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The Doctor of Social Sciences (DSocSci) is a professional doctorate which is designed to respond to the rapid changes taking place in professional workplaces that create demands on industry professionals to upgrade their qualifications.

The degree involves units of coursework training and a thesis of 50,000-80,000 words, for candidates not also submitting a significant creative project, or a thesis of 20,000-30,000 words for candidates also submitting a significant creative project.

The DSocSci differs from a PhD. The thesis component may have a tighter word limit than a PhD thesis, and it should be focused on questions of professional practice, such as policy analysis and advice in the case of the social sciences, or critical exegesis in the case of theses accompanying creative works.

The exact nature of the significant creative project will be determined by the disciplinary norms of the department through which a student is enrolled. Applicants must discuss their proposed significant creative projects with the department to ensure that the department has the relevant expertise to supervise the projects.

Examples of significant creative projects include novels, biographies and memoirs, sets of short stories, poetic works, plays and other performance scripts, performed pieces, audio and/or video works, documentaries, collections of feature articles, and documented interventions in public debates, such as submissions, reports and major essays.

This professional doctorate will allow you to pursue a higher degree of rigorous scholarship while advancing your professional practice as a journalist, creative writer, anthropologist, linguist, policy adviser or manager, among other areas.

This degree will enable you to become more aware of the changing environment of your professional practice and developments within your field, and increase your knowledge of research and analytical techniques. You will develop sophisticated intellectual and practical skills that are in high demand.