Be inspired by the success of five recent PhD graduates at Kent Law School!  

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If you’re wondering what comes next after a PhD in Law, be inspired by the success of five recent PhD graduates at Kent Law School; one alumna has secured a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship and four other alumni have secured lectureships in law.

Kent Law School’s Professor Donatella Alessandrini (Director of Research), Professor Diamond Ashiagbor (Director of Postgraduate Research) and Dr Luis Eslava (Director of PGR Funding and Admissions) said they are all extremely proud of their students: ‘We feel that their achievements are a testament of the Law School’s research culture and the high quality of our PhD programme.’

Dr Silvana Tapia Tapia

News: awarded Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship

After completing her PhD at Kent Law School, Dr Tapia Tapia returned to Ecuador to take a position as an Assistant Professor of Law. Dr Tapia Tapia said: ‘This allowed me to form new networks of contacts, including feminist and anti-carceral activists in various Latin American Countries.

‘Based on this experience, I proposed a research project to the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships scheme, to conduct participatory research on how the grassroots engage with, and resist, human rights-based discourses that enrourage penal expansion. I was awarded a Fellowship in May 2021 and will be based at the University of Birmingham (Birmingham Law School), with Dr Natasa Mavronicola as my mentor.’

Dr Tapia Tapia’s PhD experience at Kent

 Dr Tapia Tapia said: ‘At Kent I found a wonderful community of critical scholars who made me feel at home from day one. I made long-lasting friendships with fellow doctoral researchers and senior academics, and these networks have been key for advancing my career. I had excellent supervision and I always felt supported and guided.

‘I also took advantage of many resources we were offered, including coaching, research training seminars, funding to organise workshops and attend conferences, opportunities to audit master’s modules, and the wonderful Research Methods classes that doctoral candidates attend in their first year.

‘The PGR study group is also a space that I remember fondly, as I was able to discuss not only critical legal literature, but my own work and doubts! I could not have found a better place to develop my PhD.’

Dr Allison Lindner

News: appointed as Lecturer in Law at UCL

Dr Lindner completed her PhD studies at Kent in December 2020. She will take up a new appointment as Lecturer in Law at UCL Faculty of Laws from September 2021. At UCL, Dr Lindner will be teaching and continuing her waste-focused research.

Dr Lindner’s PhD experience at Kent

Dr Lindner said: ‘I was fortunate to complete my PhD at Kent Law School, with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. I undertook relevant training, conducted overseas fieldwork on the informal waste management economy, and disseminated my findings at conferences – all crucial to my development as a researcher.

‘While there were many highlights during my PhD, for me, the biggest was the privilege of being able to undertake fieldwork on waste pickers in South Africa. It was a country completely unknown to me when I arrived. However, once there, I managed to make contact with, observe, and interview waste management actors in different capacities. The guidance of my supervisors, and the research training provided by various departments at the University and the National Centre for Research Methods were all vital to me during this phase of the PhD.

‘Another notable highlight was attendance at the Harvard Institute of Global Law and Policy Asian Regional Workshop in Bangkok. I attended various workshops on writing and scholarly developments in different legal fields/issues. I am now part of a global network of international legal scholars, some of whom have become friends and collaborators.

‘Closer to home, another highlight has been the warm and lasting friendships I have made with other PhD researchers at Kent, both within the Law School and in other departments. These connections have been a really important source of support and advice as I navigated my PhD journey.’

Dr Jeremmy Okonjo

News: Appointment as Assistant Professor of Law at University of Warwick

After completing his PhD in 2018 at Kent Law School, Dr Okonjo joined the Centre for Commercial law Studies (CCLS), Queen Mary university of London in 2019 as a post-doctoral research associate, where he extended his research interests on law and the digital economy. He also continued as a lecturer of law at KLS, teaching international trade, investment and financial law in the LLM program.

Dr Okonjo said: ‘The research-driven teaching at KLS and post-doctoral research at QMUL enabled me to further develop my research interests in international economic law and technology, and also to create on-going research collaborations with Warwick Law School (WLS), including the International Economic Law (IEL) Collective and New Frontiers for Development Finance (Nef-Def). My appointment at WLS, a sister-institution (in terms of critical legal research and teaching), is therefore an opportunity to extend these collaborations with KLS, which I have called home since 2014.’

