Economic History

Doctoral Programme in Economic History

Admission Requirements

Students are normally required to have passed a first degree at least at upper second class level and to have taken and passed at a good level a Masters degree in a relevant area of history or social science.

Methodological Training

First year research students are required to take EH520 Approaches to Economic History, and to attend the general programme provided by the Methodology Institute for research students (MI541-3). Supervisors may require students in their first or subsequent years of study to take other relevant economic history courses, methodological courses provided by the Methodology Institute or the Institute of Historical Research or skills training courses as required for their thesis topic. New research students are also required to take the core MSc (Research) courses EH401 and EH402 unless they have already taken these courses as part of the Master's degree, and, where appropriate, a pre-sessional statistics course.

Courses and Seminars

All research students are required to attend and participate in the weekly Thesis Workshop in Economic History (EH590). Supervisors may require the attendance of students at other relevant research seminars at LSE or elsewhere within the University of London. Students who lack appropriate knowledge of particular substantive areas of economic history may be required to take one or more relevant MSc courses.

Targets for Progress

Year 1 - At the end of the LT of the first year, students are required to present their work to the Thesis Workshop in Economic History. By the start of the ST students are required to submit at least one draft thesis chapter and a 3-5 page thesis outline to the department's Graduate Review Committee. Students taking one or more MSc examinations may, with the support of their supervisor, apply to defer their submission of work to no later than the start of the 7th week of the ST. The Committee will interview all students during the ST, and re-registration for a second year will be conditional on the work presented being of a satisfactory standard.

Year 2 - By the ST of the second year the Graduate Review Committee will normally expect to see about half the thesis in draft. The Committee will interview students, and if the submitted work is of an acceptable standard, students will be upgraded from MPhil to PhD. Students may defer the upgrade decision until their third year for fieldwork or other reasons, but only with the support of their supervisor.

Targets for Completion

The department takes the view that students who have already taken a relevant Masters degree should be able to complete a PhD thesis within three years of full-time study, and that no thesis should extend beyond four years of full-time study.

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