PhD Public Administration and Policy

by Distance Learning

Start date
September
Duration
Full-time and Part-time
Course Type
Postgraduate, Distance learning
Fees

For 2024-25
£4,778 FT (UK)
£21,360 FT (International Students)

More Fees and funding details.

The Department of Public Administration and Policy works closely with the world of practice in local government, the voluntary sector and other public service agencies

We have a vibrant and close-knit international research community of early-career and established researchers. Our engaged scholarship is theoretically-driven, and demonstrates a commitment to methodological pluralism, with particular strengths in qualitative, collaborative and participative approaches.

Our distance learning PhD in Public Administration and Policy offers those who are unable to live and work on campus on a regular basis the opportunity to conduct original research under the guidance of academic supervisors. You will take a number of research training modules in your first year and may attend further courses offered by the Department or the University that enhance your personal discipline-specific and transferable skills.

Distance learning does present challenges and applicants need to have a high capacity to work independently and in a disciplined fashion to pursue their research goals. However, supervisory teams are there to support students in acquiring the skills and knowledge to complete a thesis. In addition, you will be able to participate in an active research environment through a range of online and hybrid events.

Distance learning students are usually expected to attend one-week visit to the University (it is possible to request an exemption due to extenuating circumstances such as work commitments of caring responsibilities, for example). This visit will take place at the start of your studies during the College’s induction week (which usually takes place in the last week of September). This is a fantastic opportunity to attend a range of training sessions and networking events and meet your peers and supervisory team in person. The College of Social Sciences will make a generous contribution to your accommodation and travel. Your School will write to you to confirm the arrangements of your visit once you have confirmed your offer. Distance Learning students are not required to attend the University for the remainder of their studies but are welcome to visit at their own expense.

The Institute of Local Government Studies (INLOGOV) is incorporated within the Department of Public Administration and Policy (DPAP) and is one of the leading UK and international centres for governance, politics, international development, and public management. 

The School of Government offers much more than a degree. As a doctoral student here, you have the opportunity to take part in a wide range of research events with staff and other doctoral students, including a PGR Colloquium and departmental speaker series. In addition, an individual training plan is drawn up to meet the needs of each student, covering coursework and skills development. As such, completing this research degree will cultivate specialist knowledge in your field and professional skills for a range of career settings. 

We are particularly interested in receiving applications on the following themes:

  • Governance, institutional design and leadership
  • Co-production, democratic and social innovation, and inclusion
  • Policy-making, implementation and service delivery
  • Smart, sustainable and creative approaches to policy challenges

Applications to study for a research degree on either a full- or part-time basis are welcomed. 

Further information

Contact

Tricia Thomas
Doctoral Research Student Administration
Tel: +44 (0)121 414 3497, Email: gandspgr@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Fees

PhD by Distance Learning 2024-2025

UK students

  • £4,778

International students (Band D)

  • £21,360

Learn more about fees.

Scholarships and studentships

INLOGOV offers occasional teaching assistantships for those enrolled on a full-time research degree. These provide bursaries to cover living costs, payment of the fee and the opportunity to gain additional income through a limited amount of tutorial work.

International students can often gain funding through overseas research scholarships, Commonwealth scholarships or their home government. Explore our postgraduate funding database

Postgraduate research loans

Eligible Doctoral students can now apply for a government loan of up to £28,673 (for 2023/2024 entry) to contribute to overall costs. 

For further information contact the School directly or visit studenthelp.bham.ac.uk.

How To Apply

When clicking on the Apply Now button you will be directed to an application specifically designed for the programme you wish to apply for where you will create an account with the University application system and submit your application and supporting documents online. Further information regarding how to apply online can be found on the How to apply pages

Apply now

Our Standard Requirements

Applicants for the distance learning PhD must provide evidence of prior research experience and/or training suitable for their intended programme of study. When they apply, they are expected to consult with their supervisor who can assess their skills, background and capacity to undertake independent study at a distance. 

Besides formal qualifications, a key factor determining whether the Department decides to accept a candidate for either degree is the quality of his or her research proposal and its relevance to our own interests. Successful completion of a research thesis demands a high level of self-discipline, motivation and commitment to the subject of research. Great importance is placed on work experience, when relevant. Please contact the Department for more details.

International Requirements



International Students

You can satisfy our English language requirements in two ways:


  • IELTS 6.5 with no less than 6.0 in any band
  • TOEFL: 88 overall with no less than 21 in Reading, 20 in Listening, 22 in Speaking and 21 in Writing
  • Pearson Test of English (PTE) including online: PTE Academic 67 with no less than 64 in all four skills
  • Cambridge English (exams taken from 2015): Advanced – minimum overall score of 176, with no less than 169 in any component

Research within the School of Government is aligned to one of three departments and Institutes:

The Department of Political Science and International Studies (POLSIS)

Dr Columba Achilleos-Sarll
Feminist and post/decolonial theory; the Women, Peace and Security agenda; civil society and advocacy; visual global politics.

