We regard our PhD students as a vital part of our research culture and encourage students to participate in the life of the School of Law. Students are invited to attend the regular staff research seminars at which faculty members and visiting scholars present their work in progress.

Supervision Supervision is available in virtually all fields of law. All supervisors are qualified members of staff with their own major research projects and publications. See our Research training

Research training is offered through a series of seminars at which students are required to present their 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.

Progress Review All new students will enrol onto the PhD programme. Each student will be assessed at the six-month point to determine if their progression is satisfactory. Full-time students will be required to submit a 3000-word piece of writing for their initial six-month review. Their supervisors will produce a progress report based on this piece of work and the students performance in general, including attendance at mandatory training. If that report is satisfactory the students will continue on the PhD programme. If the report is unsatisfactory then the student will be given a chance to remedy this as a number of academic targets will be set which must be met or the student will be de-registered.

Thesis The thesis, which must be presented in accordance with University of London regulations, is read by at least two examiners appointed by Queen Mary, University of London, who also examine the candidate orally.

A PhD thesis must form a distinct contribution to the knowledge of the subject and afford evidence of originality, shown either by the discovery of new facts or by the exercise of independent critical power.

The length of a PhD thesis is a maximum of 100,000 words. An MPhil thesis is 50,000 words.

College regulations require that each student is normally allocated two supervisors and you may expect to see your primary supervisor every two weeks or so during term-time in the initial stages of your research.