Doctor of Philosophy – PhD

To do a PhD you need to have a passion and commitment for your discipline.

The degree is awarded for a thesis that demonstrates your ability to carry out independent and original research. It also needs to provide a significant contribution to the knowledge and understanding of a field of study.

Opportunities for research and career development

Developing effective communication skills are prioritised at Massey. We support you with research communications events such as the 3MT (Three-Minute Thesis) competition.

We also place great importance on personal effectiveness. We offer you the opportunity to do the Strengths@Massey programme. This supports the building of good relationships with supervisors and peers and informs effective ways of achieving research outputs.

We also provide opportunities for intensive writing through our 3-day thesis writing boot camps. You are provided with the support and infrastructure that allows you to dedicate your time to writing without any distractions

Research training

You will have access to a whole suite of workshops through support services such as the library, the Centre for Teaching & Learning, Career Hub and the Graduate Research School. These include:

• highly tailored writing sessions
• training on using databases and data management
• project management
• understanding research funding
• applying for a grant through to intercultural communications
• entrepreneurship and innovation.

You can find more information on our prospective doctoral students pages.

Admission to Massey

All students must meet university entrance requirements to be admitted to the University.

• Massey University entry requirements

Specific requirements

To enter the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) you will:

• have completed a postgraduate bachelor's (honours) or master's degree with First Class Honours or Second Class Honours (Division I) B+ equivalent, or equivalent qualification
• have sufficient independent research experience to satisfy the Doctoral Research Committee that you have the capacity to successfully undertake the qualification.

Massey University’s Doctoral Research Committee administers the PhD. Registration must be supported by the relevant Head of School/Centre who will agree to provide supervision and facilities for your research.

Please note that there are more applicants than places. If you meet the above conditions you will also go through a selection process including an interview. If successful in this process, you will be offered a place.

English language requirements:

Academic IELTS score of 6.5 with no band less than 6.0* - this must be achieved in 1 sitting; or a minimum TOEFL iBT of 90 overall (minimum of 20 in writing). These tests are valid for 2 years.

*Note: The Institute of Education requires an overall score of 6.5, with a minimum of 7 in Reading and Writing and a minimum of 6 in Listening and Speaking.

• English language requirements

International qualifications

International qualifications will be assessed in terms of their broad equivalence to a Massey honours or master’s degree with Grade Point Equivalency. Typically this should be 75% or B+. Admissions with Equivalent Status will be used to assess the quality and ranking of the overseas institution.

• Admissions with equivalent status information

A qualifying degree, like domestic qualifications, must include a supervised research component such as a substantial thesis or dissertation and previous research methods study is recommended.

Academic references

You must supply good academic references. The referees should know you in an academic capacity. At least 1 should be a supervisor for the research component of your most recent qualification (honours/masters). Contact them before you submit your application. Follow up to make sure they have received the request. We do not accept personal friends or relatives as referees.

Documents you need to provide

Following the admission screening stage, we may request verified copies of the following documents:

• transcripts for all tertiary qualifications, master's, bachelor's etc, even if these are incomplete
• grading legends for all tertiary qualifications
• all graduation certificates, unless completion is noted on the transcripts
• Curriculum Vitae
• references to any publications you have
• English language test results (if you are from a country where English is not the first language)
• evidence of your citizenship.

Please make sure you have all of these ready before applying as it will speed up the application process.

Maximum time limits for completion

There are maximum time limits for this qualification. If you do not complete within the maximum time, you may be required to re-apply for the qualification if you wish to continue your studies.

More information

• Read the regulations thoroughly
• Contact us through the Get advice button on this page if you have any questions.