Dr David Bailey
Protest, critical political economy and contemporary capitalism

Dr Stephen Bates
British politics; Parliamentary Studies (in comparative perspective or focused on the UK Parliament).

Dr Tendayi Bloom
Noncitizenship; Statelessness; Migration governance. 

Dr Verena K. Brändle
Digital democracy; social media and politics; European politics; border and migration studies; political communication

Dr Sarah Bufkin
Racism and racialization; Black Atlantic political thought; Critical Theory; Cultural Studies.

Professor Peter Burnham
Restructuring of the state in the global political economy; State theory and radical theories of IPE; Marx and contemporary Marxism; Economic policy and capitalist crisis.

Dr Mwita Chacha
Regional integration; International cooperation; Politics of coups d’état; Public opinion.

Dr Licia Cianetti
Democracy and institutional change; democratic regression; inclusion and exclusion from policymaking processes; cities and local democracy.

Dr Laurence Cooley
Politics of deeply divided societies (especially Northern Ireland and Bosnia and Herzegovina); post-conflict power-sharing; politics of the census and identity categorisation.

Professor David Cutts
Political and electoral behaviour; Party campaigning turnout; Civic engagement; Populist parties; Social media and politics. 

Dr May Darwich
International Relations Theory and the Middle East; Foreign policies of Middle Eastern states; Identity politics in the Middle East; Security policies in the Middle East.

Professor David Dunn
US foreign and security policy; Strategic and security studies, and diplomacy and statecraft.

Dr Rita Floyd
Ethics of emergency politics, theories of security (especially securitization theory), the English school and environmental security.

Dr Guiditta Fontana
Peace processes and war-to-peace transitions. The design of peace accords, Powersharing and Reform of cultural and educational institutions in conflict-affected societies. Multi-method research designs. Politics of Lebanon, Northern Ireland, North Macedonia.

Dr Emma Foster
Environmental politics; gender/sexuality and international relations; gender/sexuality and international relations.

Dr Charlotte Galpin
European and national identities; European public sphere and media; Euroscepticism, EU citizenship and social movements; The role of Germany or Britain in Europe; Brexit; Gender and feminist approaches to these topics.

Dr Julie Gilson
Japanese foreign policy; East Asian regionalism and institutions; Asia-Europe and Japan-Europe relations; Civil society in Asia; Climate change and environmentalism in Asia.

Dr Ruben Gonzalez-Vicente
South-South relations; Global China; the political economy of development, especially in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean; critical political economy; political geography. 

Dr Tim Haughton
Contemporary politics of Central and Eastern Europe; Political campaigning; Party politics; Electoral politics.

Dr Laura Jenkins
Feminist political theory; Contemporary political theory and British politics.

Dr Deema Kaneff
Resources and Social Change; Postsocialist transformations and global capitalism; Property relations; Markets and moralities; Transnational migration, Social exclusion and inequalities. (Europe, Eastern Europe, Bulgaria and Ukraine)

Dr Peter Kerr
British politics; State theory and theories of social and political change; UK party politics and party modernisation; Political leadership and governing strategies in the UK; Citizenship and political participation and political sociology. 

Dr George Kyris
International conflict, conflict management and resolution; International organisations, especially the European Union; State recognition; Statehood and sovereignty; Secession; unrecognised/ de facto states.

Professor René Lindstädt
American Politics; Political Institutions; Accountability; Representation; Legislative politics and institutions; Elections; Political methodology

Dr Huw Macartney
International or Comparative Political Economy; Banking and financial market governance; Globalisation, and historical materialism. 

Dr Cerwyn Moore
Political violence; international relations theory; Post-Soviet and post-communist security; Interpretive approaches to global politics and Chechnya.

Dr Richard North
Any area of contemporary political philosophy, but particularly on justice and liberal and democratic political philosophy.  

Dr Julian Panke
European Union Politics; European Neighbourhood Policy; German foreign policy and Eastern European foreign policies (Poland, Slovakia).

Professor Patrick Porter
The interaction of power and ideas in the making of foreign and defence policy in the U.S. and U.K, and in shaping their conflicts, classical realism, strategic thought and great power diplomacy.

Dr Adam Quinn
US ‘grand strategy’; American national identity; American foreign and security policy; Ideological contest in American politics (contemporary and historical). 

Dr Robert Ralston
International Security; Civil-Military Relations; Grand Strategy.

Dr Richard Shorten
Political theory, ideology, and rhetoric; fascism, Marxism and totalitarianism; reactionaries and conservatives; the political thought of Hannah Arendt, Albert Camus and George Orwell; intellectual politics of the Cold War.

