PhD in Law

As a School of Law PhD student, you will undertake a structured, supervised programme of research into one of the law fields in which we have expertise.You will find full links to our research interests and expertise of our academic staff from the School of Law website.

Research training is selected from the University and faculty’s excellent offerings, supplemented by law-specific seminars.

In your first year you will take up to three modules of core research methods training.  You are also expected to take advantage of advanced research training modules that further support your specific research.  These include a range of modules focussed on developing the practical skills required for subsequent careers. Our PhD researchers also organise and run their own annual research conference and attend research group seminars. At the end of your time as a PhD researcher at Surrey you will be expected to submit an extended thesis for examination. This thesis will demonstrate your ability to pursue scholarly research which makes an original contribution to knowledge.  Your research will also be of a standard appropriate for publication. 

You will also be expected to answer questions on your thesis and your research in a viva voce examination.

For a PhD, our expectation is that you hold a Masters degree with at least a merit from an approved university. If you do not have such a degree, you may be admitted, providing you hold an upper second (2.1) from an approved university or a professional or other qualification deemed by the University to be appropriate. 

English language requirements

IELTS minimum overall: 7.0

Fees

Funding

Students may be considered for a postgraduate research studentship to cover Home (UK) and European Union fees and an annual stipend. 

Surrey’s well-established postgraduate conference culture has brought with it a number of awards and prizes. The annual Faculty Postgraduate Research Conference awards a prize for Best Paper and, in similar fashion, the University’s Postgraduate Research Conference recognises Best Oral Presentation and Best Poster Presentation. In addition, the University makes an award of Postgraduate Research Student of the Year in each faculty.