Master of Philosophy

The Master of Philosophy at Adelaide University is a research degree, not a coursework one. You spend your time on a single supervised project in philosophy, working with a supervisor or small supervisory panel, and you finish by submitting a thesis. That thesis is examined by people outside your supervision team. Two years full-time is the normal load, and the degree sits at the research master's level on the Australian Qualifications Framework, above a coursework master's and below a doctorate.

Because it is research-based, there are no standard semesters of lectures to sit through. You enrol, agree a topic and a supervision arrangement, and then work to milestones your school sets. At most Australian universities those milestones include a confirmed candidature stage early on, where you write up your proposed topic and defend it, then progress reviews, then submission and examination. Some universities run research training units alongside the thesis, covering research methods, ethics applications and academic writing, and these carry credit points. The exact structure and any coursework component are things to confirm with the university, because research degrees vary between disciplines and schools.

What you actually study depends on your topic. Philosophy research at this level usually means working inside one area, ethics, political philosophy, logic, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, aesthetics or the history of philosophy, and reading deeply in it. You learn to frame a research question, argue a position against people who disagree with you, handle primary texts and secondary literature, and write at length. If your project involves human participants, you go through an ethics approval process. Many candidates also tutor undergraduates or work as research assistants, which is how a lot of Australian research students earn while they study.

This suits someone who already has an honours degree or a master's with a research component and wants to keep going in philosophy, whether as preparation for a PhD or as a qualification in its own right. It also suits people coming from law, politics, health or education who want to think carefully about the ethical and conceptual problems in their field. International students should note the English requirement published for this course and check the current threshold, since the Student visa has its own separate English rule set by the Department of Home Affairs. On a Student visa you can work up to 48 hours per fortnight while your course is in session. After graduating, the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream is the usual pathway for staying on, and you should check the current conditions yourself. Tuition is published on the CRICOS register under course code 116009E. Confirm entry requirements, supervision availability and fees on the official page before you apply.

• PhD candidate, most graduates use the MPhil as a stepping stone into doctoral research at an Australian or overseas university.
• University tutor or academic, teaching and marking undergraduate philosophy or related subjects while you research.
• Research assistant, supporting funded projects in philosophy departments, ethics centres and research institutes.
• Policy analyst, in government departments, think tanks and public sector bodies that need someone who can argue a case and spot a bad one.
• Ethics officer or research ethics adviser, in hospitals, universities, CSIRO-style research organisations and biobanks, where human research ethics committees need people who understand moral reasoning.
• Writer or editor, publishing, journalism, technical writing and communications, where clear argument matters more than style.
• Consultant, management, strategy and public affairs firms that sell structured thinking.
• Secondary or tertiary teacher, philosophy, humanities and religious studies, usually after adding a teaching qualification.
• Legal and regulatory roles, paralegal work, compliance and regulatory affairs, often as a bridge to a law degree.