PhD in Law PhD

The University of Liverpool, founded in 1882 and located in the vibrant city of Liverpool, is a research-intensive institution with a global student body of around 32,000, including approximately 17,700 international students. The university offers a wide range of programs—over 200—across sciences, engineering, humanities, health and business, combining rigorous academics with practical industry links. Its historic campus and city connections provide a lively cultural setting and strong transport links across the UK and beyond.

Research and employability are central to the Liverpool experience, with interdisciplinary projects, industry partnerships and extensive placement opportunities embedded in many degrees. Students benefit from modern facilities, dedicated career services and a supportive academic community that helps translate theory into professional practice. The university's global networks also create exchange and collaboration pathways for study abroad and joint research.

International students receive comprehensive support from pre-arrival guidance to on-campus services, including English language support, visa advice and student societies that foster social integration. Liverpool’s affordable living costs relative to other UK cities, combined with its cultural life and sporting traditions, make it attractive to students seeking a balanced academic and social experience. The University of Liverpool is well-suited to ambitious students aiming for impactful research, strong career outcomes and a cosmopolitan student life.

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
• 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.