Nations Development Programme;
- UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency;
- Wall Street Journal.
SOAS's South East Asia Section offers the widest coverage in Europe of research and teaching related to South East Asian languages and cultures, with primary commitment to Burmese, Indonesian/Malay, Thai and Vietnamese. The department provides close supervisory attention, a full faculty-level research training programme and links to the Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies and the Doctoral School.