Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science - Comparative Politics

The Department of Political Science at Rochester has helped transform the discipline of political science. When William H. Riker came to Rochester in 1962, the department had a six-person faculty, a small undergraduate enrollment, and no graduate program. Apart from the individual scholarship of a couple of young faculty members, the department was virtually unknown on the national stage.Graduate education at Rochester is a community affair. Despite our range of substantive interests and methodological orientations, the faculty share a common vision of graduate training. All of us recognize the value of introducing graduate students to statistical methods and formal theory alongside a deep immersion in the intricacies of political processes.Graduate students and faculty collaborate together on research. In addition to research and coursework, Rochester hosts weekly seminars, where graduate students and faculty present their own work and interact with leading scholars in the country.The curriculum is designed to give students the theoretical and empirical tools needed to do research in political science at the highest level. A particular focus is aiding the student in transitioning from coursework (in which those tools are acquired) to research (in which the tools are applied). The program is designed to equip students with an effective skill set, to assist them in finding a topic for dissertation research, and to provide time and resources needed to complete that research. An important goal of the program is also to facilitate the publication of research by students and to prepare them for the job market.The PhD program at Rochester is unique. It is the most rigorous training program available within a department of political science anywhere in the world. Unlike the traditional program, which is organized as a smorgasbord of offerings, the core of the Rochester program is a focused course of training that covers all of the technical tools of contemporary political science. Each student receives training in one or more substantive areas, including American politics, comparative politics, international relations, or political philosophy, but every one of them attains a degree of sophistication in formal theory and statistical methods that is rarely achieved by graduates of more traditional programs.The doctoral program requires at least four, and usually five, years of full-time study.

Secondary school transcript -Your secondary school transcript must be submitted directly from your school counselor or the designated official you have indicated on you official application. School officials must submit your transcript on your behalf through the Common Application or the Coalition/Scoir Application using the University of Rochester school code (002894). This transcript should include all grades from 9th through 11th grade