Dissertation Governance, Development and Public Policy (946M9)

45 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Summer teaching

Following the submission date for Semester 2 coursework, you're required to undertake an individual project based on original research, which culminates in a ten thousand word dissertation. Most students will rely on secondary sources.

Primary data collection (fieldwork) is not essential, although you may wish to conduct a short period of fieldwork during the summer.

If you wish to undertake primary fieldwork, you will have to take one of three methods courses offered in Semester 2.

You must identify a supervisor and submit a Certificate of Approval for your dissertation by the end of May. Supervisors will guide you on developing your argument, structuring your dissertation and additional readings.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 450 hours of work. This breaks down into about 2 hours of contact time and about 448 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.