{"id":956,"date":"2020-07-31T11:31:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T11:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/hist\/?page_id=956"},"modified":"2026-08-11T11:22:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T03:22:54","slug":"phd","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/hist\/phd\/","title":{"rendered":"PhD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2>\n\t\t\tPhD\t<\/h2>\n\n\t<p>The Department of History at the National University of Singapore offers degrees by research and dissertation at both the MA and PhD levels. The scope for research is extensive and the interests and backgrounds of the supervising teaching staff are broad and cosmopolitan. Fluency in English is essential, as all work must be presented in that language, but for graduate studies the Department encourages and supports the use of research materials in other languages, especially regional languages.<\/p>\n<p>The Department is particularly strong in Southeast Asian studies. The academic staff includes specialists working on Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand. However there are other faculty members who can also supervise research in Chinese or Japanese history, as well as selected topics in European, American and military history, history of art, business, science and technology. An idea of the scope of the Department may be gained from this list of the department&#8217;s faculty members and their specialities. You can also take a look at the topics our graduate students engage in.<\/p>\n<p>The University&#8217;s Central Library has extensive holdings on Southeast Asia written in English, Malay, Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, French, Portuguese and Spanish. There is also a very large microfilm collection containing archival materials from the National Archives in the United Kingdom (previously Public Record Office) and from other European and American collections. Students at the University can also use the library of the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, and the Singapore National Archives.<\/p>\n<p>The University operates a generous, but highly competitive, scholarship program that covers tuition and living costs for students doing graduate studies in Singapore.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tAdmission Criteria\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>Applicants for the PhD programme should have the following qualifications:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0a good Master&#8217;s degree in a relevant discipline; or<\/li>\n<li>an NUS Honours degree (at least Distinction\/Second Class Upper Division) or equivalent (e.g., a four-year Bachelor&#8217;s degree with an average grade above B) in a relevant discipline, subject to approval by the Faculty, on a case-by-case basis; and<\/li>\n<li>TOEFL\/IELTS<\/li>\n<li>GRE is optional. However, do note that evidence of strong quantitative, verbal and experience will significantly strengthen your application.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Theses are written in English, and students entering the university are expected to have a reasonable command of the English language. Normally entering graduate students are expected to achieve the min TOEFL score as stated below, although students with a lower score may be admitted on a case-by-case basis. Remedial English training is available for students who need assistance.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TOEFL or IELTS Score Report<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Applicants whose native tongue and medium of university instruction is not English should submit TOEFL (Test Of English as a Foreign Language) or IELTS (International English Language Testing System) scores as evidence of their proficiency in the English language.<\/p>\n<p>Please check <a href=\"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/graduate\/research\/admission-requirements\/\">here<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Graduate Record Examination (GRE)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>GRE is optional. However, do note that evidence of strong quantitative, verbal and experience will significantly strengthen your application.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tApplications\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>Applications to pursue the programmes must be submitted online.\u00a0 There is a non-refundable fees of SGD$50 (inclusive of GST) for each application. The application and fees must be respectively submitted and paid by the relevant deadlines. Refer to the application period below:<\/p>\n<table width=\"408\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Intake<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Application Period<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Outcome<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Sem 1<\/td>\n<td>16 May<br \/>\n(in the year preceding the intake) to<br \/>\n1 November<br \/>\n(in the year preceding the intake)<\/td>\n<td>By late May<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>For more information on the application process and the supporting documents required for MA programmes, please check\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/prospective-students\/graduate\/research\/application-information\/\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tFees\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>Please refer to this\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/prospective-students\/graduate\/research\/fees\/\">link<\/a>\u00a0for more information on fees.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tGraduation Requirements\t<\/h2>\n\tStudents are required to complete the following with a minimum GPA of 3.5:<br \/>\n\u2022 NG5001 (from Cohort 2022 onwards)<br \/>\n\u2022 NG5002 (from Cohort 2024 onwards)<br \/>\n\u2022 HY6101 Historiography: Theory &amp; Archive;<br \/>\n\u2022 HY6770 Graduate Research Seminar;<br \/>\n\u2022 4 other courses;<br \/>\n\u2022 Pass all components of Qualifying Exam (QE);<br \/>\n\u2022 A thesis of not more than 100,000 words; and<br \/>\n\u2022 Oral examination on the subject matter of the thesis after submission of thesis.\n<p>At least 75% of the total units requirements must be at level 5000 or 6000. Students are to read no more than 1 level 4000 course, subject to the approval of the department. The coursework requirements includes HY6770 Graduate Research Seminar that will be graded on a &#8220;satisfactory&#8221;\/&#8221;unsatisfactory&#8221; basis.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tDuration of Candidature\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>University education at NUS is demanding, intensive, and rigorous, and thus requires a high degree of commitment.<\/p>\n<p>Research candidates pursuing full-time studies are expected to commit themselves to at least 40 hours per week of study. The University does not encourage full-time students from taking up employment during term time that might interfere with their studies.<\/p>\n<p>Candidates may be admitted as full-time or part-time students. However, international students pursuing studies on a Student&#8217;s Pass must pursue their studies on a full-time basis. All candidates should note that commitments from employment will not be accepted as valid reasons for absence, uncompleted work, late submission of work, or poor performance, and may lead to exclusion from certain full-time programme.<\/p>\n<p>The maximum periods of candidature for both full-time and part-time candidates are 60 months.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tResidency Requirement\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>Candidates must spend a period of residence in Singapore for a minimum of 18 months for the PhD during their candidature.<\/p>\n<p>Please note that candidates who are awarded NUS scholarships must reside in Singapore throughout the duration of the scholarship award.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tQualifying Examination\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>A PhD student will, as part of our PhD programme, have to take and pass a PhD Qualifying Examination (QE) which comprises the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>a written component, in the form of a response to a set of questions crafted by the Examination Committee;<\/li>\n<li>the submission of a 20- to 25-page thesis prospectus; and<\/li>\n<li>an oral defence of the student&#8217;s written response and thesis prospectus before an Examination Committee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>More details can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/hist\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/08\/QE-Exam-Guidelines_080826.pdf\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PhD The Department of History at the National University of Singapore offers degrees by research and dissertation at both the MA and PhD levels. The scope for research is extensive and the interests and backgrounds of the supervising teaching staff are broad and cosmopolitan. Fluency in English is essential, as all work must be presented [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-956","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>PhD - Department of History<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/hist\/phd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PhD - Department of History\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PhD The Department of History at the National University of Singapore offers degrees by research and dissertation at both the MA and PhD levels. 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