Student Handbook

Part One

About GCAS

Welcome and Overview

It is our pleasure to introduce you to GCAS College Dublin, Ltd. — The Graduate College.

GCAS College is co-owned and operated by our Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, and likeminded supporters. We offer BA, MA, and PhD degrees online and, at times, in person. We are committed to debt-free, high-quality education pursued in an ecologically, collaboratively, and economically sustainable way.

We are committed to providing you with the resources necessary to support and encourage your research. GCAS has one of the strongest faculties available in philosophy, art performance, psychoanalysis, theology, politics, and related fields — but it remains for you to decide whether GCAS is the right fit for your own research aims. All enrolled student-researchers are expected to understand and comply with this Handbook. If you have questions, you may contact the Chancellor.

We teach primarily online, and hold residential seminars through the year in varying locations. Seminars have been held in Havana, Berlin, Prague, Athens, Maribor, Paris, New York, Cincinnati, Grand Rapids, Mexico City, and Bogotá, among others. We are working towards establishing permanent teaching venues; this is a process and takes time.

Using This Handbook

This is the GCAS College Handbook for enrolled student-researchers in the Undergraduate and Graduate Colleges. You are expected to read and understand the policies and regulations it contains. By virtue of being an enrolled student-researcher, you agree to them.

This Handbook is revised periodically. You are expected to keep apprised of changes, which are announced through the channels described under Your GCAS Account. Amendments are logged in the Document History annex.

Philosophy, Mission and Values

GCAS’s mission is high-quality, debt-free education that provides the resources for creative and new research not possible in a traditional university setting.

We believe education is inherently an intersubjective experience — one that requires sharing ideas openly and proposing bold new lines of thinking and action in rigorous, scientific ways. What is essential to our academic community is respect for fellow researchers’ different, and sometimes challenging, lines of thinking, performance, and action. The heart of what we do is to establish and maintain an open, inclusive, and challenging environment in which to develop ideas and research. At no time should differences be resolved by physical or violent means, but through open and respectful dialogue.

GCAS provides an alternative to traditional academia. The traditional model is premised on student debt, profit-making, and research that too often fails to address the most vexing issues confronting our planet’s survivability and human flourishing. We believe a researcher has a responsibility to the public good through rigorous and honest work.

Fuller statements are maintained at our philosophy and mission, vision and values.

Accreditation

GCAS offers EU-accredited degree programmes through our partnership with Woolf. GCAS College Dublin is not itself an accredited awarding body; accreditation attaches to the programmes, and is conferred through Woolf. The following programmes are offered on that basis:

• BA in Interdisciplinary Studies
• MA in Philosophy
• MA in Psychoanalysis
• MA in Theology
• MA in Politics
• Master of Business Administration
• Master of Laws (LL.M.)
• PhD in the Humanities and Social Sciences
• PhD in the Natural Sciences

This is the only place in the Handbook where accreditation status is stated. Other sections cross-reference it rather than restating it.

Since 2013, GCAS has taught student-researchers from around the world in non-accredited seminars. We advise applicants to check with their country’s Ministry or Department of Education as to how a qualification from GCAS College Dublin, or from GCAS/Woolf, would be recognised in their jurisdiction.

Governance and Leadership

GCAS College is owned and operated by faculty, staff, likeminded investors, and graduates of GCAS College. Governance is carried out through:

• The Board of Trustees
• The Academic Council
• The Quality Assurance Commission
• The Ethics Committee

Current membership is listed at gcas.ie/team and gcas.ie/board-of-trustees.

Faculty

GCAS College Dublin was founded by ten faculty members together with the Board of Trustees. GCAS College is owned by its faculty and graduates, who share ownership together. This model is designed to ensure that the modes of educational production — teaching, research, curriculum design, governance, and publishing — are controlled by the faculty and likeminded supporters.

When you are accepted into the College you will be trained and supported by faculty and staff, with the intention of inviting you into the ownership community of GCAS College Dublin once you graduate. Graduates are given the opportunity to procure stock shares in GCAS College; a lodgement fee applies, described under Share Lodgement Fee in Part Five.

The faculty and affiliates are listed at gcas.ie/faculty.

Nomadic Learning and Residential Seminars

The world is our classroom.

From the first inception of The Global Centre for Advanced Studies we have created new spaces of learning and applied creative, critical thinking within them. We have occupied dozens of spaces around the world — from the Centre Pompidou in Paris, to a museum in Berlin, to The Brooklyn Commons in New York City, to The Martin Luther King, Jr Centre in Havana. It is our fundamental belief that thinking and action are grounded in geography, and in local efforts to seek truth in research.

GCAS College Dublin continues to expand this nomadic strategy between the global and the local, the actual and the virtual: between Dublin and other places around the world.

When you enrol as a GCAS researcher in a degree programme you have full access to all our global and local seminars, and we encourage you to participate in and to organise such events. We provide these seminars to the public, live and interactively, so far as our resources allow.

Residential expectations

GCAS College Dublin intends to establish a campus presence in future, beginning modestly. At present all courses and meetings are held online unless otherwise stated.

Annual Institutes and Conferences

GCAS is committed to providing the public with intellectually rich and accurate information through the presentation of research findings. To this end we organise and host annual Summer Institutes and Conferences on significant topics.

A list of past Institutes and Conferences is maintained in the annexes. Attendance at in-person events carries obligations set out under In-Person Events: Assumption of Risk in Part Six.

Magazine and Journal

We publish an online magazine and peer-reviewed academic journal, The GCAS Review. So far as we are aware, it is the first journal of its kind to be run on a crypto-ecosystem.

Part Two

Admission

Applying to GCAS

Read before you apply.

GCAS offers EU-accredited degree programmes through our partnership with Woolf; the full list is given under Accreditation. Applicants should check with their own country’s education authority as to how a GCAS or GCAS/Woolf qualification is recognised there, as recognition of EU qualifications varies by jurisdiction.

To be considered for admission you must complete the application process, which unfolds in two phases. Details of both phases are given on the webpage for each degree programme, linked under Accreditation above.

There is no application fee. This is deliberate, and part of our commitment to genuinely accessible education.

Our programmes are rigorous, and applicants must possess the qualifications to be considered. Our researchers come from institutions including Johns Hopkins, Columbia, the London School of Economics, Swarthmore, Yale, New York University, Cambridge, Oxford, and Case Western Reserve. But as a college challenging traditional academia, we also attract applicants who bring diverse backgrounds, experience, and fresh perspectives to the work. If you are passionate about learning new research skills and want to help reshape the future of learning, we invite you to apply.

Tuition and the financial aid available against it are set out in the Fee Schedule annex.

Application Review

All applications are reviewed by our Admissions Committee, chaired by a member of the GCAS faculty. Acceptance is highly selective across all degree programmes.

Part of our assessment is whether GCAS has the capacity and resources to fully support the applicant’s proposed research. An application may be declined on that ground alone.

English Language Requirements

Applicants whose first language is not English, and who come from a country in which English is not the predominant spoken or written language, must demonstrate proficiency in English by one of the following.

By education or work experience

• Completion of at least one year of education in a country GCAS considers predominantly English-speaking, within the eighteen months before applying; or
• At least eighteen months’ work experience in a country GCAS considers predominantly English-speaking, within the eighteen months before applying; or
• Award of a degree, taught in English, from an accredited institution of higher education.

By examination

Results must be certified and dated no more than twenty-four months before application.

Applicants may still be required to demonstrate English language proficiency in some circumstances, at the discretion of the Admissions Committee.

For details of these examinations, contact the awarding organisation directly: ETS/TOEFL · IELTS · Cambridge · Trinity College Dublin

Visa Requirements

The Department of Foreign Affairs of the Irish government is the granting authority for visas to citizens of countries whose nationals plan to travel to Ireland.

GCAS College Dublin does not take part in the processing or granting of visas, and you should not expect visa sponsorship from GCAS. Our courses are delivered online and in low-residency formats, and our programmes are not designed to support a study visa.

For information on student visas, consult the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service directly at inis.gov.ie.

Transferring Into and From GCAS

Because of the way our curriculum is designed, student-researchers transferring into the Graduate College from another institution may transfer previously awarded credit, provided that the awarding institution is accredited and the transfer is authorised by the Chancellor.

To apply for transfer credit, raise a request through the support portal in your GCAS account, or contact the Admissions Office if you have not yet been admitted.

Credit Recognition for Prior Learning

GCAS recognises alternative learning experiences — including employment and other relevant experience — and may grant credit for them where documentation is provided.

To apply for recognition of prior learning, raise a request through the support portal, or contact the Admissions Office if you have not yet been admitted.

Dual Enrolment

It is not the normal practice of GCAS College Dublin to accept a student-researcher who is concurrently enrolled at another university or institution of higher education. In exceptional cases, an applicant may request that the Admissions Committee consider acceptance as a dual-enrolled student-researcher.

To request dual enrolment, raise a request through the support portal in your GCAS account.

Dual-enrolled student-researchers must comply with all of the following:

1. Disclosure of the other enrolment. You must disclose the full details of your enrolment at the other institution, including its name, the programme, whether you are enrolled full-time or part-time, and your expected graduation date.
2. Disclosure of the other thesis or dissertation. You must disclose your thesis, dissertation, or equivalent at the other institution to your assigned GCAS Supervisor and committee. This assures quality and prevents the same research and writing being rewarded twice.
3. Ongoing disclosure. You must disclose research in progress at the other institution to your Supervisor as it develops, on the same basis.
4. Distinctness. Your research at GCAS must be distinct from your research at the other institution.
5. Limited reuse, with citation. You may creatively reuse up to 20% of research content produced at the other institution, provided that the reused work is properly cited or otherwise acknowledged. Reuse beyond 20%, or reuse without acknowledgement, is treated under the Plagiarism policy in Part Three.

Failure to comply with any of the above may result in withdrawal of dual-enrolment status and referral under Discipline and Suspected Violations in Part Three.

Re-Applying and Re-Matriculation

Which route applies depends on how you left.

If you are returning from an approved Leave of Absence, you do not reapply. Notify the Registrar through the support portal when you are ready to resume. See Leave of Absence and Pause in Studies.

If you discontinued your studies without a Leave of Absence, you may apply to re-matriculate. Raise a request through the support portal. Your request will be reviewed and the decision communicated to you in good time.

If you left the programme entirely, you may reapply. Reapplication does not guarantee acceptance. Should you be readmitted, your previous work may or may not be accepted: the Chancellor, in consultation with your previous and current Supervisors, determines how much of your earlier work carries forward, if any.

Part Three

Academic Policies

Your GCAS Account

All GCAS student-researchers must create a GCAS account on admission, at gcas.ie/student-register. Your GCAS account and the email address you have registered with GCAS are the two official channels of communication between you and the College.

You are required to check both your registered email address and your GCAS account at least once a week for the duration of your residence. Notices sent to either are considered delivered whether or not you have opened them. Supervision arrangements, submission deadlines, fee notices, committee decisions, and changes to this Handbook are all communicated this way. Not having checked is not grounds for an extension, an appeal, or the reversal of a decision.

