We use cookies on reading.ac.uk to improve your experience, monitor site performance and tailor content to you
Read our cookie policy to find out how to manage your cookie settings
As a research student at the Reading School of Law, you will join a dynamic and thriving community of postgraduate researchers and you will play an integral part in the life of the School.
You will have excellent facilities and support, including research training programmes, informal lunches, faculty seminars, financial support for conferences and career development strategies.
The School has a strong, vibrant and cosmopolitan community that extends throughout, and every year we welcome students from the UK and across the globe.
Some students combine professional work with their research projects, and many engage with international institutions and organisations through their research.
We boast an impressive group of military officer students, who are visiting scholars at the Stockton Center for International Law at the US Naval War College, and at the US Military Academy at West Point.
Other students are involved in commercial organisations and institutions such as the World Trade Organisation, the International Chamber of Commerce, and global arbitration centres. And some students are accredited by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).
We encourage and support our doctoral candidates in presenting their research at both national and international conferences, and many of our students publish in internationally recognised and peer-reviewed journals.
Liz-Marie Welman
PhD student and GTA
Our research is organised around themes like Global Law, Law, Justice and Society, and Commercial Law and Financial Regulation.
99% of our research is of international standing (Research Excellence Framework 2021, combining 4*, 3* and 2* submissions – Law).
We have world-leading researchers working on a diverse range of legal issues across all areas of law. We have particular strengths in international law (including research focus on war, human rights and disasters), legal history, law’s impact on commerce and finance, legal philosophy and legal issues related to family, gender and sexuality.
Across all of these areas, our research challenges preconceptions and established ideas about the law, subjects the content and process of legal decision-making to stringent analysis, and provides value to external users and impacts upon the wider world.
Our research is organised into three groups, and as a PhD student you will be associated with at least one group and participate in their research seminars and other events.
Global Law at Reading (GLAR) is one of the largest groups of expert staff researching and teaching global law at any university within the United Kingdom.
As Reading's research hub for public international law, EU law and human rights law, GLAR has a proud international reputation for research excellence in these areas.
The Centre for Commercial Law and Financial Regulation was founded by the School of Law and the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) Centre in 2011.
The Centre was established as the home of research in commercial, competition, company, corporate, financial and intellectual property law and legal issues relating to oil and gas and network industries.
The Law, Justice and Society research group showcases the full breadth of legal research found at the University of Reading.
Academics explore the interactions between law, justice and society through the lens of diverse methodological and conceptual approaches, including doctrinal, socio-legal, empirical, historical, literary and theoretical approaches to the study of law.
Rosalynd Roberts, PhD student
All doctoral research students automatically become members of the University-wide Doctoral and Researcher College, which provides training, professional development, study space and support for the postgraduate research community.
The Doctoral and Researcher College also offers 24-hour access to study space and a range of up-to-date facilities for the exclusive use of postgraduate research students.
Benefit from outstanding resources and support. At the School of Law, you will enjoy exclusive use of excellent facilities, including the University's extensive main library, and study space within Foxhill House, in a dedicated postgraduate study room with computing facilities.
Our School comprises renowned experts from across the main fields of domestic, European and international law.
We are proud of our vibrant research culture and welcome high-quality applicants from all over the world.
