Doctor of Applied Social Research

This course is designed to enhance the way you think as a professional and give you the research skills you need to make a genuine impact on your working environment. We’ll bring you up to date with the latest ideas, findings and methods in your field, challenging assumptions and changing how you think about the relationship between research, scholarship and expertise. You’ll be encouraged to look at new ideas about systems, how decisions are made and how to design the professional environment so that you can see, understand, evaluate, plan and act with maximum speed and efficiency.

As well as equipping you with foundational insights into research processes through our core research training modules, you’ll also home in on a speciality area via a range of pathway options. These pathways ensure your qualification matches the specific demands of your professional role or your career ambitions.

We’re part of the Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences and our research training is accredited as part of the ESRC Scottish Doctoral Training Centre.

You can choose to take part in the Turing Scheme – which offers placements abroad. Course staff will support your application process.

Faculty staff have many international collaborations and contacts. We welcome students who are interested in developing or using their own international networks.

The Doctor of Applied Social Research has access to training provided by the University’s Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS), as well as the Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences (SGSSS).

IAS offer a broad programme of training which will enable you to develop across a range of areas including knowledge and intellectual abilities, personal effectiveness, research governance and engagement, influence and impact.

SGSSS is a national organisation providing a high level of social science input with a sophisticated, diverse and useful suite of training. Stirling has an outstanding campus, an extensive library and an international reputation for high-quality research and teaching.

If you’re interested in studying a module from this course, the Postgraduate Certificate or the Postgraduate Diploma then please email Graduate Admissions to discuss your course of study.

When you study Applied Professional Studies at the University of Stirling, you’ll be introduced to pioneering empirical and theoretical research in a vibrant, multi-disciplinary environment.

Underpinning the expertise of our staff, the University of Stirling scored highly in the most recent Research Excellence Framework 2021 – a UK-wide assessment of universities’ research output. In the Social Work and Social Policy unit of assessment, we ranked 3rd in Scotland and top 25 in the UK – with 100% of our research environment and 88% of our research deemed world leading or internationally excellent.

The Doctor of Applied Social Research is intended for experienced professionals, and you’ll normally need the equivalent of a minimum of two years' appropriate professional experience and an honours or masters degree in a relevant social science from a UK university or equivalent. Credit may be awarded for previous study, according to Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework guidelines.

If you’re an international student and applying with a Student Visa, we can’t accept your application for the pathways that are blended delivery as they are in the category of being part-time, delivered online or a distance learning course.

International entry requirements

View the entry requirements for your country.

If English is not your first language you must have one of the following qualifications as evidence of your English language skills:

• IELTS Academic or UKVI 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each sub-skill.
• Pearson Test of English (Academic) 62 overall with 60 in each sub-skill.
• IBT TOEFL 80 overall with 18 in reading, 23 in writing, 19 in listening and 21 in speaking.

If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this course, our partner INTO University of Stirling offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for entry to this degree.

Find out more about our pre-sessional English language courses.

See our information on English language requirements for more details on the language tests we accept and options to waive these requirements.