It is your responsibility to keep your registered email address current. If it changes, update it through the support portal.

Support and help requests

Questions about administration, enrolment, fees, technical access, leave of absence, records, or any other non-academic matter should be raised through the support portal in your GCAS account, not by direct email to individual members of staff.

The portal exists so that your request is logged, routed to the right person, and answered even if the colleague you would otherwise have emailed is travelling or on leave. It also gives you a record of what you asked and what you were told, which protects you as much as it does the College.

Academic questions — about your research, your reading, your thesis or dissertation — should go to your Supervisor directly, not through the portal.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is the condition of everything else GCAS does. Our degrees carry weight because the work behind them is genuinely the work of the person who submitted it.

This section covers two related obligations: Plagiarism and the Use of Generative AI in Research and Writing. Both are enforced under Discipline and Suspected Violations.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorisation, or presenting that author’s work as your own — for instance by failing to credit the original author.

GCAS is fundamentally a place where bold new research is encouraged, and where new paradigms of thinking are developed and distributed. Plagiarism is an act of unthinking: a form of intellectual dishonesty, and the opposite of committing yourself boldly to new insights, methods, and ideas.

GCAS condemns any act of plagiarism, with one narrow exception: where the act is demonstrably artistic or performative in intent. In that case a GCAS faculty member must be informed of the intent, and the project must be approved before submission.

Intellectual honesty and creativity are expected of everyone here.

Reuse of your own earlier work is governed by Dual Enrolment where it originates at another institution. Violations proceed under Discipline and Suspected Violations.

Use of Generative AI in Research and Writing

Generative AI tools are now part of the ordinary working environment of research. GCAS neither prohibits them nor treats their use as a matter of suspicion. What GCAS requires is transparency: that a student-researcher can account for how their work came to be written, and that the intellectual work the degree certifies is demonstrably their own.

This policy covers any generative or large-language-model tool used at any stage of a GCAS programme: conception, literature searching, drafting, revision, translation, editing, formatting, or the production of figures and tables. It applies to coursework, to theses and dissertations, to any other work submitted for assessment, and to publications arising from the degree.

GCAS confers degrees in partnership with Woolf. This policy operates alongside Woolf’s academic integrity requirements. Where the two differ, the stricter requirement applies; where they conflict, Woolf governs.

Uses that do not require declaration

Some tools assist the mechanics of writing without contributing to its substance. These belong to the same class as a dictionary, a spellchecker, or a reference manager, and need not be declared:

• spelling, grammar, and punctuation checking;
• reference formatting and conversion between citation styles;
• searching for and discovering sources, which you then locate and read yourself;
• transcription of your own recordings, interviews, or handwritten notes;
• translation that you have personally verified against the source;
• accessibility support, including dictation, screen readers, and text-to-speech.

If you are unsure whether a use falls here or below, declare it. Over-declaring carries no penalty.

Uses that must be declared

Where a tool has contributed to the substance or the expression of your work, that use must be declared. This includes:

• generating a first draft of any passage, however heavily you revised it afterwards;
• rewriting, rephrasing, or restructuring your own prose;
• summarising or paraphrasing sources;
• generating an outline beyond a blank structural template;
• generating a literature review or bibliography;
• producing or refining figures, tables, or code used in your analysis;
• generating arguments or counter-arguments that entered the work.

Declared use is permitted use. Declaration is not an admission of wrongdoing and carries no penalty in itself. The declaration exists so that your examiners understand how the work was made — not so that anyone can be caught.

Uses that are not permitted

• Undeclared substantive use. Submitting work that relied on any declarable use without declaring it. The failure is the concealment, not the tool.
• Unverified citation. Every reference in your work must correspond to a source you have located and read. A fabricated or unchecked citation is a research-integrity matter regardless of how it entered the document. This is the most common and most serious failure mode associated with generative tools.
• Delegating the capacity under assessment. Where an assessment exists to test a specific capacity — language proficiency, translation, close reading — using a tool to perform that capacity defeats the assessment, whether declared or not. Your Supervisor will tell you where this applies.
• Entering confidential or personal data into a tool. Do not input unpublished work belonging to others, personal data about research participants, or confidential institutional material into a generative AI service. See Data Protection and Retention in Part Six.
• Presenting AI output as a source. An AI system is not evidence and cannot be cited as an authority.

How compliance is established

The examination is the primary instrument. A student-researcher who has done the work can discuss it — can say why a source was chosen and another set aside, can reconstruct an argument from its premises, can identify the weakest point in their own work. Examiners and supervisors are expected to satisfy themselves on this basis, as they always have.

GCAS does not use AI-detection software as evidence. These tools produce false positives at rates that make them unfit for consequential decisions, and they misclassify most often the writing of multilingual student-researchers and those writing formal academic English as an additional language. No adverse finding will be made against a student-researcher on the basis of a detector output.

Where a concern arises

1. The Supervisor raises the matter with the student-researcher directly and in confidence, and invites explanation.
2. The student-researcher may amend or supplement their declaration at any point before the award is conferred. Amendment in good faith is not itself a breach.
3. Where a concern is unresolved, it proceeds under the GCAS academic integrity procedure, with the burden resting on GCAS.
4. Findings are made on the substance of the work and the student-researcher’s ability to account for it — never on stylistic impression or software output alone.

Supervisors

Supervisors should raise AI use early and treat it as an ordinary matter of research practice rather than a compliance ritual. Where a supervisor uses AI tools in preparing feedback, they should say so.

