Bilkent University

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

İbrahim Özgür Özdamar, Ph.D., Chair

Admission: Prospective students must have completed the Bilkent University requirements for a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations or equivalent training. (Also refer to the "Graduate Admissions" section in the introduction of this catalog for the general graduate admission requirements.)

Degree Requirements: A completed program must satisfy the following criteria:

1. Completion of at least 24 units of credit course work. The seven required courses include the following: International Relations Theory, Issues in Turkish Foreign Policy, Pre-Thesis Seminar, Academic Practices, Fundamentals of Social Research Design, Research Methods and Academic Publication Ethics, and Master's Thesis. The five elective courses can be selected from the offered graduate courses each semester.
2. Completion of an M.A. thesis proposal before the start of the second year.
3. An M.A. thesis must be submitted to and approved by the thesis defense committee.
4. A cumulative grade point average of at least 3.00 must be maintained for the totality of Master's level work.

The doctoral program at Bilkent IR is a highly specialized program. Its purpose is to develop the skills of doctoral candidates in international political analysis and to increase their capacity to conduct research on theoretical issues, international security studies, strategic studies, comparative foreign policy, international political economy, regional integration, global environmental problems, international law, peacekeeping and conflict resolution as well as area studies such as the European Union, the Balkans, Russia, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus. The program is reserved for a limited number of students who are qualified and committed to spend several years conducting intensive research. The program is particularly suitable for students who wish to pursue an academic career.

Degree Requirements: Students accepted to this program must complete at least 26 credit hours of course work. Students may take elective courses from other departments in accordance with IR Ph.D. curriculum requirements. A cumulative grade point average of at least 3.00 must be maintained for the totality of Ph.D. coursework. A paper based on the candidate's thesis must be accepted or published in a reputable journal before the dissertation can be defended. The doctoral program must be completed in at most 12 semesters.