Program Overview
Overview
The Liverpool Law School's academic research is respected internationally for its rigour and significance. We're committed to contributing, through the excellence of our research and policy work, to critical exploration of the role of law in promoting (or inhibiting) social justice. Taking core values such as equality and citizenship, participation and exclusion, and vulnerability and social responsibility, as inspiration for our legal investigations, we also reflect upon how such values are themselves constructed and critiqued.
Introduction
The Liverpool Law School's research clusters provide access to some of the most rigorous and advanced research in the field of law. These research clusters provide focal points for collaboration in different areas of social, legal and political research. Postgraduate researchers are fully integrated into activity in areas including:
- Charity law and policy – exploring legal issues affecting charities and non-profit groups
- Corporations, law and society – rethinking the key legal principles and assumptions governing the relationship between corporations and society
- Criminal justice – advancing research on criminal justice processes and institutions
- EU law – driving forward understanding of the laws of the European Union, including legal relations between the EU and its member states
- European children's rights – examining the interplay between governance and children's rights
- European criminal law – coordinating the European Criminal Law Academic Network (ECLAN) in conjunction with the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the University of Luxembourg
- Feminist legal research – advancing research in women's rights, while directly influencing law and policy
- Health law and regulation – pursuing impactful research into current legal, regulatory and policy dilemmas in healthcare
- International criminal law – studying legal frameworks and challenges in international criminal justice to improve responses to serious international crimes
- International law and human rights – providing a hub for research into broad areas encompassing conflict and security, migration, international courts and tribunals, and the European system of human rights
- Law and non-communicable diseases – studying how laws can help prevent non-communicable diseases through strong, evidence-based policies
- Public law – analysing institutional power, theory and multi-level governance in public law across global, European and UK contexts
- Technology, law and society – conducting interdisciplinary research into the impact of technology on society, economy and human interactions.
Research Topics
We welcome research proposals which align with the research expertise of staff in the Liverpool Law School. Research topics could be related to:
- Access to justice
- Advertising law
- Animal law and ethics
- Banking law
- Bankruptcy law
- Brexit
- Care and welfare
- Charity law
- Children's rights
- Climate law
- Commercial law
- Company law
- Comparative law
- Competition law
- Constitutional, administrative and public law
- Consumer law
- Counterterrorism
- Corporate insolvency law
- Corruption
- Criminal law and justice
- Critical theory and political theory approaches
- Cyber law
- Data protection
- Digital economy
- Economic, social and cultural rights
- European Convention on Human Rights law
- Environment and energy law
- Equity and trusts
- EU law
- Family law
- Feminist legal theory
- Financial crime
- Food law
- Global health law and non-communicable diseases
- Health and medical law and ethics
- Immigration law
- Intellectual property law
- International human rights
- International law
- Insolvency law
- Investment law
- Judicial behaviour and decision-making
- Labour law
- Land and property law
- Law in armed conflict
- Law in Asia
- Law and development
- Law and poverty
- Law and technology
- Legal history
- Legal philosophy
- Legislation and public policy
- Marxist approaches to the law
- Music law
- National human rights action planning
- Right to a clean and healthy environment
- Sports law
- Tort
- Trade law
- Trafficking and modern slavery
- Transnational justice and criminal justice
- Whistleblower protection.
How to Apply
To apply for the PhD program, follow these steps:
- Identify potential supervisors: View the staff list for the Liverpool Law School for details of potential supervisors in this area.
- Prepare your application documents: You may need the following documents to complete your online application:
- A research proposal (this should cover the research you'd like to undertake)
- University transcripts and degree certificates to date
- Passport details (international applicants only)
- English language certificates (international applicants only)
- A personal statement
- A curriculum vitae (CV)
- Contact details for two proposed supervisors
- Names and contact details of two referees.
- Apply: Register and apply online. You'll receive an email acknowledgment once you've submitted your application.
Fees and Funding
Tuition Fees
- UK fees: Full-time place, per year - £5,238; Part-time place, per year - £2,619
- International fees: Full-time place, per year - £25,350; Part-time place, per year - £12,650 Fees stated are for 2026/27 and may be subject to change for academic year 2027/28.
Additional Costs
We understand that budgeting for your time at university is important, and we want to make sure you understand any costs that are not covered by your tuition fee. This could include buying a laptop, books, or stationery.
Funding Your PhD
If you're a UK national, or have settled status in the UK, you may be eligible to apply for a Postgraduate Doctoral Loan worth up to £30,301 to help with course fees and living costs. There's also a variety of alternative sources of funding. These include funded research opportunities and financial support from UK research councils, charities and trusts.
Scholarships and Bursaries
We offer a range of scholarships and bursaries that could help pay your tuition fees and living expenses. These include:
- Duncan Norman Research Scholarship: Full payment of your PhD fees and a cash bursary of £23,000 per year
- John Lennon Memorial Scholarship: Financial support worth up to £12,000 per year for up to three years of full-time postgraduate research
Facilities and Resources
Postgraduate researchers will have access to the state-of-the-art facilities of the School of Law and Social Justice Building, as well as excellent library and IT facilities.
Careers and Employability
Once you graduate after completing your PhD, you'll gain free access to Prosper to help you unlock your potential and kickstart your postdoctoral research career. Prosper provides structured career development and support, designed specifically for postdocs, in close collaboration with employer partners and principal investigators.
Meet Our PhD Researchers
Our postgraduate researchers are shaping their future, and the future of the world we live in, advancing knowledge with each discovery.
Entry Requirements
You'll typically need to hold both of the following:
- A UK undergraduate degree (BA or LLB) at 2:1 or above, or overseas equivalent, in a relevant subject
- A UK master's degree, or overseas equivalent, in Law (LLM)
English Language Requirements
You'll need to demonstrate competence in the use of English language, unless you're from a majority English speaking country. We accept a variety of international language tests and country-specific qualifications. The required scores are:
- IELTS: 6.5 overall, with no component below 6.0
- TOEFL iBT: 88 overall, with minimum scores of listening 19, writing 19, reading 19 and speaking 20 (for tests taken on or before 20 January 2026); 4.5 overall, with 4 or above in all components (for tests taken from 21 January 2026 onwards)
- Pearson PTE Academic: 61 overall, with no component below 59
If you don't meet our English language requirements, we can use your most recent IELTS score, or the equivalent score in selected other English language tests, to determine the length of Pre-sessional English course you require.