Students as researchers
There are excellent opportunities for research students within the Law School, across masters and PhD courses. But our commitment to students as researchers continues beyond such courses, including all levels of undergraduate and taught masters studies, providing opportunities for students to engage with the cutting-edge academic research being undertaken within the School.
CEPLER Reskill Scheme
The CEPLER Reskill scheme, which funds more than 500 hours of paid research support annually, matches academic staff seeking research assistance with Postgraduate Taught students. Students apply to the scheme as a means to learn more about academic research and to help them decide whether they wish to pursue doctoral studies or other research opportunities such as judicial clerking.
The experience offers them a valuable workplace opportunity which serves to enhance their CV and enables them to gain new skills and learn from an experienced academic. They assist staff with a variety of research tasks including, conducting literature reviews and editing citations.
As a student seeking to enter legal academic in the near future, partaking in the Reskill scheme was an excellent opportunity for me to work alongside a renowned academic and hone in upon the extensive legal research and presentation skills I gained during the Masters programme. Under Dr Warwick’s guidance, I was able to refine my abilities to concisely conduct preparator legal research for large-scale projects; a skills which I believe will aid me in future academic and career ventures.
By the time they reach the summer of their Masters programmes, our students have brilliant research skills. I found the Reskill scheme both an excellent reminder of their talents and hugely useful in the progress of my own research. Sophia undertook a literature review to assist me as I developed a new project. This allowed me to get a running start on the work as I entered the research-intensive summer period.
Research-based Advocacy
Working under the supervision of Dr Damien Gonzalez-Salsburgh, our students have provided third party intervention amicus curiae briefs for cases before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2020, 2022 and 2025, including additionally an invitation from the Court to take part in oral hearings of a case dealing with political rights and presidential re-elections in September 2020. The briefs assist regional human rights courts to make informed decisions.
Students as research partners
Our students are often paid partners in research projects, such as CEPLER’s study on Litigants in Person at the Birmingham Civil Justice System, which provided important insights for courts in the regional circuit as well as providing opportunities to improve access to justice for unrepresented litigants.
In 2024, Professor Lisa Webley worked with a group of students to support Ukrainian academics, students and judges from the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to remove Russian influences from Ukraine’s legal system, by identifying authoritative UK case law evidence of legal concepts to develop an English/Ukrainian rule of law dictionary; a crucial step in restoring the true meaning of concepts integral to the rule of law and human rights in the country.
Research-led Pro Bono work
Student volunteers with Birmingham Law School’s Pro Bono Group also engage in research-led pro bono to support community groups and NGOs with lobbying efforts. In the quote below, former student, Tom Davies, outlines work he did on a collaborative project which focussed on aspects of international environmental law. The students' research led them to make policy recommendations on potential changes to legislation:
I worked with the University of Illinois and the Union of Concerned Scientists to produce a memorandum detailing the legal frameworks in various jurisdictions for the recycling of Electric Vehicle batteries. We found the project incredibly interesting, especially given the increasing interest in the application of EVs in day-to-day life. Importantly, we gained a huge amount of knowledge on the legislation in various jurisdictions…. Unusually for a student project we were able to review, research and propose potential policy solutions to the perceived “gaps” in the legislation regarding lithium-ion vehicle batteries. This was a truly unique experience, and one of the many benefits working with experts in the US was that our work was critiqued by a number of scientists and environmental lawyers helping to develop our legal research and drafting skills.