PHD

The direct program towards a PhD:

This program is designated for undergraduates with outstanding academic achievements. Undergraduates will be selected by the department. Usually 10 candidates are accepted (2 from each subprogram) and they are awarded the university's "presidential" scholarship.

The combined program towards a PhD:

Students who weren’t accepted to the direct program have the option to apply to the combined program towards a PhD. Joining this program requires the department's specific approval along with additional requirements:

  1. Writing a statement of purpose that consists of a detailed research agenda (in English), and submitting a specific research-oriented recommendation.

The application will then be evaluated by the PhD committee.

  1. Finding an advisor and preparing a dissertation proposal until the end of the first semester of the second year.

The program is actually divided into two stages: In the first two years of the program, the student is required to, a) attend the courses in their subprogram (like any other M.A. student); and b) submit the dissertation research proposal with the advisement of one of the faculty members. In the second stage, which could take up to four additional years, the students will be required to attend additional departmental courses in methodology, ethics, and psychology and public interconnections, and also write and submit his or her dissertation. The department will do its best effort to obtain scholarships for students in this program too.