Candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) research and write a thesis on an approved topic. It is also possible for candidates to conduct a practice-led PhD with the thesis made up of a written component and substantial creative work. All research is conducted with the support of a supervisory team of academics.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Sydney is consistently ranked among the world’s outstanding centres for research in the humanities and social sciences.

The PhD is offered in disciplines ranging across the visual arts and art history, archaeology and classics, various modern languages and their cultures, economics, English language and literature, ancient, medieval and modern history, philosophy, the global political economy and international governance, sociology and cultural studies, media and communications, education and social work.

As a part of their training, PhD students at Sydney are required to complete some coursework early in their candidature. Students have access to a range of specialist units of study that will develop their research skills.