Notifying the Registrar When You Cannot Engage

Research is not always continuous. Illness, caring responsibilities, bereavement, and other circumstances may make it impossible to engage with your studies for a period.

If you are unable to engage with your supervision, seminars, or research, notify the Registrar through the support portal in your GCAS account. You do not need to give a diagnosis, and you do not need to supply medical documentation. A brief statement of the period affected is enough.

Telling us protects you. It allows your Supervisor to adjust expectations rather than wonder, it prevents deadlines passing unexplained, and it creates a record you can point to later if an extension or a mitigating circumstance needs to be considered. A period of non-engagement that was notified is a very different matter from one that was not.

Where an interruption is likely to be extended, see Leave of Absence and Pause in Studies.

Leave of Absence and Pause in Studies

A student-researcher who wishes to take a leave of absence must notify the Registrar through the support portal in their GCAS account. An administrative fee of 250€ applies.

You may take up to two leaves of absence during your studies, and the total must not exceed two years. Where two leaves together exceed two years, you will be removed from the programme.

To return, see Re-Applying and Re-Matriculation.

Academic Supervision

All student-researchers are assigned an Academic Supervisor on entry. Your Supervisor ensures that you understand the academic expectations and policies of your programme, beginning at first-year orientation or your first supervision meeting.

You should meet your Supervisor at least once a month. Meetings are held in person or over the GCAS Zoom platform.

Where you fail to attend required monthly supervision, credit may be withheld. Where your Supervisor cannot reach you, a penalty may apply, including a fee — supervision time is reserved for you, and we ask you to respect it as your Supervisor respects yours.

Changing your Supervisor

After your first term you may wish to change Supervisor. Raise a request through the support portal. You will be informed of your new Academic Supervisor.

Supervisors from outside GCAS

You may work with a qualified expert from outside GCAS who agrees to our terms of supervision. This must be arranged in advance through the Chancellor. Where an external supervisor requires funding beyond the standard GCAS supervision budget, the arrangement and any cost are agreed with you in advance.

Participation and Expectations

As a student-researcher in the BA, MA, or PhD programmes you are a member of a demanding academic community.

Where a student-researcher does not live up to that standard — through dishonesty, cheating, or conduct that harms others inside or outside our community — they will be warned about the behaviour and its effect on others. Where warnings do not end the behaviour, the matter proceeds under Discipline and Suspected Violations.

Acceptance and matriculation

Applicants selected by the Admissions Committee receive an official acceptance letter. Accepting its terms secures your place in the next cohort. You are fully matriculated only once all documentation, including official transcripts, has been received.

A student-researcher who accepts an offer is expected to complete both their academic and their financial obligations. Failure to do so affects the whole cooperative model on which GCAS runs.

Internet and Technical Requirements

To study at GCAS you must have adequate internet access and suitable hardware — a computer, or a smartphone capable of sustained video participation.

You demonstrate this at application by uploading a screenshot of a completed speed test. The minimum is 2 Mbps download and 128 kbps upload.

You alone are responsible for maintaining that connection for the duration of your studies. Where a connection is too weak for supervision meetings or seminars to proceed normally, you will need to resolve it in order to progress through the programme in good time.

Grading

GCAS grades on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 the highest grade achievable.

The MCE and the thesis and dissertation defenses are graded separately; see Master of Arts Programmes and Doctor of Philosophy.

Withdrawing from a Course

You may withdraw from a course at any time, but the timing determines the consequences. You are responsible for understanding both before you withdraw.

Discipline and Suspected Violations

All GCAS student-researchers are expected to conduct themselves respectfully and professionally at all times — in seminars, outside them, and at events.

There are two kinds of infraction: violation of policy, covered here, and bullying and harassment, covered in Part Six.

Disciplinary actions available

• Official reprimand
• Academic probation
• Temporary suspension
• Forced leave of absence
• Suspension for one year
• Termination
• Termination without the privilege of reapplying

Procedure

Where you are suspected of violating a GCAS policy, you will be formally notified by the Dean of Student Affairs by email. Where the suspected violation is serious enough to warrant a formal hearing, you will be told.

You may admit the violation in writing. The Dean of Student Affairs will then notify you of any disciplinary action. Admitting a violation is weighed in deciding what action follows.

Where you maintain that you did not commit the violation, you have a fair opportunity to defend yourself at an Ethics Committee hearing.

The hearing

The Ethics Committee, which sits within the Academic Council, oversees the hearing. Both the accuser and the accused have a fair opportunity to present evidence. Once the evidence has been presented and you have had time to answer every claim, the Committee assesses the matter and makes a judgement, recommending a disciplinary action where one is required.

Appeal

You may appeal the Committee’s judgement, and may make representations about the recommended action. On appeal, the Vice-Chancellor or Chancellor weighs the evidence and the Committee’s judgement and rules on both the violation and the recommended action. That judgement is final.

The full complaints and grievance procedure is set out in the Complaints and Grievance Procedure annex.

Part Four

Programmes

Overview of Degree Programmes

GCAS offers degrees at Bachelor, Master’s, and Doctoral level. Each programme has a Director:

• BA in Interdisciplinary Studies — Mario D’Amato
• MA in Philosophy — Creston Davis, PhD
• MA in Psychoanalysis — Florian Kleinau, PhD
• MA in Politics — Francisco Gonzalez, PhD
• MA in Theology — Barry Taylor, PhD
• Master of Business Administration
• Master of Laws (LL.M.)
• PhD in the Humanities and Social Sciences — Creston Davis, PhD
• PhD in the Natural Sciences — Fernando Tohmé, PhD

The GCAS academic year runs from October to September. Your own academic year begins on the first day of the month in which you are offered admission; see The Academic Year.

Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies

Details of the BA-IS programme are maintained at gcas.ie/bachelor-of-arts.

Master of Arts Programmes

The MA programmes combine coursework and research and run from one to two years. You are required to complete 90 ECTS credits, comprising coursework, monthly supervision, and MA thesis peer mentor hours.

The one-year MA is an intense year of coursework and research. Coursework requirements differ slightly between programmes, and you are expected to become familiar with the requirements of the programme you are applying to. You should begin work on your thesis as early as possible; each programme provides designated research time through guided and independent study, for which credit is earned.

Supervised Guided Research and Independent Study

The core of the programme is guided, supervised individual research with a GCAS faculty member or an approved external expert.

You must meet your Academic Supervisor at least once a month. At the start of your studies your Supervisor is the Programme Director unless the Chancellor specifies otherwise. In supervision you share your work through the GCAS research platform, where findings can be refined and articulated precisely.

You are encouraged but not required to take one independent study in place of one of the ten required courses. Only one is permitted. It carries a fee (see the Fee Schedule) and gives you time to transition towards the thesis. Requirements match those of a single course — two short journal entries of about 400 words, a ten-minute recorded presentation uploaded to Canvas, and a polished essay of about 1,500 words — unless your Supervisor sets different requirements.

It is advisable to complete eight or nine of the required courses before agreeing your thesis supervisor with the Programme Director. Once coursework is complete you have two months working with your supervisor, drafting until the thesis is defendable. Once your Supervisor or Programme Director judges it defendable, you compose your Thesis Defense Committee, which must include at least one GCAS core faculty member alongside your supervisor.

The Masters Comprehensive Examination

Every MA student-researcher must pass the MCE to graduate. It is a four-hour written examination, open book — you may use books, articles, and any other material you think will help.

The MCE must be proctored by a GCAS faculty member or a proctor approved by the Chancellor. It consists of one or two questions on the research topic you are actively working on, answered within the four-hour window.

To schedule your MCE, raise a request through the support portal.

Once the window closes the document is closed. Two GCAS faculty members grade the examination, with an external professor where required. The result is Pass or Fail. If you fail, you may retake after 30 days. If you fail the retake, you will be removed from the programme.

You may appeal the result of the retake only. The appeal is considered by a sub-committee of three GCAS faculty appointed by the Academic Council, whose judgement is final.

MA Thesis Requirements and Format

The MA thesis runs between 20,000 and 40,000 words excluding bibliography and appendices, and must not exceed 50,000 words. Footnotes and citations should not normally exceed 20% of the thesis.

Your submission must include the AI declaration described under Use of Generative AI in Research and Writing.

MA Thesis Defense

You must submit a draft at least two weeks before the scheduled defense. Where the draft is not sufficient, your Supervisor will recommend postponing.

The defense lasts about one hour: five minutes for your introduction to the Committee, ten minutes for you to summarise the thesis, twenty minutes of examination, five minutes for you to sum up, fifteen minutes for the Committee to deliberate in private, and five minutes for the grade to be announced.

The Committee may return: Pass with Distinction · Pass without Revision · Pass with Minor Revisions · Pass with Major Revisions · Fail (may redefend) · Fail (no further options).

The Committee’s judgement cannot be appealed. Where you fail, you may schedule another defense no sooner than 365 days after the original.

Where revisions are required, you have up to 180 days to address them and resubmit. If the revisions are found wanting, you have a further 180 days to remedy them. If the second resubmission still does not meet the standard, you fail the defense and may schedule another no sooner than 365 days later.

Doctor of Philosophy

GCAS offers two EU-accredited doctoral programmes through our partnership with Woolf: the Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Natural Sciences.

Both are research-based. There is one required course per year, Methodologies and Research Techniques, which meets four times annually — typically in October, November, February, and March — and attendance is required.

The PhD is three years in length. Year one is devoted to research design and methodology, a thorough literature review, identification of the research gap and its problematics, and the evidence supporting a tentative hypothesis. In year two you are promoted to PhD Candidate and assigned a supervisor who is an expert in your field.

PhD Dissertation Format

The dissertation is approximately 80,000 words excluding footnotes, appendices, and bibliography, subject to an overall limit of 100,000 words excluding bibliography. Length may vary by subject with the Committee’s permission.

Your submission must include the AI declaration described under Use of Generative AI in Research and Writing.

PhD Dissertation Defense

The defense must be scheduled at least 90 days in advance, arranged with your Supervisor and the Chancellor. All committee members must be present, in person or by live online meeting.

The defense proceeds: introduction; a three-to-five minute summary from you, with any qualification you wish to make; examination and comment from each evaluator; your replies; your withdrawal while the examiners deliberate; and the delivery of the grade.

Grades are: Pass with Distinction · Pass without Revision · Pass with Minor Revision · Pass with Major Revision · Fail (resubmission possible) · Fail (no resubmission).

You may appeal only a grade of Fail (without resubmission). File the appeal in writing as a PDF to the Chancellor no more than 30 days after the defense. The Chancellor and Assistant Chancellor decide whether the procedure was properly followed and make a recommendation, which is final and issued within 30 days. You may accept or reject it.

For Pass with Minor Revision you have 90 days to submit the revised dissertation to your Supervisor, who has 30 days to accept or reject. On rejection you have a further 90 days; a second rejection means you fail the defense and are removed from the programme.

