Program Overview

---

Key Facts

Qualification

PhD

Course duration

3 years

About this course

Requirements for completion for the PhD

A PhD requires a substantial thesis of approximately 80,000 - 100,000 words. Your thesis will be written under the supervision of a member of staff of the Department. If you’re studying on a full-time basis, you will also take a course on research skills and strategy, to assist you in acquiring the skills which are necessary for academic legal research.

If your research project is within the area of socio-legal studies or criminology you will also be required to complete ESRC approved Faculty Research Training Programme provided by the Faculty of Social science. You take this training in the first year of your PhD, and it concerns quantitative and qualitative research methodology, and social science research needs.

Period of study for the PhD

Full-Time: The normal period of registration for a full-time student is 3 years. However, if the candidate already holds a Research Masters degree or its equivalent the period is 2 years

Registration commences on: 1st October, 1st January, 1st April or 1st July.

Part-Time: The normal period of registration for a part-time student is 5 years. However, if the candidate already holds a Masters degree or its equivalent the period is 3 years.

Registration commences on: 1st October, 1st January, 1st April or 1st July.

Support and resources

A PhD involves significant independent research. You’ll mostly work on your own, but we can offer you plenty of tools, support and resources to help support you over the course of your PhD, and beyond.

Facilities

We have a thriving postgraduate community. Our postgraduate hub, Penglais Postgraduate Centre, was opened in 2013. This centre is specifically for postgraduate research students, and is equipped with a social lounge, kitchen area, open plan and private study places, and a seminar room equipped with visual display facilities. Our society for postgraduate students, is also a great way of getting to know Aberystwyth, and your peers.

Our library, the Hugh Owen library, is extensive and well resourced, with a plethora of online, visual, and material resources. We are also in the enviable position of being located right next to the National Library of Wales! You will also have the ability to sign up to the scheme, allowing you to access libraries and their resources, from all across the UK.

Research Training

Alongside your degree, research training is provided to all our postgraduate research students. The Aberystwyth Researcher Development Programme follows the Vitae Researcher Development Framework, which is designed to help researchers develop skills over the course of their PhD which contribute towards their professional development.

Some of this training is compulsory. For full-time PhD students, you’ll be expected to undertake 45 credits of training, all of which will help you towards completing your PhD, such as workshops to help prepare you for your viva. If you’re a full-time ESRC funded social sciences student, training will also consist of 45 credits, but you must take 2 core modules on quantitative and qualitative research methods. To check training requirements, please see the following link: research/

Compulsory training aside, there are plenty of internal opportunities and events on offer at Aberystwyth to help support you throughout your studies. The Aberystwyth Researcher Development Programme provides a variety of non- compulsory training events and workshops which postgraduate research students can take advantage of. These workshops cover a wealth of areas, such as personal effectiveness, engagement influence and impact, and research writing.

Careers

Career Opportunities

Postgraduate study in Criminology at Aberystwyth University provides students with a requisite knowledge and skill set suitable for a wide variety of careers. Students acquire a wide range of transferable skills such as the ability research independently, to think analytically and critically about complex issues, to problem solve, to engage effectively in argument and debate, to analyse qualitative and quantitative data and to write clearly and concisely.

Graduates from the Department of Law and Criminology are engaged in academic and criminological research all over the world, and many have embarked on careers in the legal profession or in organisations working within the prison, police, probation, or social service sectors. Other former students now hold positions in government and voluntary service organisations.

Typical Entry Requirements

Entry Requirements

2:1 Bachelors (Honours) degree in a relevant subject area, or equivalent.

English Language Requirements

IELTS 7.0 with minimum 6.0 in each component, or equivalent

Other Requirements

Applicants should submit a full research proposal at the point of application