PhD Degrees
We offer MPhil and PhD programmes in Law and Criminology
Find a Supervisor
Read about the research interests of our experts in Law and Criminology
Funding Opportunities
Accordion
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Economic and Social Research Council funding - North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP)
Level of Study: Masters Degree followed by a PhD ("1+3"), or PhD degree
Eligibility: UK and International (including EU and EEA) candidates
Details of Award: All funded PhD students, whether UK or International will be eligible for a full award which includes a stipend to support living costs, and fees at the standard UKRI home fee rate. (The University will fund the difference between the Home and Overseas tuition fee for any successful overseas applicants)
Lancaster University forms part of the ESRC's North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP). Each year around 60 studentships, covering tuition and maintenance, are available for those wishing to study in areas covered by the ESRC at Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester or Keele.
A wide range of subjects and pathways are available – click here for more information.
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Arts & Humanities Research Council - North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWDTP)
Level of Study: PhD degree
Eligibility: UK and International (including EU and EEA) candidates.
Details of Award: All funded PhD students, whether UK or International will be eligible for a full award which includes a stipend to support living costs, and fees at the standard UKRI home fee rate. (The University will fund the difference between the Home and Overseas tuition fee for any successful overseas applicants)
In association with the North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP), each year Lancaster University invites applications from outstanding candidates for AHRC Doctoral Studentships. The NWCDTP expects to make approximately fifty awards across the whole range of arts and humanities subjects. A small number of these are likely to be for Masters study by candidates who show exceptional potential for doctoral research.
A wide range of subjects and pathways are available – follow the link for full details.
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Faculty Studentships
A number of Faculty Doctoral Scholarships are available in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
Level of Study: PhD degree
Eligibility: UK students and international students (including EU and EEA)
Applicants must already hold an offer of a place to study a postgraduate doctoral programme in any department in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences before applying for a scholarship, and be due to commence their studies during the 2021-22 academic year.
Two of the scholarships are reserved for UK applicants from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups.
Details of Award: Cost of tuition fee plus a maintenance award of £15,000
Deadline for Scholarship applications: Monday 22nd March 2021, 17:00 GMT
IMPORTANT: Please read the Faculty Doctoral Scholarships 2021 before applying.
Download the Faculty Doctoral Scholarships Application Form 2021 here.
Please contact Professor Sigrun Skogly for more information about the shortlisting process in the Law School.
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University funding for Postgraduate students
Peel Trust Studentship
Level of Study: All
Eligibility: EU (Non-UK), International (Non-EU), UK
Deadline: To be confirmed
Details of Award: Award up to an individual maximum of £2,500 reserved for applicants aged 21 or over on the first day of the first term for which they are seeking assistance.
The Peel Trust Studentship (worth up to £2,500) is unique to Lancaster, and is reserved for applicants aged 21 or over on the first day of the first term for which they are seeking assistance. Both UK and international students may apply, with applications assessed on the basis of academic merit and financial need.
Research Support and Training Costs
All registered PhD students are eligible to apply to the Department for research support and research training costs. This may cover, for example, travel and other expenses for research trips to libraries, archives, museums, etc.; expenses related to attending academic conferences where you are giving a paper; or the costs of training in a skill necessary for your research, such as enrolling in a language or other skills course for which no provision exists in the university. Individual requests are usually limited to £250.
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Other funding
Visit the Student Based Services website for details on other funding sources for PhD applicants and registered students.
How to Apply
Applications are welcomed from those holding a good second-class honours degree from a UK university, or an equivalent qualification. Lancaster's taught postgraduate degrees are designed to be suitable for non-law as well as law graduates, so it is not necessary to have a law degree.
Apply online
To submit an application, simply create an account on the My Applications website and then select ‘Create a new application’ from your homepage once you are logged-in.
Using your account on the My Applications website, you are able to submit applications for the programme(s) which you wish to study, upload supporting documentation and provide us with information about referees.
Current Lancaster Students
If you are a current Lancaster student, or you have recently graduated from Lancaster, we can reduce the amount of information that you will need to provide as part of your application. You will need to provide only one reference and will not need to supply your Lancaster degree transcript. We will also pre-fill your personal details, ready for you to check.
Finding a supervisor
While it is not necessary to get in touch with potential supervisors before submitting your application, in some cases it can be useful to email staff whom you would be interested to work with before applying. This could be helpful for you in finding out whether you do share similar interests or theoretical orientations, and whether the member of staff is currently accepting new PhD students. You can get in touch with staff directly through the information on their profile pages.
What should I include?
If you use the My Applications website then you will be advised which documentation you need to upload or send to us. We can automatically contact your referees once you have submitted your application if you ask us to.
The supporting documentation screen will provide you with a list of required documents. These will usually include:
- Degree certificates and transcripts of previous higher education (college/university) degrees or other courses that you have completed/for which you are currently studying. For transcripts in languages other than English, a certified English translation will be required.
- A personal statement to help us understand why you wish to study your chosen degree.
- You also need to complete a research proposal which should include the following:
- the research area you are interested in
- the research question(s) you are specifically interested in
- who within our department appears best qualified to supervise you
- the methods you envisage using in your studies
- plus any other information which may be relevant
- An example of postgraduate level written work (e.g. LLM/MA Coursework, article or research paper)
- Two references
- If English is not your first language, we require copies of English language test results. It is possible for us to consider your application before receiving these test results, and to then give you a conditional offer that will be dependent upon receiving test results at a later date.
When to apply
You can apply at any time of the year for PhD study, but we encourage you to start at one of the predefined start dates of October, January or April. In some circumstances, a July start date can be considered.
If you wish to be considered for funding, are applying from overseas or require on-campus accommodation, we recommend you apply as early as possible.
Further information
If you would like more information before applying, please contact us at pgadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk or + 44 (0)1524 593148. If you have any queries during the application process, please contact our Postgraduate Admissions Team.