For Pass with Major Revision the same process applies with 180 days at each stage.

Submitting the PhD Dissertation

Once you pass the defense — and your Supervisor has approved any revisions — you must submit the final copy to GCAS within 180 days. Failure to submit within 180 days will result in the degree being revoked.

Candidates Holding a Prior Doctorate

The GCAS doctorate is governed by formal academic standards, residency expectations, and EU accreditation requirements. We welcome accomplished scholars who already hold doctoral degrees, but prior attainment does not replace the structural requirements of the GCAS PhD. The doctorate is not a mechanism for expedited credentialing.

This policy applies to anyone enrolling in a GCAS PhD programme while already holding an earned doctorate or equivalent. Possession of a prior doctorate does not waive or reduce any requirement of the programme.

Year 1 must be completed in full, without exception. That includes formal supervision meetings and documented engagement, required seminars or coursework, submission and approval of the research proposal, completion of methodological training, and institutional compliance requirements including ethics or IRB approval where applicable. No candidate may proceed to a defense timeline discussion until Year 1 has been formally completed and approved. There are no exemptions based on prior degrees, academic rank, or professional standing.

All interpretive questions under this policy are reviewed by the Chancellor and the Doctoral Committee. Minimum residency and diploma issuance timelines are not subject to waiver.

PhD Research Beyond Three Years

Where dissertation research takes longer than three years, tuition remains at the rate paid in your last year of study, and applies to the fourth and fifth years alike.

After the fourth year you must meet the Chancellor to assess the feasibility of completion. Where the Chancellor judges completion within the following year unlikely, you may be encouraged to apply for a leave of absence.

Depositing Your Thesis or Dissertation

After you successfully defend and graduate, you must deposit the final version in PDF form — final, so that any revisions are incorporated.

Once deposited, your work is added to the GCAS Library. You decide whether it is open access or restricted to GCAS members.

Library and Research Resources

GCAS student-researchers have access to JSTOR for the duration of their enrolment. JSTOR provides full-text access to a large archive of academic journals, books, and primary sources across the humanities and social sciences.

Access is reached through a password-protected page on gcas.ie, using your GCAS account. If you cannot reach JSTOR, or your access appears to have lapsed, raise a request through the support portal rather than contacting JSTOR directly — the subscription is institutional, and JSTOR cannot assist you individually. Your access ends when your enrolment ends.

The Researcher’s Platform

Every GCAS student-researcher has their own Researcher’s Platform: a secure space holding your programme requirements, where you communicate with your Academic Supervisor.

Full-Time and Part-Time Enrolment

MA student-researchers may enrol full-time or part-time.

Full-time means completing at least 60 ECTS credits per academic year. Part-time means completing 30 ECTS credits per academic year.

Part-time study is possible because of the shape of our programmes. How credit is earned is agreed between you and your Academic Supervisor, and may combine monthly advising, peer group work, seminar courses, language requirements, and independent research.

Part-time enrolment costs the same as full-time, unless otherwise agreed between you and your Supervisor with authorisation from the Chancellor’s office.

The Academic Year

Your academic year begins on the first day of the month in which you are offered admission. Tuition is paid for that year — from that date to the same date the following year.

For example: admitted on 5 September 2025, your start date is 1 October 2025, and your second year begins on 1 October 2026, assuming you have met the requirements to advance.

Where you complete and submit your final dissertation within 180 days of your academic year start date in year three, you may apply for reimbursement of 50% of that year’s tuition, less a 150€ administration fee.

Research Journals

You are encouraged, but not required, to keep a weekly research log recording what you accomplished that week. Entries should run to at least 250 words and are stored in your GCAS account. Logs are not graded, and should be maintained across your whole programme rather than course by course.

Advanced Independent Research

You may conduct independent research under faculty supervision, provided your research aims are not satisfied by the courses GCAS is offering in the current term.

A faculty member must agree to work with you, and both of you must agree the terms and conditions of the study. For MA researchers the study is designed jointly and approved by the Registrar. Credit must be agreed by both parties and approved by the Supervisor before the study commences.

Graduation

The graduation ceremony takes place once a year, normally at the annual GCAS Institute.

Teaching in the Undergraduate College

Part of good research is distributing it, through publishing and through teaching. GCAS recognises that teaching is an art form, and that not every researcher is gifted at it.

From time to time the BA in Interdisciplinary Studies requires qualified teachers, and we look first to our PhD researchers. We do not guarantee that any PhD researcher will be offered teaching, but where the need arises we follow our procedures to find the best fit for the programme.

Part Five

Fees and Financial Matters

The GCAS College Economy

GCAS is built on an economic model designed to keep student-researchers out of debt. It rests on two commitments: financial aid for every qualified student-researcher, and the graduation and ownership programme that invites graduates into co-ownership of the College.

To hold that model open we must recover certain extraordinary costs from the researchers who incur them. All current figures are in the Fee Schedule.

Financial Aid

Every GCAS student-researcher receives some financial aid.

GCAS is committed to the highest quality education at the lowest possible cost, and to recruiting the most courageous minds to help lead the next generation through difficult times. Aid takes three forms:

• Very low tuition relative to the quality of the education;
• Tuition remission where you have skills that can assist GCAS operations;
• Flexible payment schedules.

GCAS cannot guarantee that your tuition will be free. But if you work hard and stay persistent, we will work with you to bring it down as far as we can, so that you can be part of this community.

The Warren T. Davis, Jr Scholarship

GCAS offers a scholarship providing up to 100% tuition remission, open to BA, MA, and PhD researchers accepted into the College.

Warren T. Davis, Jr — “Sandy” — served his working life as a first responder in the Fire Department of Baltimore County, saving lives in service of the common good.

Tuition and Additional Fees

Current tuition, continuation fees, and supervision fees are listed in the Fee Schedule, which is updated annually. This section explains when each applies.

Continuation fees

GCAS sets a defined completion time for each programme: 12 months for the MA, and 36 months for the BA and PhD. A two-month grace period follows at no cost.

After the grace period a monthly continuation fee applies until you complete your degree requirements. This allows GCAS to continue providing academic support, resources, and supervision beyond the standard programme length.

Extraordinary supervision fees

Where you wish to work with a supervisor requiring funding beyond the standard GCAS supervision budget, the additional cost is passed on to you directly.

MA researchers: GCAS budgets three months of thesis supervision once your coursework is complete or nearly complete. We expect theses to be written within two to three months. Supervision beyond those three months carries a monthly fee.

PhD researchers: supervision is budgeted at nine months per academic year. Continuing supervision through the remaining three months carries a monthly fee. A second supervisor in Year 2 or Year 3 also carries a monthly fee.

Leave of absence

An administrative fee of 250€ applies to a leave of absence. See Leave of Absence and Pause in Studies.

Share lodgement

Graduates and faculty who qualify for and seek stock shares in GCAS College Dublin Limited pay a lodgement fee of 25€, covering the transactional cost of lodging the shares.

Student Loan Deferment

You remain responsible for any student loans acquired before joining GCAS, including arranging deferment. You are strongly encouraged to check with your previous loan provider about deferment while studying here. GCAS is not responsible for student loan deferments and cannot arrange them on your behalf.

Refund Policy

Once you receive an official acceptance letter you have 10 days to decide whether you agree to the terms and conditions.

Once you accept, you have 30 days to request a refund, less administration costs and fees. After 30 days no refund is available.

Part Six

Institutional Policies

In-Person Events: Assumption of Risk

GCAS holds seminars, institutes, conferences, and other events in person, in varying locations around the world. Attendance is voluntary and is never a requirement of any GCAS programme.

This applies to all attendees — student-researchers, faculty, staff, and guests — and to all in-person activity, whether at a venue GCAS has arranged, a partner institution, or a public space.

You are responsible for your own travel, accommodation, insurance, and health cover. GCAS does not arrange or provide insurance for participants, and we strongly recommend that you hold travel and medical insurance appropriate to the destination.

You may be asked to sign a Liability Release Form before attending a particular event. Where that is the case, the form is provided in advance and signing it is a condition of attendance.

Conduct at events

All attendees commit to non-violent and respectful means of exchange, and undertake never to resort to physical means to resolve differences of opinion. Where physical violence is used, the person responsible may be removed from the event and dismissed from GCAS College.

Attending an event does not alter any other provision of this Handbook, including the policies on bullying and harassment and on recording and privacy.

The Code of Trust and Pledge

Being a student-researcher at GCAS means belonging to an academic community, and that community requires all its members to act in the most ethical way available to them.

This matters practically as well as morally. When you graduate, the faculty and alumni may invite you to become a co-owner of GCAS College Dublin — and being able to trust one another is one of the founding conditions of that arrangement. We are building a different kind of institution: one concerned less with material gain than with making a difference in the lives of the coming generation and in the flourishing of all living beings.

All members of the College must sign and abide by the Code of Trust and Pledge. Request a copy and return your signed pledge through the support portal.

Data Protection and Retention

GCAS College Dublin Limited, registered in Ireland, company number 625300, acts as data controller for administrative and operational data collected through admissions, tuition, communications, and participation in our programmes. Academic records relating to accreditation, transcripts, and grades are managed separately by Woolf, which is an independent data controller.

Legal basis for processing

• Performance of a contract — your enrolment agreement;
• Compliance with legal obligations — tax, audit, accreditation;
• Legitimate interests — academic administration, communication, institutional improvement;
• Consent — newsletters, marketing, and optional communications.

Categories of data collected

• Personal identification: name, contact details, nationality;
• Academic and enrolment data;
• Financial records relating to tuition and payments;
• Institutional correspondence;
• Limited website analytics and technical data, for security purposes.

Retention and deletion

GCAS applies the principle of data minimisation, retaining only what is necessary for legitimate educational, financial, and legal purposes.

Your rights under GDPR

You have the right of access (Article 15), rectification (Article 16), erasure (Article 17), restriction of or objection to processing (Articles 18–21), and data portability (Article 20).

Submit requests through the support portal or to [email protected]. GCAS responds within one calendar month of a verified request. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission at dataprotection.ie.

Sharing, transfers, and security

GCAS does not sell or share personal data with third parties. Where data is shared with service providers, transfers occur under data-processing agreements consistent with EU adequacy decisions and standard contractual clauses.

GCAS employs encryption, multi-factor authentication, secure cloud infrastructure, and strict access controls against unauthorised access, alteration, or loss.

Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination

It is and will remain the policy of GCAS College Dublin, and all GCAS organisations and centres, to ensure equal employment and learning opportunities without discrimination or harassment on the basis of any protected characteristic.

It is a fundamental principle of this institution that all faculty, staff, and student-researchers are evaluated on their skills and abilities alone. This governs every decision, including compensation, application assessment, benefits, hiring, promotion, training and development, and all other terms of employment, learning, and admission.

No member of this College should ever face a learning or working environment made hostile by a protected characteristic. GCAS strictly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination or harassment by any employee, faculty committee, student-researcher, staff member, or contractor. Anyone who believes they have experienced such treatment is strongly encouraged to use the procedures set out here and in the Complaints and Grievance Procedure.

