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PhD (School of Law)

Doctorate

Duration
Start date
Location

Suitable for applications.

Overview

Our Law PhD programme enables you to conduct legal research under the supervision of our international, experienced, and highly committed faculty.

You will be supervised by two academic members of staff, and take part in a research training programme which provides you with the knowledge and skills to design and carry out a rigorous PhD research project.

You also have opportunities to present your work in the School of Law’s research seminars and the Faculty’s annual postgraduate research student conference. This will enable you to discuss your research with fellow PhD students and staff in the School and the wider Faculty.

We encourage and support you to prepare and submit papers to academic conferences and journals. This provides you with an opportunity to gain feedback from experts in your research field and helps you in developing your academic writing skills.

Upon completion of your PhD, you will have acquired the skills of an independent researcher and have opportunities to pursue an exciting career opportunities in academia, international institutions, industry, government, legal profession (if you already possess relevant professional qualifications) and consultancy.

The School of Law is interested to receive PhD proposals relating to all core law subjects, and those relating to the specialist areas of its staff (including banking and finance, company law, employment law, environmental law, the law of evidence, intellectual property law, the law of the internet and legal pedagogies and practice). The Law School has a strong commitment to the promotion of social justice, and PhD proposals emphasising such themes are particularly encouraged.

Entry requirements

All candidates must meet one of the following conditions:

  1. A good honours UK Bachelor’s degree (a first or upper second class honours) or equivalent qualifications
  2. A Master’s degree in Law or related subjects with average marks of 60% or equivalent
  3. A professional qualification of degree standard obtained by examination
English language requirements

All candidates whose first language is not English must meet the English Language requirements specified below:

  • IELTS: a minimum score of 6.5 with no sub-test less than 6.5

Please note the English test score only has a fixed two-year validity period. If you don’t have a current English test score, please indicate the date that you will be taking the English test in your application.

What you will study

Training modules consist of:

  • lectures
  • discussion
  • group exercises
  • class projects
  • other online (WRDTP) and face-to-face delivery modes

Learning and assessment

Assessment strategies include individual papers, individual projects and reflective essays.

The development of the doctoral thesis will be guided by two supervisors and the assessment includes Viva Voce.

Fees, finance and scholarships

Tuition fee 2024

Please see the tuition fees website for the relevant tuition and writing up fees:

Additional costs

There may be additional costs that you may incur as a student. Though these are not essential to your programme of study you need to be aware of them as a student of the University. A list of the sort of costs you might expect can be found on our fees and finance section.

Financial support

See our fees and financial support section.

Scholarships

Every year we award numerous non-repayable scholarships to UK, EU and international students on the basis of academic excellence, personal circumstances or economic hardship. For full details, visit our scholarships section.

Career prospects

During your time studying at the Faculty of Management and Law you will have the opportunity to take part in our distinctive career booster programme throughout the duration of your course. The programme is designed to equip you with the necessary skills and graduate attributes to be job-ready when seeking employment with leading innovative organisations. The Career Booster Programme offers you the opportunity to gain certificates in:

  • The European Computer Driving License (ECDL) - the benchmark for digital literacy
  • Sage 50 Accounting and Sage 50 Payroll - training that will allow you to develop leading accounting and payroll software skills
  • Project Manager Professional certificates - giving you the edge when seeking to become a Certified Project Manager
  • Big Data analysis and reporting skills - using Software and Services (SAS) that will lead to certification

In addition, the programme will also include activities to promote teamwork, confidence, communication and many other skills sought by employers.

Developing a portfolio of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Certificates will demonstrate to employers that you are not only ambitious but also take responsibility for your own professional development.

Career support

The School of Law supports students on the PhD programme in a variety of ways. Those on campus can attend workshops, but for the most part support to PhD students is via one-to-one guidance - in addition there are training and development opportunities included in our unique and flexible Postgraduate Research Framework.

PhD students are often seeking a post in academia, and our careers and academic staff are able to provide guidance on this.

Study support

Support for you personally and in your programme of study is provided both by the University and the PhD programme team.

We are a small, dedicated and friendly law school, allowing our academic and support staff to get to know students personally and offer individual support and teaching.

We make sure that your time with us is as rewarding as possible and we will do everything we can to help you reach your potential.

You will be allocated a personal tutor who is someone with whom you will be able to talk about any academic or personal concerns.

Colleagues responsible for the administration of the PhD are available to help you with day-to-day queries about the programme.

The programme team is committed to continuous improvement of the PhD programme.

Student feedback plays a critical part in the monitoring, review and improvement of the programme.

Research

Research-active staff undertake world-leading research addressing management and organisational issues.

In the 2014 Research Assessment Framework, 65% of our research was judged internationally recognised or world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour.

Almost 90% of our research demonstrated considerable impact on business practice and policy.

This is the current course information. Modules and course details may change, subject to the University's programme approval, monitoring and review procedures. The University reserves the right to alter or withdraw courses, services and facilities as described on our website without notice and to amend Ordinances, Regulations, fees and charges at any time. Students should enquire as to the up-to-date position when applying for their course of study.