Dissertation FHS

In place of one of the standard FHS Options, you can apply to write a dissertation. A dissertation proposal of no more than 500 words must be submitted by in the Trinity Term before the course begins. Before submitting a proposal, students should approach a potential supervisor with a view to obtaining an in-principle agreement to act. For detailed information on how to select the dissertation as one of your FHS Options, please refer to the FAQ at the end of this document.

As students are prohibited from re-using dissertation content in answering questions on other exam papers, students who take the dissertation option will need to avoid certain questions in other FHS examinations. However, dissertation supervisors will help to guide the research question into areas beyond the confines of normal tutorial reading lists and thus avoid the likelihood of such overlaps.

Enrolment onto the Dissertation Option depends upon the submission of a suitable dissertation proposal,4 as well as the availability of a supervisor and examiners. There is no pre-condition for acceptance.

The Dissertation Option will involve three components:

1. Research seminars for the entire cohort with the course convenors, which will explore how to develop a research question and structure a longer piece of academic writing.
2. Supervision involving meetings and exchanges with allocated Faculty members.
3. Independent research by the student.

Students’ independent research will be the dominant element of the dissertation experience, but the other components are also integral to the course.