Doctoral research

We place great emphasis on the production of high quality research. There are regular Research Students’ Workshops and conferences where you will meet other graduate research students in the School and wider college. Short courses are also available on a range of relevant research techniques, including the Internet as a research tool, bibliographic sources and IT skills.

Research degrees offered:

Local Government and Public Policy PhD with Integrated Study

  • Postgraduate
  • Combined research and taught
  • Full time

While the traditional PhD requires you to engage entirely in research training, this programme enables you to gain added value from taught, subject-based modules. These allow you to broaden and deepen your subject knowledge at the same time as undertaking your own research and [more...]

Local Government Studies PhD/MPhil

  • Postgraduate
  • Doctoral research, continuing professional development
  • Full time, part time

Our MPhil and PhD degrees are taken by research with a coursework element. Applications to study for research degrees on either a full- or part-time basis are welcomed. We are particularly interested in receiving applications on the modernisation agenda, changing [more...]

Integrated Study (Social Sciences) PhD

  • Postgraduate
  • Doctoral research
  • Full time

This four-year PhD programme is designed for individuals wishing to develop advanced knowledge and skills in social science research design and methods through a mixture of coursework and independent research with supervisory support. The programme is particularly [more...]


Studying part-time and full-time: We welcome applications from prospective students wishing to study both part-time and full-time. Part-time students should expect to spend the equivalent of 2 days per week on their research. One day per week during the first year will normally involve attendance at postgraduate modules. While full-time students should be able to devote the full working week to their studies.
For more information contact: Stephen Jeffares, email s.r.jeffares@bham.ac.uk

We particularly welcome applications on the following themes:

Democratic Local Governance

  • Citizen and community engagement
  • Participation
  • Local politics
  • Modes of local government working etc

Strategic Public Management

  • Public service reform
  • Strategic commissioning
  • Collaborative partnership working
  • Performance management
  • Public service outcomes

Support: You will be assigned two supervisors (a first and second supervisor) approximately fortnightly (monthly for part-time students) over the course of your study as well as informally more frequently within the department. Supervisors are experienced in managing the research process and are chosen to complement your area of interest. Staff in INLOGOV have regular contact with a wide range of local authorities and other governmental, voluntary sector and research bodies. Research students thus have access to extensive networks of contacts and access to research sites is rarely difficult.