Talk:Master of Research

Differences Between MRes and MPhil

The single main difference between an MRes and an MPhil is that an MRes has taught components although the main focus is still on research. An MPhil can simply be regarded as the first year of a PhD and consists purely of research. The MRes degree is a standalone masters degree and the award of a PhD requires an additional 3 years study - the so called 1+3 format. The MPhil degree howevever is not standalone and there is the expectation that a student will progress satisfactorily for the additional two years to obtain a PhD - the 1+2 format. Consequently an MPhil is awarded to those who have not met the requirements to progress to the second PhD year or to intercalating medical students who have taken a year out of medical training to conduct research in a particular field of interest. Sail quickly (talk) 14:37, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

This is not necessarily true. I have an MRes. It had no taught component other than the optional research skills workshops offered to all research students at my university (PhD/MPhil/MRes). Marmouse999 (talk)

-- Update: Scratch that - I have had a quick look online and it seems that all of the MRes positions I have seen offered include a taught component as mandatory. I am thinking maybe mine did not as it was the first year the MRes degree was introduced and the University may not have realised they needed a taught component. My apologies for any mix up Marmouse999 (talk) 22:30, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

I don't know if things have changed since the above comments were added, but I can confirm that as of 2020 at least one Scottish university offers entirely research-based (ie. no taught components) MScR degrees, because a family member of mine just obtained one. (I'm not commenting on that's the difference between MRes and MPhil, just saying.) -- DoubleGrazing (talk) 14:08, 5 August 2020 (UTC)

MSc vs MA

In contrast to some Master of Science degrees, all Master of Arts degrees are purely taught degrees and are not undertaken by research.

Really? See http://www.reading.ac.uk/english-literature/PostgraduateTaught/ell-pgt-english-literature-ma-res-english.aspx — Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.225.226.53 (talk) 13:40, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

Standards

Research undertaken for a Master of Research degree is of a considerably lower standard in contrast to that of an MPhil or PhD, for instance. In contrast to an MPhil or PhD, a research Master's degree does not require a viva oral examination on the produced thesis.

This is incorrect. I completed an MRes at the University of Aberdeen, and it contained an oral viva. The oral viva takes place during the first year of the PhD program (i.e. the MRes curriculum). After the oral viva is passed, students may then continue on to PhD, or choose to graduate with an MRes (see: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/clsm/graduate/current-students/progmon/ninemonth/oral-examination/).

"Considerably lower standard" of research is also a huge value judgment on the work that is carried out by students (whereas it probably should read that research projects are typically shorter in duration due to a typical 1-year difference between MRes and MPhil. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.113.121.70 (talk) 20:05, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

I wouldn't say "lower standard" but I think it is true to say that research for an MRes does not have to be "original", unlike that for a PhD. Herbgold (talk) 09:09, 15 January 2016 (UTC)

MA by Research

Just to confuse things, I see that the University of Birmingham offers an MA by Research:

The History MA by Research programme requires you to prepare a dissertation of up to 40,000 words on a topic of your choice...

There is no taught component. See http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/courses/research/history/history.aspx#CourseDetailsTab Herbgold (talk) 11:52, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

Some rewriting and split into country specific sub-categories

Substantial rewrite of article (but incorporating all previous content). It was a bit messy and too UK focussed.

I split the country specific info into sub-headings as per the MPhil and PhD pages, and hopefully others will be able to expand on this further. This is important as the structure and length of the dissertation differs significantly between countries. ‘Award instead of doctoral degree’ was also moved here as this does not seem to be the case outside UK. It needs better referencing, but it’s hard with this type of article and I’m not an expert.

Disclosure: I’m employed by a university but it's not mentioned/referenced in this article and I’m editing this out of personal interest.Mpspencer (talk) 22:05, 30 November 2017 (UTC)