Study location	Latvia, Riga
Academic field	Political science and civics 14.1 (ISCED 313) Political theories (JACS L210)
Type	PhD, full-time
Study language	English
Awards	Dr. Sc. Pol. (Doctor of Political Science)
Accreditation	31.12.2023.

Application fee

To be confirmed

Registration fee

€100 one-time Baltic Center Registration Fee Includes: – Consultations for selection of HEI – Migration & visa consultation – Registration in the Baltic Center database – HEI admission documents’ check – General testing for all Baltic Center HEIs – Admission Examination – Student’s admission to HEI, maximum 3 registrations per one fee. & In case of HEI change at the request of a student, after the admission letter receiving from HEI, a transfer to another HEI is for an extra cost. – Documents’ arrangement for the payments to HEI – Bonus – on the written application of a student, preparation and transfer of the invitation for the embassy. & The period of preparation from week to two months

Entry qualification

Postgraduate diploma (or higher) The entry qualification documents are accepted in any language Please provide the secondary school leaving certificate in the original language. If the diploma is not issued in English, a certified translation should be provided. The document must be legalised/apostilled. You must take the original entry qualification documents along with you when you finally go to the university. It is necessary to have notarized certified documents translated, legalized and apostilled.

Territory requirements	Applications are accepted from the following territories (based on citizenship): World.

Language requirements

English Accepted proof of proficiency: FCE, CAE or CPE, IELTS 6.5+ or TOEFL 90+ Baltic Center examination. Non-native English speakers are requested to present a copy of Baltic Center Test/TOEFL/IELTS/TOEIC/PTE Academic/Cambridge English test score report. The score of the BALTIC CENTER test should be at least B2 The score of the TOEFL test should be at least 500 (61 iBT). Requested IELTS score: 5,5 or above. TOEIC test score: 700 or above. FCE (First Certificate in English): B. CAE/CPE (CAE=Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English/CPE=Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English) C. Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE A) total score: 46 or above. You do not have to present English test only if your previous studies have been fully in English and it is marked on your diploma or transcript or you send a certificate from the school which confirms that your studies have been fully in the English language.

Other requirements	At least 2 reference(s) should be provided.

Overview

The programme provides studies based on theoretical and methodological foundations of political science that are relevant to the needs of Latvia and Europe, with particular emphasis on interdisciplinary themes (medicine, education, energy, security policy, linguistic aspects of politics, cultural dimension), regional studies (Russia, China, Japan, Turkey) and comprehensive research of the problems associated with Latvia.

Programme structure

Scientific research work (76 CP) involves the doctoral student’s work under the supervision of the supervisor of the doctoral thesis, writing a dissertation and preparing it for presentation.
Doctoral seminars and study courses of Part B (22 CP in total):
Methodology of scientific work,
Research ethics,
Doctoral thesis seminar: notification of the thesis topic,
Doctoral thesis seminar: analysis of scientific literature,
Doctoral thesis seminar: methodology and methods for writing of doctoral thesis,
Doctoral thesis seminar: presentation of the first version of thesis
News in political science and international relations and current political developments
Integrated pedagogical education (3 CP):
study course Higher Educational Institution Pedagogy,
training in practical pedagogy, participation in the implementation of academic courses in the field of political science
Other types of scientific work (10 CP): preparation and publishing of scientific articles, reading of reports at scientific conferences, participation in organising or conducting of scientific conferences
Doctoral exam in the specialty (9 CP): consists of three parts (part one – exam in the sub-discipline of political science; part two – exam on a subject related to the topic of the thesis; part three – exam for assessing the doctoral student’s international scientific competences, to be taken in a foreign language (English))