Postgraduate Research Programmes

PhD in Sociology or Politics

Work with the best!

The Department of Sociology is a leading national and international centre for research and postgraduate teaching and learning in Sociology and Politics. We offer two types of research postgraduate degrees: research Master’s (MLitt) and doctoral (PhD). MLitts take approximately two years and PhDs from 4-5 years to complete.

Click here to hear Patrick Gallagher (who completed his PhD about Denmark and Ireland in 2019) describe his experience as a research postgrad in Maynooth Sociology

Click here for a short (8 minute) video about doing a PhD or MLitt with us.

Applying to do a PhD or MLitt

The Expression of Interest form here is the first step in applying to do postgraduate research in the Dept of Sociology.

The PhD or MLitt in Sociology or Politics at Maynooth involves completion of an individual piece of research, which you carry out under the supervision of one or two experienced researchers and with the support of the rest of the department.

Unlike some national university systems your application must include a worked-out research proposal of your own. This proposal needs to be accepted by the Sociology Department as a whole. Your proposal may also form the basis for a funding application.

It is important to stress that neither the Department nor individual staff members have discretionary funds to support postgraduate researchers!

To do a PhD or MLitt with us, please complete the following Expression of Interest form. This is not your research proposal, but a first step in that direction.

Expression of Interest Form

If you have any queries about whether your form has been submitted or the progress of your enquiry, please contact our postgraduate coordinator, Laurence Cox.

If Departmental staff agree to supervise you, they will work with you on developing a full research proposal, for the Department and potentially for funding bodies. This is typically quite a substantial document and you should expect to spend a few months of reading, reflection and analysis in order to develop a credible proposal. It is therefore important to start this process well in advance of the relevant funding deadlines.

Our Research Postgraduate Education Programme

High quality supervision system

Our supervisors are internationally well-known researchers involved in international and Irish research projects and networks
Experienced supervisors, co-supervisors and ‘second supervisor’ systems and departmental review of progress ensure quality and fairness
Work closely with other postgrad students
Career mentoring from successful researchers with a strong track record of publications, grants and networking

Taught courses include:

Postgrad thesis workshop, "Craft and Logics of Social Research"
Professional Certificate in Teaching and Learning
Research methods modules
Specialised area courses
Credit for international summer/winter schools and more

Opportunities for Funding

Our postgrads have been successful in receiving:

Government of Ireland scholarships
Maynooth's John and Pat Hume Scholarships
SUSI will fund under certain conditions
Other sources of fundng include some employers and for international students some national funding agencies
Maynooth's Graduate Research Academy's site sometimes has details of other funding possibilites

We also offer

Tutor positions (including paid training, guidance and certification)
Research Assistant opportunities

We have a frequently asked questions section below. If you have questions not answered here please contact our postgraduate coordinator Laurence Cox ([email protected]).

Other Resources to Support your Study

Dedicated Graduate Research Academy and International Office to help with practical issues arising
Working space with private locker and access to our staff kitchen/common room
Laptop if needed and full IT access
Full library access, including extensive electronic databases and journal subscriptions, inter-library loans and access to other university libraries
Access to printing and photocopying facilities
€750/year available for research costs such as conferences, software, data costs, visas for research etc.
Social events and field trips for postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers

Learn More about Our Postgrads

The links below show some books that have come directly from Maynooth PhD theses.

Minority Discontent in Nigeria since Independence: the Ogoni People’s Resistance in Perspective
Samuel Udogbo

The Politics of Tourism Development: Booms and Busts in Ireland
Anne O’Brien

Deepening Democracy in Post-Neoliberal Bolivia and Venezuela: Advances and Setbacks
John Brown

Disability and Ageing: Towards a Critical Perspective
Ann Leahy

Female Combatants after Armed Struggle: Lost in Transition?
Niall Gilmartin

Ireland, Small Open Economies and European Integration: Lost in Transition

David Begg

Schooled Bodies? Negotiating Adolescent Validation Through Press, Peers and Parents
Majella McSharry

Complexity and Resilience in the Social and Ecological Sciences
Eoin Flaherty

Constructions of Illiteracy in Twentieth-Century Ireland: Contesting the Narrative of Full Literacy
Maighréad Tobin

Rural Young Women, Education, and Socio-Spatial Mobility: Landscapes of Success
Wendy Geller

Transforming Participation? The Politics of Development in Malawi and Ireland
Niamh Gaynor

See below for a list of our students' theses and links to the documents themselves.

