PhD        

Our doctoral research students are a crucial part of the Law School's research community and we welcome applications from potential students in all of the School's fields of research.

Come and join Programme Director, Claudio Michelon, for a live question and answer session on the PhD in Law on Tuesday 8 May at 16:00 (GMT). For more information or to sign up please visit the webpage.

Doctoral candidates at the Edinburgh Law School are assisted by the appointment of two supervisors, a principal supervisor and an assistant supervisor. These are experts in their field of study and are carefully chosen to provide each candidate with the best possible support to develop their thesis. Supervision is tailored to each candidate's needs, identifying specific training requirements, eg: in empirical methods or language training.

Choosing a topic can be difficult; applicants are advised to contact the School if they have any queries concerning the availability of supervision and the suitability of their intended areas of research. Your inability to identify a distinct topic within your proposed field of research, our inability to provide adequate supervision of the topic, or the absence of suitable research materials are all grounds for rejecting an application.

PhD supervision is available across the full range of legal and law-related subjects including:

• Private law
• Comparative law
• Commercial law
• Financial law and taxation
• Criminal law
• Legal history
• Intellectual property and information technology law
• Medical law
• International law
• Law of the sea
• International economic law
• International environmental law
• Law of armed conflict
• International criminal law
• Public law
• Human rights
• Environmental law
• Media law
• The law and institutions of the European Union
• Legal theory and jurisprudence
• Criminology and criminal justice
• Socio-legal studies and the sociology of law

Click here to read about the research areas of our academic staff.

We provide excellent intellectual and practical support for our PhD students, through expert academic supervision teams, a dynamic and progressive doctoral research training programme, and dedicated PhD student office space.

The principal grounds for awarding a PhD degree are that it is an original work making a significant contribution to knowledge in the field of study and containing material worthy of publication.

Candidates for research degrees are examined orally by an external examiner expert in the subject and an internal examiner. There is no written examination.

The maximum permitted word length of a PhD thesis is 100,000 words.

As part of your PhD the School of Law offers a three-year Doctoral Research Training Programme.

The key objectives of the programme are:

• to equip PhD students with a high degree of research and transferable skills;
• to demonstrate progression in this vein across the three years of doctoral study;
• to facilitate a research culture both within and outwith the School in which our doctoral researchers are full and active participants.

The PhD Programme offers structured legal research courses in the first year of study, alongside more specific training (e.g. in empirical methods) for students as needed, depending on their project requirements, and transferable skills (e.g. presentation skills). The focus of the second year is on supporting the external dissemination of work. In third year, all students participate in our Graduate Student Seminar Series.

All candidates must remain in residence in Edinburgh throughout the period of study prescribed unless authorised leave of absence has been granted.

Residence in Edinburgh is taken to mean:
(a) residence in, or in the immediate environs of, the city
(b) a candidate's proximity to Edinburgh so as readily to allow face-to-face supervision and study as directed by the supervisor and approved by the College.

Click here for further information about residency requirements.

The School will only admit students whose research interests correspond to those of a member of staff who could provide adequate supervision, and where adequate basic resources exist to facilitate the research.

All applications for PhD study must be made using the Online University Application System (see link below). Please ensure you choose the correct start date from the drop-down box before starting the application process.

You will be asked to provide the following supporting documents with your online application:

• Degree certificate(s) N.B. All degree certificates should be uploaded, including Bachelor level and above
• Translation of degree certificate if your degree certificate is not in English
• Transcript/interim transcript of your degree record
• Translation of transcript/interim transcript if your transcript is not in English
• Two academic references
• English Language Certificate (if required)
• Research proposal
  Applicants should provide a brief statement of their research project when they apply, in the form of a short research proposal. Your research proposal should be no more than 1500 words and should include the following:
     -    a clear statement of your proposed research topic; 
     -    the key research questions that you intend to address; 
     -    the broader context of your research topic i.e. an indication of the relevant key sources in the field, both primary and secondary; 
     -   where relevant, the approach or methodologies that you intend to apply.

            Read more about how to write a good research proposal

If possible, please attach also one sample of your written work (for example, a relevant publication, academic essay, or dissertation).

Please ensure that you upload all of the required documents when asked to do so, during the online application process, and check these before you submit your application. Failure to upload all required documents can slow down the application process.

Click here to apply for PhD study.

Please note that due to recent changes in legislation by the UK Border Agency, students from outside the European Union are only eligible to apply for full-time study. Further information about residency requirements may be found here.