Governance and Ethics

Award Award	Duration Duration	Start dates Start dates	Application Application
PhD (MPhil also available) PhD (MPhil also available)	Full-time: 3–4 years Part-time: 6–8 years Full-time: 3–4 years Part-time: 6–8 years	February and October February and October	January to April January to April

Whether life exists beyond Earth is aeons old, yet it is only relatively recently that space missions have been launched to help answer this. These missions undoubtedly provide benefits to society, with innovations and technologies that make our lives better, but they are not without challenges. Searching for life beyond Earth has specific scientific, governance and ethical dimensions that our research explores, including engaging with planetary protection principles, exploring who has the right to space and for what purpose, and identifying practices and conduct on Earth that underpins space research and ensures sustainability.

Minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent). If you are not a UK citizen, you may need to prove your knowledge of English.

UK fee UK fee	International fee International fee
Full-time: £5,006 per year Full-time: £5,006 per year	Full-time: £12,705 per year Full-time: £12,705 per year
Part-time: £2,503 per year Part-time: £2,503 per year	Part-time: £6,353 per year Part-time: £6,353 per year

Some of our research students are funded via the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership; others are self-funded.

For detailed information about fees and funding, visit Fees and studentships.

To see current funded studentship vacancies across all research areas, see Current studentships.

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