Applying for a Research Postgraduate

The first stage of applying to do a PhD or MLitt in Sociology or Politics at Maynooth is to complete the Expression of Interest form at the top of this webpage, outlining what you are thinking of researching and helping us to get a sense of you. We can then put you together with prospective supervisors who are experts in the area of your proposed research ( list of potential supervisors ) and they can support you to develop a full proposal which can be used both to apply for funding and for admission to the Department. The research postgraduate coordinator, Professor Laurence Cox ([email protected]), is available to discuss any questions you have around this process.

If we are able to put you together with a prospective supervisor or two co-supervisors, you will then work on developing a more detailed proposal. This may be a funding proposal (for example to the Government of Ireland scholarship programme or Maynooth’s John and Pat Hume scholarships). If you already have funding you will still need to present a detailed proposal to be accepted by the Department. The University admission process follows at that point.

You may apply to start a PhD or MLitt at any point in the year but there is usually a cut-off around August 15^th if you want to start in September of that year. This may be a requirement of funding, but it can also have practical advantages in terms of accommodation, modules etc.

Current Research Postgraduates

PhD and Supervisor List 2024-2025

Past PhD and MLitt Theses

Here you will find information on recent research graduates in the Department and links to their theses.

You can find a list of all our theses, up to date with links to the text, by clicking on the Library Archive of Theses in Maynooth Sociology

Theses:

