Environmental Policy

Course overview

Our highly regarded PhD programme gives you the opportunity to pursue interdisciplinary research over a 3 or occasionally 4 year period.

Research topics vary significantly among PhD candidates; themes in recent years have included carbon capture and storage, climate change finance, closed-loop business models and water scarcity. Study is self-directed, and you explore your chosen topic under the supervision of one or two members of the Department’s academic supervisors. Further support is provided through periodic meetings with an academic review panel composed of the your supervisor and two other faculty members.

CEP's interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental problems allows you to develop familiarity with ideas from a diverse range of academic disciplines, including the economic, social and natural sciences, law, and management theory. Our expertise in interdisciplinary research assists you in integrating these ideas and in developing methodologies to explore them.

Supervisors

View our list of supervisors and their research interests on our departmental pages.

Learning and assessment

For your Early Stage Assessment you will be given a viva on the report by an independent assessor and the primary supervisor. The outcome of this process is one of the following: continued progress to PhD, re-submission of the report, transfer of registration to MPhil or fail/withdraw. 

As part of your Late Stage Report you will have:

1. Produced a report plan should be submitted that contains
2. Delievred a presentation at the CEP PhD Research Symposium
3. Completed all Graduate Schools transferrable skills requirements
4. Passed English language tests (where appropriate)

The report plan and presentation should be assessed by the supervisor and an independent academic assessor. The Late Stage Review form should be submitted to the teaching office within two weeks of all deliverables being met.

Writing up Status

This needs to be agreed with your supervisor to formally confirm that research has ended. Full tuition fees are payable if you do not move into writing up at 36 months. You will need to cover this payment if it is not covered by your funder.

Exam Entry

This needs to be submitted three months before your planned VIVA through My Imperial.

Thesis submission

This is submitted via My Imperial system no later than 48 months.

Career

Graduates of our PhD programme go on to a wide variety of careers destinations.

A PhD provides academic training and also experience of a wide range of transferable skills that equip graduates with the skills necessary to embark on a range of careers. Some students continue into post-doctoral positions and ultimately academic careers, whilst many find their futures in non-academic environments.

Consultancy, public policy and administration in national governments and international agencies such as the United Nations and the World Bank, as well as non-governmental organisations are all careers open to graduates with a PhD from the Centre for Environmental Policy.