Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The Pre-dissertation resident stage status lasts up to two years if you have completed the two-year Master of Arts degree at Johns Hopkins SAIS and up to three years without the two-year Masters of Arts degree from the school. You will complete coursework, comprehensive exams, and defend the dissertation prospectus.

During this portion of the PhD program you will be based at the school's main campus in Washington DC and take a full course load or approved independent study. 

Required Courses

In addition to individualized coursework agreed upon by a faculty advisor, all students must complete the following:

• Research Methodology
• International Economics
• Statistics and Econometrics

Research Methodology: all students must successfully pass Theories and Methods of Qualitative Political Research and Research Design and Causal Inference. Prerequisites for Research Design and Causal Inference include fulfilling Statistical Methods for Business and Economics and Econometrics.

Within six months of passing the third comprehensive exam, you must prepare a written prospectus of the dissertation and present it in a formal defense that is open to members of the university doctoral community.

During the dissertation non-resident stage, you can explore opportunities to study at SAIS Europe, the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, or at other prominent global institutions.

You will advance to the dissertation stage after successfully defending a prospectus. You are not required to be on campus, however you are still considered full-time status. You should defend the dissertation within five years of the prospectus defense.