2023 Gallagher, Brogan A Tale of Two Sisters: Social movement mobilisations in response to acts of violence against women in Argentina and Ireland.
2023 Ní Chasaide, Nessa Corporate Tax Games: A Case Study of Ireland in the Global Politics of Tax.
2023 Rhatigan, Fergal The Development Discourses of Irish Development Workers and Missionaries: Their Attitudes, Beliefs and Work Practices.
2022 Moody, Josh Coders, Creatives and the Commodification of Knowledge in a Digitalizing, Flexibilizing World (of Work).
2021 McAdam, Aine From Wilderness to Wonderment: The Presentation of Irish Heritage, Durrow and Glendalough.
2021 Udogbo, Samuel Terwase An Exploration of the Ogoni People’s Resistance in Nigeria: A Participatory Action Research Approach.
2019 Finn, Philip Playing with the Absurdity of Welfare: Experiences of Irish Welfare Conditionality.
2019 Fitzgerald, Caitriona Maria Re-imagining primary school children’s citizenship participation.
2019 Graham, Amanda Jane A portrait of the Arts Centre in rural Ireland: an inter-disciplinary mix-methods approach. (MLitt)
2019 Rojas Coppari, Pablo Liminal Lives: How Ireland’s Labour Migration Regime Entraps Migrant Households in Hyper-precarity.
2019 White, James Merricks Standardising the city: A material-discursive genealogy of CPA-I_001, ISO 37120 and BSI PAS 181.
2018 Brown, John Democratisation and the radical-Left in Latin America: Toward a post-neoliberal citizenship regime? Lessons from Bolivia and Venezuela.
2018 Gallagher, Patrick John Financialisation and the Politics of Growth in Denmark and Ireland.
2018 Kiryakova-Ryan, Dilyana Meaning is Use: Civic Initiatives and Europeanisation from below in Bulgaria.
2018 Leahy, Ann Disability – an Issue for All Ages: A Study of the Experience of Disability and Ageing.
2018 Tobin, Maighread Literacy and Society in Ireland 1900-1980.
2017 Connor, Nigel A Post Gay Ireland? Exploring the legacy of the "Yes Equality" campaign for LGBT+ Social Movement Leaders and Constituent Members. (MLitt)
2017 Dulee-Kinsolving, Amelia Flexible or Secure Jobs?: Young Workers and Internships in Ireland and Spain.
2017 Privalko, Ivan Dynamic Outcomes: Effects of Job Mobility in Germany and the UK.
2016 Omoyele, Tolu The history and sociological significance of Africa Fashion Week New York 2011-2014. (MLitt)
2016 Byrne, John Pau lThe Antinomies of Autonomy: The Social Structures of Stressors in Ireland and Denmark
2016 Maher, Michelle The Politics of Pensions in Ireland
2016 O'Connor, Anne Martina Finding Sanctuary: The Occupational Choice of Animal Shelter Work
2016 Moran, Joe The embedding of precarious employment in Ireland: stories of workers from the South-East
2015 Kettle, Patricia Growing Your Own and Growing Social Cohesion? A Study of the Social and Civic Dividends of Urban Agriculture Initiatives: Dublin and Belfast
2015 Lowe, Chris"Palatial Homes, New Hovels": The Changing Use Values and Soft Theming of Georgian Dublin
2015 Gilmartin, Niall Lost in Transition: Republic Women's Struggle after Armed Struggle.
2015 Onyemelukwe, Maria Uchemdia An Exploration of Gender Roles, Attitudes and Expectations in Nigerian Immigrant Families in Ireland. (MLitt)
2015 Phipps, Mary From housewife to domestic goddess and beyond: investigating the significance of women’s role as food providers in contemporary Ireland
2015 O’Malley Gannon, Clodagh The metabolic relationship between nature and society within agriculture: a case study of a rural western Ireland coastal community (c 1930s-1950s)
2015 Dunne, Terry Cultures of Resistance in pre-Famine Ireland
2015 Hogarty, Jean The Rhythm of Our Lives: Popular Music and Cultural Memory in the Age of the Internet and Retro Culture
2014 McGowan, Deirdre The Normalising Power of Marriage Law: An Irish Genealogy, 1945 - 2010.
2014 Szolucha, Ania No Stable Ground: Real Democracy in the Occupy Movement.
2014 Begg, David Lost in Transition: How Ireland and Three Other Small Open Economies Responded to Europeanisation 1987-2013.
2014 Gallagher, Kerry Mediating Catholicism – Religious Identities, Polish Migrants and the Catholic Church in Ireland.
2014 O’Keeffe, Linda Spaces of Reproduction: How Teenagers Co-construct Post Industrial Soundscapes in Smithfield, Dublin.
2014 Cunningham, Bridget Social Drinking Practices / Irish Public House in late Modernity.
2013 Flaherty, Eoin Modes of production, metabolism and resilience: toward a framework for the analysis of complex social-ecological systems
2012 Zagato, Alessandro Community Development in Dublin. Political Subjectivity and State Cooption.
2011 Moran, Niall The Grassroots Pro-Asylum Seeker Movement in the Republic of Ireland: A Social Movement Perspective
2011Moffatt, Joseph Paradigms of Irishness for Young People in Dublin
2011 Jackson, Ashling Premarital cohabitation as a pathway into marriage. An investigation into how premarital cohabitation is transforming the institution of marriage in Ireland. Athlone as a case study.
2010 Gillan, Margaret CLASS, VOICE, AND STATE: Knowledge production in self-organised working class activity and the politics of developing community television in Ireland using PAR strategies
2010 Keatinge, Max MLittThe Expression and Constraint of Human Agency Within the Massively Multiplayer Online Games of World of Warcraft and Eve-Online: a Comparative Case Study.
2010 O’Brien, Morgan Consuming Talk: Youth Culture and the Mobile Phone
2010 Fuller, Wendy The Meaning of Success: Young Women and High Academic Achievement in Rapidly Developed Areas. A Comparative Study of Contemporary Rural Vermont, USA and Leinster, Ireland
2010 McDonough, Aine Lost in Translation: The Legal appropriation of the voice of child sexual abuse victims in Ireland
2009 Doyle, Patricia A Sociological Study of Addiction: Power and Social Change from the "rock bottom up"
2008 Gaynor, Niamh Transforming participation?: a comparative study of state and civil society agency within national development processes in Malawi and Ireland

Practicalities of Living and Studying in Ireland

If you’re moving to Ireland for postgrad research there are a lot of practical things to think about. For many people the key issues are the cost of living and difficulty in finding accommodation. On cost of living, Ireland is now the second-most expensive EU country (after Denmark) in terms of the costs of goods and services. There is also a major housing crisis, which is expressed in particular in a shortage of rental accommodation at a decent price. As an incoming postgraduate student you may be able to secure on-campus accommodation and you should ask about this at an early stage.

Beyond these, though, moving country and starting postgraduate study can have all sorts of other challenges including immigration, care and family responsibilities, managing health issues, racism and so on.

The Irish Council for International Students’ website has some useful advice and resources.

The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland is primarily for migrant workers and their families but much of the information on their website will also be relevant to you.

Citizens’ Information is in fact not only for Irish/EU citizens but has a wide range of useful information on many aspects of life in Ireland.

You will probably find yourself engaging with Maynooth University’s International Office as well as the Graduate Research Academy and both of these websites are worth a look.

