Our PhD Human Rights was established to meet the demands of our students who have an established interest in human rights and wish to pursue doctoral research which goes beyond a single academic discipline but includes a distinct multi and interdisciplinary perspective.

Supervision is available across a broad range of academic interests in human rights and our research is wide-ranging and in-depth. You can search for a supervisor in an area of your choice by using our research finder tool, simply enter your research interests and browse the results for supervision opportunities. Topics include the prohibition against torture, business, freedom of religion, children in armed conflict, methods of democratic assessment, and the relationship between human rights and foreign direct investment. While our primary focus is international and comparative human rights, our research-active staff also encompass human rights and democracy in the UK.

We also offer an MPhil in this subject.

Please note, part-time research study is also available.

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You will be allocated a supervisor whose role it is to guide you through the different stages of your research degree. In some cases, you may have joint supervision by two members of our staff.

The support provided by your supervisor is a key feature of your research student experience and you will have regular one-to-one meetings to discuss progress on your research. Initially, your supervisor will help you develop your research topic and plan.

Twice a year, you will have a supervisory board meeting, which provides a more formal opportunity to discuss your progress and agree your plans for the next six months.

Our Human Rights Centre has almost 50 academic staff members and 30 external fellows, we bring together some 250 scholars and practitioners across disciplines and courses, representing 50 nationalities. We organise and support a range of activities throughout the year and manage research projects on human rights, conflict prevention and promotion of democratic governance. In April 2000, along with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, we launched the Torture Reporting Handbook, which has been translated into numerous languages and is used throughout the world.

We are home to the UK member of the UN Human Rights Committee, and a member of the Government’s new Advisory Group on Human Rights. A number of our staff have also held senior positions in intergovernmental organisations and are actively involved in international practice.

Students can join the Human Rights Centre Affiliated Network, there are opportunities to network with like-minded people and it helps facilitate research collaboration. The network also runs events throughout the year.

Graduates of our Human Rights Centre go on to a variety of careers in the governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental sectors, and undertake further research.

Our graduates now work for the Council of Europe, the United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Save the Children, Shelter, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists.