DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2025/2026

Students intending to write the Dissertation in Politics and International Relations must take Research Design in Politics and International Relations (PLIT10106) in Year 3 or 4. It is strongly encouraged taking Research Design in Politics and International Relations in Year 3.

Students taking a Philosophy Dissertation are required to take the PHIL10228 Philosophy Dissertation Information Course (0 credits) in year 3. This course involves developing a research proposal for your final year dissertation; it is a zero-credit course but must be passed to write a Philosophy dissertation.

IMPORTANT: Philosophy runs separate Year 3 and Year 4 courses, which are only open to students in the corresponding year. Please check the DRPS page for each course carefully to ensure you selected courses for the correct year of study.

Philosophy Level 10 courses can be found at http://www.drps.ed.ac.uk/current/dpt/cx_sb_phil.htm

Please take note of the following considerations when selecting a dissertation in each PPE subject area:

Dissertation in Politics

Students intending to write the Dissertation in Politics and International Relations and who have not taken Research Design in Politics and International Relations (PLIT10106) in Year 3 must take it in Year 4.


Dissertation in Philosophy

Students taking a Philosophy Dissertation are required to take the PHIL10228 Philosophy Dissertation Information Course (0 credits) in year 3. This course involves developing a research proposal for your final year dissertation; it is a zero-credit course but must be passed to write a Philosophy dissertation.

Students can then choose to either write an 8,000-word Independent Dissertation, or two 5000-word essays as a Coursework Dissertation. If the coursework dissertation option is selected, students must choose two additional 20-credit courses from the Philosophy Year 4 Honours options (within Philosophy Level 10 courses collection), in which they write their two essays. These additional courses replace the 40 credits for the Philosophy Dissertation and do not impact your other year 4 PPE elective course choices.

Dissertation in Economics

Students wishing to complete an empirical (data-focussed) Economics Dissertation are strongly advised to take ECNM10052 Essentials of Econometrics (20 credits), if they did not already do so in their Year 3 economics pairing, as many dissertation topics in Economics require a grounding in econometric analysis.