Candidates who wish to proceed for the PhD must be qualified in their field and must be able to work independently. Before entry onto the PhD programme, they will normally have completed a taught master’s degree in their chosen field.

Emphasis is placed upon mastering the research methods appropriate to the selected research topic. Research training will be an important feature, especially in the first year.

The candidate will usually enter the programme with provisional PhD status. This means that he/she must demonstrate mastery of the appropriate research methods for the PhD. Once this has been demonstrated,  the candidate will normally complete the PhD dissertation by the end of the third year of the programme.

Throughout the year, Azad University runs training courses in research methodology, not only to support postgraduate candidates in their academic work, but also to enable people in the private and public sector to gain state of the art research skills. It is also open to students from outside Azad who wish to develop their research skills to the standard required by British universities.The programme begins with the following courses:

1. Research Methods and Sources. Particular attention is devoted to the development of individual research proposals.
2. Information Search and Retrieval. Candidates are involved in special libraries and on- line data bases.
3. Academic Reading. The focus is on the literature of the candidate's selected discipline.
4. Academic Writing. Candidates are involved in the initial steps of composing the dissertation.

The Theoretical Context of Research. This seminar required major participation by the candidates. They will discuss various theoretical approaches to research and debate with each other about the appropriateness of particular approaches to specific research topics. The overall goal of research training is to support is to support students in their PhD work and to produce independent scholars. Students will be required to demonstrate sufficient understanding and mastery of these skills before transferring on to their partner university.