Student-researchers must also observe the GCAS Classroom Policy.

Prevention of Bullying and Harassment

GCAS is committed to a community in which every member is treated with dignity and respect. Bullying and harassment are treated as serious misconduct.

All matters relating to the investigation of a complaint are treated in strict confidence. Any breach of that confidence may itself give rise to further action. It will nonetheless be necessary for anyone accused to be made aware of the allegations against them, the name of the person making them, and the names of any witnesses.

No member of this community will be victimised or suffer any detriment for making a complaint, and no member may threaten another, explicitly or implicitly, for having done so. Such conduct is treated as a very serious offence.

Staff and faculty are required to act on any complaint of harassment or bullying. Failure to do so is regarded as misconduct and, if proven, will result in further action. All complaints, whether raised formally or informally, must be notified by the recipient to the Ethics Committee.

This policy is reviewed periodically, with due regard to legislative change.

Intellectual Property

GCAS is committed to a collective process of learning, and works with student-researchers who develop new projects, enterprises, and ideas that may require protection as intellectual property.

Disputes regarding intellectual property ownership, rights, or revenue sharing are resolved through mediation or arbitration, overseen by a standing committee appointed by the College to ensure fairness and consistency.

This policy is reviewed periodically and is subject to applicable local, national, and international intellectual property law. Questions should be raised through the support portal.

Recording and Privacy in Live Seminars

By participating in GCAS courses, live seminars, and related academic events, you acknowledge and consent to GCAS recording those sessions for educational and research purposes.

Recordings are stored securely and made available only to members of the relevant class or cohort, and to approved GCAS researchers and faculty. They are used solely for learning, academic review, and research dissemination consistent with our educational mission.

GCAS will not publicly distribute seminar recordings, or use them for commercial purposes, without obtaining additional explicit consent from participants.

Recordings are stored in compliance with GDPR and with Data Protection and Retention above. If you have particular privacy, accessibility, or data-protection concerns about recording, raise them through the support portal before the session so that alternative arrangements can be discussed.

Establishing Clubs and Organisations

GCAS encourages student- and researcher-led clubs and organisations that contribute to the intellectual, cultural, and social life of the community. Clubs are part of our cooperative mission to foster dialogue, collaboration, and creative research across disciplines and perspectives.

A GCAS Club is a voluntary association of current GCAS researchers, alumni, or faculty exploring a shared academic, creative, or social interest. Recognised clubs operate under the auspices of GCAS and must adhere to our community standards, governance policies, and data protection obligations. Any group using the GCAS name, logo, or resources is considered a GCAS-affiliated club and falls under this policy.

To apply for recognition, a club must have at least three current GCAS researchers or faculty members in good standing, and membership must be open to all GCAS community members regardless of political, philosophical, or religious orientation, provided all members abide by the Code of Conduct.

Apply for recognition through the support portal.

Disability and Academic Accommodation

GCAS is committed to addressing disability within our community. The Dean of Student Affairs builds opportunities for discussion of disability into admissions and registration, and acts as liaison between student-researchers and faculty throughout your time here.

To request academic accommodation, raise a request through the support portal. To be granted accommodation you must provide sufficient supporting evidence from a healthcare professional. The Dean of Academic Affairs then determines the degree of accommodation that fairly meets the request on the evidence given.

Your disclosure is seen only by the Dean of Student Affairs and the Academic Disabilities Accommodation Commission. Where accommodation is granted, the Dean informs you and the faculty member who will implement it.

The Dean of Student Affairs reports annually to the Board on developments in disability studies, including legal changes and significant research.

GCAS also recognises a responsibility to contribute research on the concept of disability itself. The binary of ‘abled’ and ‘disabled’ fails to capture the real subtleties involved. Ways of being disabled, and degrees of disability, are highly variable — encompassing not only physical and intellectual capacities but social factors such as economic background, previous access to education, and systemic structures that chronically affect access to learning. We hope to contribute to this field.

Annexes

Annexes

Annex A — Complaints and Grievance Procedure

Informal resolution

Wherever possible, a complaint should first be raised informally. Many matters are resolved most quickly and least painfully by a direct conversation, with support from the Dean of Student Affairs where that would help.

Raise an informal complaint through the support portal, marking it for the Dean of Student Affairs.

Formal resolution

Where informal resolution is inappropriate or has not succeeded, submit a formal complaint in writing through the support portal. It is referred to the Ethics Committee, which will hear both parties, examine the evidence, and reach a judgement.

All parties are entitled to a fair hearing and to know the substance of the allegations, the identity of the complainant, and the names of any witnesses.

Appeals

A judgement of the Ethics Committee may be appealed to the Vice-Chancellor or the Chancellor, who weighs the evidence and the Committee’s judgement. That decision is final.

Records

Records of complaints are retained in accordance with Data Protection and Retention and are accessible only to those with a legitimate need.

Annex B — Fee Schedule

All figures in euro, reviewed annually. This annex is the only place in the Handbook where amounts are stated; other sections describe when a fee applies and cross-reference here.

Tuition

Continuation fees

Programme completion times are 12 months for the MA and 36 months for the BA and PhD, each followed by a two-month grace period at no cost. See Tuition and Additional Fees.

Supervision fees

Other fees

Annex C — Glossary

At GCAS we most often refer to students as researchers or student-researchers, reflecting a commitment shared by faculty and students alike to exploring and discovering truths about our world.

Annex D — Previous Institutes and Conferences

Annex E — Document History