PhDs in South Africa generally follow a similar pattern to European and American programmes, but with the added bonus of becoming a wine connoisseur. They focus on the candidate completing a supervised thesis that adds original research and knowledge to a field of study.
The PhD will consist mainly of pure research and you will spend most of your time working towards an independent doctoral thesis, which will most likely begin with a lot of reading and writing a literature review, summarising and evaluating existing research related to your topic. Some South African PhDs also require coursework to be completed in addition to the main thesis, but this is less common.
Depending on your project, you will accumulate data by analysing source materials, producing experimental results or collecting survey data as appropriate. Throughout this process, you will liaise with your supervisor. You will most likely have at least one other supervisor, and they will both be a big part of your PhD experience.
Programme length
South African PhDs generally take between two to three years to complete if you are in full-time study, with a minimum of 4 years if you are studying part-time. The course length does vary however, and this generally depends on time of registration and funding arrangements.
Assessment and examination
PhD opportunities in South Africa require you to submit a written thesis at the end of your PhD. This is normally between 80,000-100,000 words. It is normal in South Africa for PhD candidates to give a written notice to their faculty at least two or three months before submitting their thesis for examination. This generally includes giving the title and a short overview of the thesis.
Once this notice is given, three examiners (internal and external) are appointed to examine your thesis. These examiners, or at least one of them, are also experts in your field.
For a South African PhD, it is not common to have a viva. This is an additional, oral examination, done in the UK and Europe, where the PhD candidate ‘defends’ their thesis in response to the examiners asking questions.
This is not the case in South Africa, and instead a written report is submitted outlining the examiners conclusions (and any changes or corrections that need to be done) and your PhD result.