Candidates for a place on the MPhil/PhD programme will have undergraduate and taught Masters degrees in a relevant subject. The Masters degree would typically have included training in advanced research methods, and be awarded with a Distinction or high Merit.
The Department welcomes applications from suitably qualified and highly motivated candidates. The application process for our postgraduate research programmes is interactive.
Please follow these steps for enquiring about and applying for a PhD in Criminology:
1. Make an informal enquiry before you apply
In the first instance, you should check the research interests of members of academic staff to see who is active in the area that you are interested in. Follow the drop-down menu for Criminology and Sociology to identify staff with relevant expertise. When you have identified a potential supervisor (with relevant expertise to your proposed research), send to them an outline research proposal and a CV, setting out your qualifications and experience. You should expect to have a series of discussions with this member of staff (by email, by telephone/MSTeams, or in person) about the project, options for funding, and your career aspirations. These discussions will help the member of staff decide whether or not they would be an appropriate supervisor for your proposed project, if they have availability for supervision.
2. Submit an application
When a member of staff has agreed in principle to supervise your project, you should then submit an application form using the online application system. Ensure that you indicate the name of the proposed supervisor/s.
One of the most important aspects of your application is the research proposal. The purpose of the research proposal is two-fold: first, to help determine whether your topic corresponds with the interests and expertise of the proposed supervisor(s) and, second, to make clear how the research will make an original contribution to theoretical and applied knowledge in the field.
The proposal is important as it will allow the Department to assess your aptitude for doctoral-level research, to allocate supervision appropriately, and to ensure we are fully able to support the study you propose. Although you are required formally to submit the proposal with your application for doctoral study, it is a document you should develop in discussion with a member of staff in the Department of Law and Criminology before you submit this formally.
The proposal should be approximately 2,000 words in length (excluding the reference list) and include the following sections:
a. Title
At this stage, a working title that summarises the proposed focus is more than adequate.
b. Introduction, Research Question and Rationale
The introduction should, in a succinct way, provide an overview of, and rationale for, the proposed project. You should explain the project focus, main research question and broad aims, and how it will make an original contribution to theory and practice. The introductory section needs to outline the basic argument the thesis intends to advance, as well as what it will aim to demonstrate. In simple terms, explain what the project is about, why it is innovative, why the project matters, why you are the right person to undertake it, and why the Department of Law and Criminology is the most appropriate place to be based.
c. Literature Review
Any proposed project should make clear how it relates to existing research on the topic (or related topics). In this section, you should summarise the current state of scholarship on your topic and explain the ways in which your project will draw from, and build on, that work. In this part of the proposal, you are demonstrating your knowledge of the field and the ways in which your project will make meaningful contributions.
d. Data and Methodology
Detail the sources of data (qualitative and/or quantitative) that you will require in order to answer your research questions and the specific methods you intend to apply in order to collect or generate those data. You should offer a clear explanation for your selection of research methods: Why one method rather than another?
This section should also offer an account of your analytical strategy. How will you make sense of your data? Will you require any specialist software to complete that analysis? Will your project involve fieldwork? If so, to where? How will that fieldwork be financed and supported?
Include a section on the ethical implications of your proposed topic. Which ethical issues are raised by your project? How do you intend to address them?
e. Proposed thesis structure and timeline
In this section you should outline the structure of your thesis and demonstrate that you have thought about how you are going to structure and organise the argument put forward in your thesis. Additionally, you should propose a timeline for your project, and demonstrate how you think you will organise your time in the three years you will work on your thesis.
f. Reference list
List here, using the citation system common to your discipline, the sources referred to in the proposal.
3. After applying
All applications are subject to review by a panel of academic members of staff in the Department of Law and Criminology. Applicants will be informed of the outcome as soon as the panel has met.
Candidates for a place on the MPhil/PhD programme will have undergraduate and taught Masters degrees in a relevant subject. The Masters degree would typically have included training in advanced research methods, and be awarded with a Distinction or high Merit.
