A Commitment to Excellence
The Ph.D. program in Politics seeks to train students to assume faculty positions at a range of institutions of higher education and supports students pursuing a range of substantive research in the discipline. If you ask graduate students to identify the program’s strengths, they will mention:
- An across-the-board commitment to excellence in research and teaching.
- Respect for a variety of methods and approaches to political research.
- A strong sense of community among both faculty and graduate students.
- Unparalleled institutional support for research, ranging from one of the finest university libraries in the world to abundant resources for data collection, field work and conference travel.
Ph.D. in Public Affairs
Graduate Admissions Office 609-258-4836 [email protected]
Admissions Timeline
Clusters of Study
This five-year program is designed to prepare Ph.D. students for rigorous, policy-relevant research on the major threats to international and national security and the relevant strategies, institutions, and capabilities that will be needed to confront those threats.
The cluster combines social science training in international security and national defense policy, focused study of specific regions of the world, and exploration of the technical and scientific aspects of proliferation, weapons innovations, terrorist and counterterrorist operations, and insurgency and counterinsurgency warfare. This is an in-residence program, though absences may be taken for approved field research.
Areas of concentration include:
- Grand strategies
- Great powers and stability
- Civil-military relations
- Humanitarian intervention
- Arms control and proliferation
- The threat and use of force
- Cyber warfare
- Biological and chemical weapons
- Terrorism and civil conflict
For more information on program and curriculum specifics, visit the Security Studies page .
The STEP curriculum helps practitioners develop a deeper understanding of the nature of scientific and technological problems and opportunities, the specialized methods used for analyzing scientific and technological issues, and the dynamics of science and technology development and application. The course of study for a STEP Ph.D. student is developed by each student, working closely with a faculty advisor.
The STEP group focuses on applications of natural and social science methodology in the policy arena. Emphasis also is placed on the interactions among natural and social science in policy analysis.
- Global climate change
- Air pollution
- Conservation biology
- Tropical disease transmission
- Information technology
- Nuclear power
- Renewable energy
For more information on program and curriculum specifics, visit the STEP page .
At SPIA, we see our diversity as a strength. Having varied perspectives, diverse races and ethnicities, different abilities, cultures, and gender identities in the classroom not only enriches conversation, but it also prepares students to evaluate an issue from multiple angles to help develop thoughtful and effective policy. We welcome people from small towns and big cities, from the United States and different countries all around the world, from large public schools and small private ones, as well as individuals with a whole host of distinctive lived and experienced realities. All are welcome here.
Other schools ask you to invest in your education. At SPIA, we invest in you. If you are accepted into one of our programs, then you are eligible for full financial support for tuition and required fees plus a generous living stipend. There is no extra essay or separate application process.
Our Ph.D. Students
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An introduction to international relations, primarily through the examination of selected episodes. The emphasis is on decision-making processes, the politics of foreign policy making, and the interaction of these national phenomena with the international system.
Princeton's international relations faculty conduct research and train students across the field's full range of theories and methods (historical, statistical and formal); and substantive research interests (security studies, international law and organization, political economy, transnational civil society, and normative analysis).
The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs offers a rigorous graduate curriculum that enables students to immerse themselves in a challenging intellectual environment. Students emerge with a sound understanding of the disciplines that shape public and international affairs.
In addition to the Princeton University graduate application, there are specific application requirements for our Ph.D. program, including selecting a field of concentration: Security Studies or Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy (STEP).
In Service to the Nation and Humanity. Our unofficial motto captures the essence of the School and is embodied not only in our curriculum — designed to prepare students to pursue careers in public service — but also in the activities our students pursue outside of the classroom. Learn More.
The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive coursework in the fields of international development, foreign policy, science and technology, and ...
The politics faculty regularly sets examinations in the following seven fields: political theory, comparative politics, regional studies, American politics, international relations, public law, and formal and quantitative analysis.
The Ph.D. program in Politics seeks to train students to assume faculty positions at a range of institutions of higher education and supports students pursuing a range of substantive research in the discipline.
The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs is known for its tight-knit community, and your place within it lasts a lifetime.
Ph.D. in Public Affairs. The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Public Affairs is offered in two research clusters: Security Studies; and Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy (STEP). The School aims to enroll eight Ph.D. students each year, evenly divided between the two clusters.