Anthropology DPhil

<strong>The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2025). For complete and up-to-date information about this course including information about course components or research areas, please visit the course page on the University of Oxford website.</strong><br/><br/>The DPhil in Anthropology is an advanced research degree offered by the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography. It is awarded to candidates who have completed a substantial original piece of research in the field. <br/><br/>Anthropology - the study of humans - is a very diverse field and a wide range of research foci are reflected within the activities and structure of the school. DPhil students in the school research topics across this wide range of research foci, including migration and migrant populations, social and cultural influences on medical practice and health, material culture and its representation in museums, human cooperation and pro-social behaviour, the evolution of human behaviour, human adaptations and interactions with the environment and technology, and the huge range of topics that fall under the social anthropological concerns of learning about different populations’ versions of the world and relating them to each other.<br/><br/>The DPhil provides training and practice in developing research skills, especially through fieldwork with human subjects, though this is not compulsory. It also offers practice in analysing, interpreting and writing up research-related materials, and in presenting such materials in seminar-type formats. Upon successful completion of the course, you will have developed the skills and expertise that qualify you to work in academic research/teaching positions or beyond in a broad range of professions requiring social science skills and sensitivities.<br/><br/>Most applicants are admitted to the DPhil as Probationer Research Students (PRS). However, students who are studying an MPhil in Anthropology at Oxford may apply for admission directly to DPhil status, but only where there is clear continuity between the topic of their MPhil thesis and that of their proposed DPhil. DPhil. <br/><br/><strong>For the full description, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas</strong>