Dr Okonjo’s PhD experience at Kent

Dr Okonjo said: ‘KLS was an excellent choice to not only undertake my PhD research, but also kick-start my academic career. Coming from a doctrinal legal background, KLS offered me an excellent opportunity to explore critical legal studies as a researcher and lecturer, and to find my voice as a global south scholar. I was fortunate to be paired with very supportive supervisors who guided me through my PhD research, and also welcomed and supported me as a colleague and collaborator after graduation.

‘There is a deep sense of collegiality between postgraduate researchers, teaching and administrative staff at KLS, which has morphed into friendships and academic collaborations within and outside of KLS.

‘A highlight of my programme was my winning a research grant in 2017, to be the first PhD student to take part in the inaugural Kent Law School-Melbourne Law School doctoral exchange program. I spent a month in Melbourne, Australia, engaging with academics at MLS and enjoying the sunshine – a welcome escape from England’s biting winter, which, I am convinced, helped me gain clarity in my research project.

‘In addition to its reputation in research excellence, one of KLS’s strengths is that its critical, socio-legal and interdisciplinary approach to legal research and teaching shapes reflective legal scholars that demand more from the law.’

Dr Gian Giacomo Fusco

News: Appointed as Lecturer in Law at Kent Law School

Dr Fusco completed his PhD studies at Kent Law School in March 2018. He will start as a Lecturer in Law at KLS in August 2021.

Dr Fusco’s PhD experience at Kent:

Dr Fusco said: ‘I have completed my PhD at Kent Law School with the support of a GTA scholarship. Such an experience has been very important to me. The cultural diversity of the PhD community has been a source of inspiration that pushed me to comprehend and confront my limits and strengths, allowing me to grow intellectually. Working in such a unique environment helped me to improve my research and teaching skills, and to understand how collegiality and the ethics of collaboration are key means to establish the most productive conditions for achieving excellence in research and education.

‘KLS has enriched me significantly. It has prepared me to be an effective researcher and teacher and allowed me to mature a distinctive critical academic identity. Over the years I had the opportunity to contribute to the KLS research community through a series of structured collaborations with scholars and research centres such as the Centre for Critical Thought and KISS: Kent Interdisciplinary Centre for Spatial Studies.’

Dr Eric Loefflad

  • PhD Thesis Title: ‘Popular will and international law: The expansion of capitalism, the question of legitimate authority, and the universalisation of the nation-state’
  • PhD Supervisors: Dr Luis Eslava (primary), Dr Sara Kendall (secondary), Dr Sophie Vigneron (supervisory chair)

News: Appointed as Lecturer in Law at Kent Law School

Soon after the submission of his thesis in July 2019, Dr Loefflad was appointed as a Lecturer in Law at Kent Law School on a Teaching and Scholarship basis. He passed his viva on 6 December 2019. Recently, Dr Loefflad accepted a permanent Teaching and Research position here at KLS. In this capacity he plans on undertaking a new research project entitled ‘The Right of Conquest and American Juridical Thought.’

Dr Loefflad’s PhD Experience at Kent

Dr Loefflad said: ‘My years pursuing doctoral studies at KLS were amongst the most rewarding of my life. While inevitable challenges of PhD life abounded, it is hard to imagine a more open and supportive environment in which to face them and grow stronger for having done so. Moreover, I can honestly say I was never at a loss for interesting and inspiring engagement whether with colleagues based here at KLS or those in the larger worldwide community of scholar specialising in my field.

‘It was especially great to have worked extensively with the Centre for Critical International Law which gave me invaluable insights into the operations of a leading research centre and the role it plays in building the greater academic community. Words cannot express how truly amazing it is to continue to be part of KLS in this new capacity. I look forward to helping to provide newcomers here with the type of experience that proved so pivotal to my own academic and personal development.’

Study your PhD in Law at Kent

Kent Law School is a dynamic and cosmopolitan place to study your PhD, with an international and contemporary focus. You are immersed in a culture of critical research within the School, which is widely regarded as a centre of excellence in legal research and training.

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