The Department welcomes applications from suitably qualified and highly motivated candidates. The application process for our postgraduate research programmes is interactive.
Please follow these steps for enquiring about and applying for a PhD in Criminology:
1. Make an informal enquiry before you apply
In the first instance, you should check the research interests of members of academic staff to see who is active in the area that you are interested in. Follow the drop-down menu for Criminology and Sociology to identify staff with relevant expertise. When you have identified a potential supervisor (with relevant expertise to your proposed research), send to them an outline research proposal and a CV, setting out your qualifications and experience. You should expect to have a series of discussions with this member of staff (by email, by telephone/MSTeams, or in person) about the project, options for funding, and your career aspirations. These discussions will help the member of staff decide whether or not they would be an appropriate supervisor for your proposed project, if they have availability for supervision.
2. Submit an application
When a member of staff has agreed in principle to supervise your project, you should then submit an application form using the online application system. Ensure that you indicate the name of the proposed supervisor/s.
One of the most important aspects of your application is the research proposal. The purpose of the research proposal is two-fold: first, to help determine whether your topic corresponds with the interests and expertise of the proposed supervisor(s) and, second, to make clear how the research will make an original contribution to theoretical and applied knowledge in the field.
The proposal is important as it will allow the Department to assess your aptitude for doctoral-level research, to allocate supervision appropriately, and to ensure we are fully able to support the study you propose. Although you are required formally to submit the proposal with your application for doctoral study, it is a document you should develop in discussion with a member of staff in the Department of Law and Criminology before you submit this formally.
The proposal should be approximately 2,000 words in length (excluding the reference list) and include the following sections:
a. Title
At this stage, a working title that summarises the proposed focus is more than adequate.
b. Introduction, Research Question and Rationale
The introduction should, in a succinct way, provide an overview of, and rationale for, the proposed project. You should explain the project focus, main research question and broad aims, and how it will make an original contribution to theory and practice. The introductory section needs to outline the basic argument the thesis intends to advance, as well as what it will aim to demonstrate. In simple terms, explain what the project is about, why it is innovative, why the project matters, why you are the right person to undertake it, and why the Department of Law and Criminology is the most appropriate place to be based.
c. Literature Review
Any proposed project should make clear how it relates to existing research on the topic (or related topics). In this section, you should summarise the current state of scholarship on your topic and explain the ways in which your project will draw from, and build on, that work. In this part of the proposal, you are demonstrating your knowledge of the field and the ways in which your project will make meaningful contributions.
d. Data and Methodology
Detail the sources of data (qualitative and/or quantitative) that you will require in order to answer your research questions and the specific methods you intend to apply in order to collect or generate those data. You should offer a clear explanation for your selection of research methods: Why one method rather than another?
This section should also offer an account of your analytical strategy. How will you make sense of your data? Will you require any specialist software to complete that analysis? Will your project involve fieldwork? If so, to where? How will that fieldwork be financed and supported?
Include a section on the ethical implications of your proposed topic. Which ethical issues are raised by your project? How do you intend to address them?
e. Proposed thesis structure and timeline
In this section you should outline the structure of your thesis and demonstrate that you have thought about how you are going to structure and organise the argument put forward in your thesis. Additionally, you should propose a timeline for your project, and demonstrate how you think you will organise your time in the three years you will work on your thesis.
f. Reference list
List here, using the citation system common to your discipline, the sources referred to in the proposal.
3. After applying
All applications are subject to review by a panel of academic members of staff in the Department of Law and Criminology. Applicants will be informed of the outcome as soon as the panel has met.
Further details
For further information concerning applications for postgraduate research in the department, please contact Dr Caterina Nirta, Departmental Lead for Postgraduate Research.
English language requirements
All teaching at Royal Holloway is in English. You will therefore need to have good enough written and spoken English to cope with your studies right from the start.
The scores we require
- IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5.
- Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51.
- Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III.
- Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C.
Country-specific requirements
For more information about country-specific entry requirements for your country please see here.
