StudyQA — PhD: Law — Queen Mary University of London

Description Contents Requirements Funding

The PhD in Law programme at Queen Mary is one of the largest in the UK, with more than 150 research students. As a PhD student at the School of Law, you will be part of a diverse and cosmopolitan research community, as students come to Queen Mary from all over the world.

PhD students are a vital part of our research culture and you will be invited to attend regular research seminars at which faculty members, visiting scholars and PhD students present their work in progress.

This programme will:

Allow you to specialise in virtually any field of law you choose. All supervisors are qualified members of staff with their own major research projects and publications.
Give you research training, through a series of seminars at which you will be required to present your work, and through a formal research methods training course run at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. Participation in these courses is a compulsory part of the first year of research.
Allow you to study additional courses which are provided by the college on different aspects of the PhD research process.

Why study your PhD in Law at Queen Mary?

The School of Law has consistently been ranked in the top 10 law schools in the UK for the quality of our research, and many of our internationally recognised staff act as advisers to governments, industry and NGOs, both nationally and internationally.

The Postgraduate Law Centre is based in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Holborn, the legal district of London, near to numerous law firms, chambers and the Royal Courts of Justice and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, one of the leading law libraries in Europe.

We have a number of active research centres and institutes across a diverse range of legal areas, each one focuses on a particular area of law and brings together staff with similar research and teaching interests.

You will be able to join the School of Law Online Network (SOLON) and attend events organised by the group such as the postgraduate law research seminar series, social gatherings and writing retreats. You can also get involved with the Annual Postgraduate Legal Research Conference, one of the largest in the UK, organised and led by PhD students with support from Queen Mary academics.

The normal period of registration for the PhD in Law is three years full-time and six years part-time. Full-time students must complete within four years and part-time students within six years. You will be required to live in or around the London area for the duration of your doctoral studies.

Research training is offered through a series of seminars at which you will be required to present your work, and through a formal research methods training course run at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. Participation in these courses is a compulsory part of the first year of research. Additional courses are provided by the college on different aspects of the PhD research process.

Requirements

Proof of your most recently taken academic qualification. This should include both the transcript showing the breakdown of your mark, including specifically the mark for any dissertation component taken), and a copy of the certificate confirming the overall grade.
If you are a current LLM or MA student, you should include documentation relating to your previous course of study (for example, your LLB).
A full academic transcript (a record of courses taken and grades achieved)
Resume / Curriculum Vitae
Applicants must provide two written references (not one, as mentioned in the central College Guidance Note), in the form of a letter of support from you referee. One of these references must be from an academic who taught you on your most recent course of study (which is normally the LLM degree or equivalent). Applicants who are current LLM students should obtain their references from staff currently teaching them on their LLM. Failure to supply references will mean that your application will not be considered. For applicants without recent academic qualifications, vocational references may sometimes be accepted.
A research proposal (There is no word limit for the research proposal, but research proposals which are well-written, clear and concise are usually more successful. Please disregard any other guidance note which suggests that the Research Proposal should be no longer than 500 words.)
IELTS: 7.5 (with writing 7.5)
IBTOEFL: 109 (with writing 28/30)
Pearson Test of English: 73 (73 in writing)
The Statement of Purpose / Personal Statement