Research Degrees in

Law

in the Faculty of Business and Law

Overview

Do you want to advance or change your career, deepen your expertise in a topic, or expand your research and practical skills?

With a PhD or other postgraduate research degree in Law you will:

  • Work with leading experts in the field. You will be part of the Manchester Law School, home to renowned research academics, legal academics, and practising solicitors and judges.
  • Benefit from studying in Manchester, a vibrant city with a strong legal services sector. We are at the heart of the Northern Circuit of the Regional Bar of England and Wales, and Manchester houses a large legal sector of over 20,000 people.
  • Gain real-world experience through our Pro-Bono Network. The Pro-Bono Network allows you to volunteer your services for initiatives across a range of legal work.
  • Undertake tailored personal and professional development training. This training ensures our graduates are equipped to make a real impact, whether in the worlds of academia or practice.
  • Receive dedicated support from the Business and Law Graduate School. We provide specialist support and training opportunities to enhance your development as a researcher and practitioner. The seventh floor of our Business School is a dedicated postgraduate space, and includes attractively landscaped social and study areas.

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Areas of supervisory expertise

We encourage applications for postgraduate research in innovative and contemporary areas of legal scholarship.

Our supportive academic staff can supervise a wide range of topics within the core areas of our research clusters of Equalities and Human Rights, Professional Lives and Legal Education, Sports Law and Popular Culture, and Legal Geography and the Regulation of the Lived Environment. In particular, we welcome proposals focusing on:

  • Human rights and social justice
  • Gender and transgender identity
  • Caste discrimination
  • Domestic and honour based violence
  • LGBTI+ rights
  • International criminal justice
  • Hate speech and hate crimes
  • Law and emotion
  • Legal education
  • Young professionals an entry to the legal professions 
  • Employment law
  • International corporate crime
  • Whistleblowing and the law
  • Sports law
  • Sorts governance
  • Sport and EU law 
  • Olympic law and regulation
  • Intellectual property in the creative industries
  • Public international law
  • Environmental law
  • Legal geography 

Find out more about our staff's expertise

Research culture

Manchester Law School's research aims at generating transformative change through improving equality, fairness, sustainability, access to justice, regulatory frameworks and the protection of rights. Building on a long tradition of influencing policy and legal change, and supporting activist cultures, our work is both collaborative and has impact around the world. We have extensive links with researchers and lawyers in the UK and beyond and across a range of legal and non-legal disciplines. These connections ensure that our research is legally, socially, culturally and professionally relevant and informs the latest developments in the law, legal education and training.

More about our research culture

As a postgraduate researcher, you will form an integral part of our research culture. You will benefit from an extensive programme of research training designed to develop your subject-specific and transferable skills. You will also have the opportunity to attend a wide variety of seminars, symposiums and networking events run by the Law School, the Faculty and its Research Centres.

All of the School's researchers, including postgraduate researchers, and members of one of the Faculty's innovative and multi-disciplinary research centres: Business Transformations and Decent Work and Productivity. These Centres bring together researchers, business and stakeholder communities in order to understand the key challenges facing the world in the 21st century, and how these challenges can be addressed.

This enables Manchester Law School to provide a dynamic location for pursuing high quality research across legal and related fields of study, based in one of the largest legal sectors in the UK. Alongside of your research, Manchester Met’s Law Society is extremely active, bringing together students at all stages of their careers. It incorporates the Critical Lawyers Group (CLG) and the Mooting and Advocacy Society.

Courses offered, duration, and start dates

Programmes offered

  • PhD (3 years full time, 6 years part time)
  • Master's by Research (1 year full time, 2 years part time)
  • MPhil (2 years full-time, 4 years part-time)

Find out more about the different research degrees we offer

Start dates

The majority of our students start their courses in October. We offer a further start point in January.

 

Career prospects

Manchester Law School provides a comprehensive research training programme and extensive opportunities for networking. These have enabled our postgraduate researchers to develop the skills necessary to take up academic and professional careers around the world. There are opportunities to engage in teaching in the School and our links with the wider legal community will enable you to have the confidence and expertise to pursue a career in academia and beyond.

Course structure

In your first 18 months to 2 years, you will undertake the Faculty's Doctoral Research Training Programme. This Programme covers the essentials of research training in three units: Literature Review, Principles of Research Design and Data Collection and Analysis. In each subsequent year, you will follow a programme of training and development tailored to your specific needs. 

This training takes place alongside your research, providing you with the skills that are essential for undertaking the research element of the PhD. Your independent research will be supervised by a team of experts who will provide you with support and guidance on all aspects of your work. They will meet with you to discuss the evolution of your project, review your work and advise on developing publications and on creating impact. 

Fees and funding

Find out more

Postgraduate Research Degrees Fees

Please refer to our Fees page for more information about tuition fees.

Loans for research degrees

Many of our PhD and Professional Doctorate programmes are eligible for the government's Doctoral Loan Scheme. MPhil and MA/MSc by Research degrees are eligible for a Postgraduate Loan.

Find out more about tuition fees and financial support

Scholarships

Each year we offer a number of competitive scholarships to support high quality research projects. Current scholarship opportunities in Law are advertised on our site.

Sign up to be notified when relevant scholarships are advertised

Entry requirements

Find out more

You should, as a minimum, have a first or 2.1 honours degree or an equivalent qualification.

International students must demonstrate a sufficiently high standard of English language ability (IELTS 7.0).

In order to enter most postgraduate courses the English requirements are IELTS 6.5, TOEFL 575, and TOEFL computer-based 230.

We welcome interest from applicants from non-standard backgrounds. We will take subject knowledge, professional experience, publications, or other appropriate evidence of accomplishment into consideration.

See more about our standard entry requirements.

Enquiries

Before applying for a research degree, you should have a preliminary discussion with a member of staff about your project and ideas. To arrange this, please email Dr Senthorun Raj, the Postgraduate Research Degrees Lead for the School of Law.

For further information on the application process, contact the Admissions team pgradmissions@mmu.ac.uk, +44 (0)161 247 2966

How to apply

Apply now

To apply for this degree, please select one of the study options below to begin your application.

Before you apply, you should discuss your project with a member of academic staff. You should also complete the postgraduate research degree thesis proposal form, which you will need to upload as part of your application. The document can be attached at the final checklist section after you’ve submitted your application.


Postgraduate Study