Relevant Department and University Documents

Sociology Dept research postgraduate handbook, 2024-25
Maynooth University research postgraduate handbook, 2024-25
Details of taught modules available to MLitt and PhD students in Sociology and Politics are available on this database (click on “Year 1” and scroll down to “Sociology”)
Maynooth University Graduate Research Academy site with many useful resources
Social and political research raises many challenging ethical issues around the research process, informed consent, data management, the use of AI etc. Here is the Department's Policy on Research Ethics and Data Management and here are the details of the University’s ethical review process.
Here you will find the Maynooth University Policy on Plagiarism and Academic Integrity. The use of generative Artificial Intelligence (e.g. ChatGPT etc.) is strictly forbidden on all assignments, assessments, and academic work that you do within the department unless otherwise specified by your professor. To take credit for another person's or machine-generated words, writing and thoughts, and to present that as your own work, is plagiarism and will be subject to the policies of the university on plagiarism. The department reserves the right to ask students for an in-person meeting to account further for the assessment. Use of Artificial Intelligence in one module does not give permission for its use in any other assessment or modules.

Frequently Asked Questions

I am thinking of doing a PhD/MLitt in Sociology or Politics – where do I start?
Please start by completing the Expression of Interest form at the top of this webpage, outlining what you are thinking of researching and helping us to get a sense of you. We can then put you together with prospective supervisors who are experts in the area of your proposed research [link to list of supervisors] and they can support you to develop a full proposal which can be used both to apply for funding and for admission to the Department. The research postgraduate coordinator, Professor Laurence Cox ([email protected]), is available to discuss any questions you have around this process.

How long does it take to do a PhD or MLitt and how much does it cost?
There are full- and part-time options available; an MLitt normally takes 2 years full-time or 3 years part-time. Full-time PhDs normally take 4 years full-time or 6 years part-time. Please see here for detailed information.

Details of postgraduate fees on this page. In 2025-26 full-time PhD and MLitt students will pay €6,650 annually (EU students) or €14,000 (non-EU students); the part-time rate is €4,480 annually. Funding opportunities are listed above and on the Graduate Research Academy page.

Every student is different (some are part time, some are full time, some have large caring/work commitments in addition to studying, etc.), so finishing times vary greatly.

What are the other PhD students like?
Currently we have 24 students pursuing an MLitt or PhD in Sociology or Politics. They create a varied and vibrant research community. Please see ‘Current postgraduate students’ above to find out more about their research.

What is Maynooth like?
Maynooth is Ireland’s only ‘college town’ and is conveniently located on the public transport lines to Dublin and by bus/train to the rest of Ireland. We run special feeder buses to and from many locations daily. The University has a lovely and historic campus surrounded by the Irish countryside and it is a small and friendly place.

What should I expect from my time as a PhD student?
Maynooth operates a structured PhD and MLitt programme, in which you take a number of taught modules towards the start as a basis for your independent research. During this time you will also be developing your research methodology and reading extensively in the literature relevant to your field; this reading will become draft chapters for the final thesis. You will take part in key conferences in your own area and in time present your own research there as well as in departmental settings; eventually some of your conference papers may become journal articles or book chapters.

As a fully-fledged researcher you will then start carrying out your own research, whether collecting data in the field, generating it online or exploring documentary sources. This may involve a wide range of different methodologies and forms of analysis, enabling you to create new knowledge that advances your field. In due course you will pull this knowledge together into a thesis (dissertation) which will be examined by your peers – an internal examiner from Maynooth University and an external examiner, a field specialist from anywhere in the world. They will read your thesis and discuss it with you in person (the “viva”) after which you may be awarded your degree outright or be asked to make changes. The traditional bar for the PhD is that you have made an original and substantive contribution to knowledge (the MLitt is an original but smaller contribution).

The final stage is often a published book (from the PhD) or a set of journal articles and book chapters; but today there are many different ways to share what you have learned with the wider world, with your own research participants and with other researchers.

Why should I do a PhD?
A PhD is the highest university degree you can earn. Traditionally it recognises your ability to carry out independent academic research and to teach a discipline to others. It is the main requirement for a career as a professional researcher or third-level academic, but like Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees it is also independently recognised in the workplace as a sign of your capacity for self-directed work, systematic thought and ability to understand the world.

What skills and experience will I get?
An MLitt or PhD in Sociology or Politics involves developing advanced research, analytical, writing and presentation skills. Typically you will write academic papers, present at conferences and ultimately write a book-length dissertation on your chosen topic. You become an accredited expert in your field, connected to networks of professional colleagues. In most cases too you will develop an extensive network of connections in the field itself, including relationships with key organisations.

Can I get teaching experience with the Department?
There are numbers of teaching and tutoring positions available within the department, allowing students a chance to gain significant teaching experience.

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