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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.

Teaching, 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.

Postgraduate Master's Loan

If you live in England you may be able to apply for a special Government-funded Master's Loan to help pay your tuition fees and living costs.
You don't have to pay the loan back until you're earning a certain amount of money.

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.

Terms and conditions of study

The University has a set of terms and conditions for all students accepting an offer to study on a course here at Bradford. This is called The Student Contract. This document sets out the Terms and Conditions which apply when you accept an offer of a place on a programme of study at the University of Bradford.

View our Student Contract for further details.

Transparency statement

Information about this programme and its modules has been published in advance of the academic year to which it applies. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate at the time of publication, but changes may occur given the interval between publishing and commencement of teaching. Any change which impacts the terms and conditions of an applicant’s offer will be communicated to them.