Birmingham Law School - Postgraduate Research Opportunities

Law PhD / PhD by Distance Learning / MPhil / MJur

As a postgraduate researcher at Birmingham Law School you will be contributing to more than 85 years of research tradition, working alongside some of the country's most eminent legal scholars.

Our expertise spans a wide range of areas, including commercial law, criminal law, criminal justice, judicial administration, European law, public law, human rights, international law, private law, restitution, conflicts of law, international economic law, comparative law, health and social welfare, socio-legal studies, and legal theory

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.

Funding Notes

Please visit the College of Arts and Law funding page for information on possible funding opportunities: View Website