Birmingham Law School - Postgraduate Research Opportunities

Law PhD / PhD by Distance Learning / MPhil / MJur

For more than 90 years, Birmingham Law School has made a major contribution to teaching and scholarship. Our academic staff are among the country's most eminent legal scholars and provide a supportive research culture that encourages and facilitates research activities.

As well as providing expert supervision from experienced members of staff, we offer a friendly and supportive environment for our postgraduate students and consider them an integral part of the School’s research community.

The PhD programme requires you to research and write a thesis of 80,000 words with supervision from academic staff, the work should make an original contribution to knowledge. Full-time students are expected to complete their work within three years. This programme can also be studied by Distance Learning - see whether distance learning is an option for you.

The MPhil programme requires you to research and write a 60,000-word thesis under the supervision of a member of academic staff. Full-time students are expected to complete their work within two years.

The MJur programme requires you to research and write a 40,000-word thesis under the supervision of a member of academic staff. Full-time students are expected to complete their work within one year.

Research interests of staff include: 

• Commercial and company law (include banking, international commercial law, corporate governance)
• Comparative law (including civil law)
• Constitutional and administrative law (including legal response to terrorism)
• Criminal law and criminal justice (including international criminal law and evidence) 
• Environmental law
• European Union law
• Family law
• Health and health care law
• Human rights and civil liberties
• International law and global legal studies (to include conflicts, international economic law, International sale of goods, international trade law, transitional justice, law and development, international economic law, international criminal law) 
• Jurisprudence and legal theory
• Law and society (disability law, law and religion, gender and sexuality) 
• Legal education and the legal profession (legal education, judicial administration)
• Private law (contract, tort, restitution and common law)
• Property law (including intellectual property)

For full research interests of staff, please read our staff profiles or visit the research interest tab on the course page.