Dr Asaf Siniver
International mediation and conflict resolution; The politics, diplomacy and history of the Arab-Israeli conflict; The Israeli-Palestinian peace process; Contemporary US foreign policy and Foreign Policy Analysis. 

Dr Nicola Smith
Gender and sexuality; Feminist political economy; Queer theory; Biopolitics; Body politics; Sex Work; Obesity; Austerity.

Dr Graham Timmins
Areas related to the external relations and foreign policy role of the European Union with specific reference to EU-Russia and German-Russian relations.

Dr Tsering Topgyal
Chinese foreign and security policy; Tibet and China’s Nationality Policy; Asia-Pacific security and politics; US-China relations; Sino-Indian relations and Security studies. 

Dr Sevasti-Eleni Vezirgiannidou
International Environmental Politics; Climate change politics; Environment and trade negotiations; Environmental Regime effectiveness and compliance and The trade-environment debate.

Dr Marco Vieira
Rising powers and global order; South-South political cooperation/identity/institutions, South American/Latin American politics; Brazilian foreign policy and International relations theory. 

Dr Yi Wang
Memory politics; Nationalism and national identity; Contemporary China; International relations of East Asia; Political communication 

Dr Robert Watt
Military History, power and networks, Small Wars/Insurgencies; Native American History & Politics.

Professor Mark Webber
NATO; transatlantic relations; European security; American, Russian and British foreign policy; Theories and practices of security

Dr Mark Wenman
Continental philosophy; Contemporary political theory; The philosophy of the social sciences; The history of political thought.

Professor Nicholas Wheeler
Trust-building between adversaries, especially nuclear armed states; Nuclear weapons and proliferation. 

Professor Kataryna Wolczuk
Politics of Russia and post-Soviet countries; EU’s Eastern policy, Russia’s policy towards the post-Soviet states; Regional integration in the post-Soviet space; Nationalism and national identities (across Europe and Eurasia).

Professor Stefan Wolff - 
Ethnic conflict, civil war, post-conflict state-building; Geopolitics and great-power rivalry; Central Asia, South Caucasus, Eastern Europe, Western Balkans, Middle East & North Africa.

Dr Christalla Yakinthou
Conflict transformation, particularly post-settlement; Transitional justice both in theory and practice, and transitions in the MENA region; The relationship between constitutional design and transitional justice; Power sharing, Cypriot, Lebanese, and Tunisian politics and conflicts and the right to truth in international law and practice, and issues around enforced disappearance and missing people during conflict.

Dr Sotirios Zartaloudis
European Union politics and policies; Migration in Europe; European politics; Discourse

The International Development Department (IDD)

Dr Sameen A. Mohsin Ali
Bureaucratic politics; politics of development, donor engagement, and public sector reform; public health, especially with regard to vaccination; politics of South Asia (especially Pakistan)

Dr Philip Amis
Urbanisation; Urban policy; Poverty and housing.

Not currently accepting new PhD supervision applications 

Dr Danielle Beswick
UK development policy, including parliamentary scrutiny and public engagement in this; UK Africa relations; The UK Conservative Party and development; Politics, identity and security in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Rwanda; Knowledge exchange between universities and legislatures.

Dr Brock Bersaglio
The political ecology of biodiversity conservation, wild meat (including food sovereignty), and zoonotic disease in eastern/southern Africa; anti-, post- and settler colonial development studies

Dr Adrian Campbell
Public and local government reform, especially in transitional states. 

Professor Nic Cheeseman 
Elections and democratization; The formation of a social contract in new democracies; Power-sharing and the politics of inclusion; Populism and strategies of political mobilization; African political thought. 

Dr David Cobley
Disability-inclusive approaches to development, especially in the areas of poverty reduction, livelihood development, inclusive education and disaster risk reduction.

Dr Niheer Dasandi
Politics of international development and foreign aid; development and human rights; politics of climate change and health; foreign policy and development 

Dr Jonathan Fisher
Authoritarianism and authoritarian rule; (in)security and conflict; international politics of aid and peacekeeping; particular interest in sub-Saharan Africa.

Professor David Hudson
Politics of leadership and coalitions; public opinion, survey analysis, and experiments; migration decision making; network analysis.

Professor Paul Jackson
Conflict and post-conflict reconstruction; security sector reform and international intervention; combatants, politics and social reintegration; peacebuilding; economic development.

Dr Chris Lyon
Politics of development; political theory; democracy, participation, decentralisation; social justice; development ethics

Professor Heather Marquette
The politics of development and foreign policy; Corruption, kleptocracy and organised crime; Anti-corruption/counter-organised crime strategies and interventions

Not currently accepting new PhD supervision applications 

Dr Claire McLoughlin
State legitimacy; The politics of public service delivery; The role of ideas in development.

