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 an experienced member of staff, the School cultivates a friendly and supportive environment for its community of research students. 

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.

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.

The programmes can be studied on campus or by Distance Learning.

Research interests of staff include: 

Commercial and company law (including banking, international commercial law, corporate governance)
Comparative law (including civil law)
Constitutional and administrative law (legal responses 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 (including 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 each programmes course page.

Please visit the College of Arts and Law funding page for information on possible funding opportunities.