Information, Communication and the Social Sciences 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, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.</strong> <br/><br/>The DPhil in Information, Communication and the Social Sciences provides an opportunity for highly-qualified students to undertake innovative internet-related research.<br/><br/>The Oxford Internet Institutes (OII) students work on multidisciplinary research across the social sciences. <br/><br/>As a DPhil student at the OII (known as a PhD at other universities), your research will be anchored in disciplinary questions (in, for instance, politics or sociology), while also being situated in broader social science theories and methods. OII faculty are international leaders in their research fields, and their teaching and supervision reflect their innovative research. <br/><br/>The diverse cohorts of doctoral students complement the strength of the course by providing a multidisciplinary peer network for students to engage in ideas, discussion and debate.<br/><br/>Over the course of the DPhil you will produce an important and original piece of scholarship that will make a significant contribution to the dynamic area of internet research. <br/><br/>In addition to the formal requirements of the DPhil thesis, you will have access to regular training in the key professional skills necessary to support your research and future employment. These range from classes on advanced research methods as part of the OII’s option course offerings to professional development training (provided both by the department and the University) such as presentation skills, academic writing and navigating the process of peer review.<br/><br/>You will attend a weekly doctoral seminar in which you will present your own work for critique, and critique the work of your peers.<br/><br/>In addition, the departments busy calendar of events brings many of the most important people in internet research, innovation and policy to the OII, allowing students to engage with cutting-edge scholarship and debates around the internet and digital technologies.