Applications are now open for full-time PhD scholarships at Kent Law School beginning on our Canterbury campus in September 2019.
The Law School is a dynamic and cosmopolitan centre of world-class critical legal research. Our vibrant research community is both supportive and intellectually stimulating. We host a broad range of interdisciplinary research centres and groups offering students many opportunities to engage critically with academic research and contemporary issues. Our academic staff engage in a rich variety of research projects and collaborations that aim to make meaningful contributions to all aspects of life – including the social, political, economic, environmental and cultural. We particularly welcome research proposals in socio-legal studies, law and the humanities, and critical legal studies.
Scholarships available for our PhD in Law and for our PhD in Socio-legal Studies include:
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) via the Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts South East (CHASE)
- candidates are advised to discuss their application and begin working with their proposed supervisor as soon as possible
- closing date for applications: Friday 11 January 2019
- interviews will be held on Monday 4 February 2019 (Kent Law School interviews for all CHASE funded PhD places)
- candidates will need to be available in the week following interview to respond to feedback should the panel decide to put you forward
- applications will only be considered if candidates have secured agreement from at least one member of staff in their area of interest to supervise them
- more details and how to apply
- contact Professor Rosemary Hunter or Dr Thanos Zartaloudis via klspgstudentships@kent.ac.uk for further information
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) via the South East Network for Social Sciences (SeNSS)
- candidates are advised to discuss their application and begin working with their proposed supervisor as soon as possible
- closing date for applications: Sunday 20 January 2019
- interviews will be held on Monday 4 February 2019 (Kent Law School interviews for all SeNSS funded PhD places)
- candidates will need to be available in the week following interview to respond to feedback should the panel decide to put you forward
- applications will only be considered if candidates have secured agreement from at least one member of staff in their area of interest to supervise them
- more details and how to apply
- contact Professor Rosemary Hunter or Dr Thanos Zartaloudis via klspgstudentships@kent.ac.uk for further information
Kent Law School Studentships
- closing date for applications: Sunday 20 January 2019
- interviews will be held on Tuesday 25 February 2019
- Those selected for interview will be notified by Saturday 13 February 2019 (if you have not been contacted by this date, you should assume that you have not been selected for interview)
- more details and how to apply
Vice Chancellor’s Research Scholarships
- closing date for applications: Sunday 20 January 2019
- interviews will be held on Tuesday 25 February 2019
- Those selected for interview will be notified by Saturday 13 February 2019 (if you have not been contacted by this date, you should assume that you have not been selected for interview)
- more details and how to apply
For those who intend to undertake an LLM by Research, Kent Law School invites applications for the:
Larry Grant Scholarship
- closing date for applications: Friday 3 May 2019
- more details and how to apply
To apply, please submit a research proposal of no more than 1500 words (excluding bibliography) which addresses the current state of debate in your chosen field, your proposed research questions, the research methodologies you hope to use to address these research questions, and any other information you deem relevant. Please also demonstrate how your research will make an original contribution to your field of study, as well as how you will contribute to our research community.
Any funding will be available for one year in the first instance, and extended (for registered students only) for a second and third year providing verifiable progress has been made. Unless otherwise indicated, successful applicants for the studentships will receive a maintenance grant equivalent to that currently offered by the ESRC (£14,777 in 2018/19) and a fee grant which will fully cover tuition fees paid at the Home/EU rate. Those awarded a Vice Chancellor’s or Kent Law School scholarship may be expected to do some teaching on an undergraduate law module, at the direction of the Head of School.
Those appointed to research studentships are provided with computing facilities and shared office facilities. There is also substantial annual funding available, within determined limits, including for those PhD students without studentships, to attend conferences and present their research. The community of postgraduate students is provided with a common room and a facilitator to help them present, explore and develop their research ideas within a supportive community of their peers. They also take a compulsory research methods module, together with an anchor workshop offered by the Graduate School as part of their Transferable Skills Programme. Many students also participate in regular reading groups.
In the most recent Research Excellence Framework, Kent Law School was ranked 8th for research intensity in the Times Higher Education and was ranked within the top 20 for research output, research quality and research impact. The Law School has an excellent international reputation and is ranked 58th in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings for law 2019. It is also listed among the top 100 law schools in the world in the Shanghai Ranking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2018 and among the top 150 law schools in the world in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018.