Dr Emeka Njoku
Critical security studies; Terrorism and counter-terrorism; Nonprofit organisations; conflict-related gender/sexual violence; State-civil society relations; peacebuilding.

Professor Fiona Nunan
Renewable natural resource governance, management and livelihoods in low- and middle-income countries, especially fisheries and coastal ecosystems and community-based or collaborative governance.

Dr Martin Ottmann
Political economy of civil war and development, including peace processes and negotiated settlements; Power-sharing, resource redistribution, elections, and political trust after war. PhD applications relying on advanced statistical research methods, mixed-methods designs, and modern methods of causal inference are particularly welcome. 

Dr Emily Scott
Humanitarianism, health, and migration; international organisation (IOs) and international non-governmental organisations (INGOs); state-society relations, particularly in the Middle East; conflict and security; localization and the international politics of aid.

Dr Merisa Thompson
Feminist political economy; food and agrarian studies; the politics of gender and development; histories of colonialism, particularly the Caribbean.

Dr Kailing Xie
Contemporary Chinese society, Gender and reproductive politics, the politics of nation-building; Civil Society; governance beyond the state; collective memory and emotions; Chinese diaspora;feminist epistemologies and methodologies.

Department of Public Administration and Policy (DPAP)

Dr Koen Bartels
Social innovation; Democratic innovation; Public encounters; Urban governance; Action research; Interpretive policy analysis; Communication; Practice theory; Relational public policy and administration.

Dr Karin Bottom 
The role of small parties; Comparative politics; Policy analysis; Elections and quantitative methodologies.

Dr May Chu
Risk regulation; Collaborative governance; Food safety and sustainability

Dr Abena Dadze-Arthur
Transfer and brokering of knowledge across cultural and institutional boundaries. Decolonizing, transforming, and indigenising approaches to public management and governance. The scientific study of subjectivity (Q Methodology)

Dr Stephen Jeffares
Projects that draw on social media data to understand change or controversies in public policy. 

Dr Timea Nochta
Networks in governance and policy; Complexity; Smart cities, digitalisation and e-government; Climate change and net zero; Network analysis; Mixed methods

Dr Louise Reardon
Multi-level governance; Policy networks; Agenda setting; Policy change; Policy implementation; Transport policy; Wellbeing and quality of life; Smart cities. 

Dr Philip Whiteman
Policy implementation studies; Central and local government relations; Regulation of local government; Local authority corporate management scrutiny; Public sector performance, procurement and efficiency; Public consultation and participation; Organisation dynamics. 

You will contact your supervisor approximately monthly (every 2 months for part-time students) over the course of your study. Supervisors are experienced in managing the research process and are chosen to complement your area of interest. You will discuss your research with a panel annually. The panel is chaired by an experienced researcher from the department, and includes your supervisor and another member of staff. It provides an important opportunity to present progress on your research and to have a wider discussion about your work.

Your supervisor will read and comment on drafts of your thesis before it is finally submitted. An external and an internal examiner (who will not be your supervisor) will then examine it, and will meet with you for a viva. They will judge whether your thesis demonstrates:

  • Knowledge of the relevant academic literature
  • Skill in use of research methods
  • Independent investigation
  • Clear presentation of information
  • Arguments presented in a coherent and appropriate form

MPhil students must show original work of merit that is worthy of publication. The requirement for PhDs is that the work is an original contribution to knowledge that is worthy of publication.

If I gain a postgraduate research degree in Local Government Studies, what are my career prospects?

In addition to the academic knowledge gained through their course, postgraduates from Birmingham’s Institute of Local Government Studies develop transferable skills that are useful in many occupations. These include familiarity with research methods; the ability to manage large and diverse quantities of information; the ability to organise information in a logical and coherent manner; judging and evaluating complex information; and making reasoned arguments, both orally and in written work.

Institute of Local Government Studies graduates are attracted to careers in both public and private sectors. These include local government, policing, health services, transport, legal services, prison services and housing. Some of these careers require further professional training, and/or building a portfolio of relevant work experience. Many PhD graduates of the Institute of Local Government Studies also successfully gain academic research and teaching posts.

What type of career assistance is available to doctoral researchers in this department?

The College of Social Sciences, to which the Institute of Local Government Studies belongs, has specially designated careers advisors and careers consultants who can provide guidance for doctoral researchers on career paths, CVs, training opportunities, application and interviews. The University’s central Careers’ Service also runs workshops and offers personally tailored advice and guidance including 1-1 careers advice, 1-1 CV advice. The Career’s Service also runs CV writing workshops especially for postgraduates in the College of Social Sciences, giving advice on how to compile CVs for both employment and for academic roles.

The University also has dedicated careers advisors for International students who run workshops and networking opportunities with potential employers. These are especially popular with International postgraduate researchers.