10 Quintin Hogg Trust PhD Studentships at the University of the Westminster

The Graduate School at the University of Westminster is very pleased to announce 10 new full PhD studentships funded by the Quintin Hogg Trust to begin in the academic year 2025/26 for a September or January start.

Applications are welcome to our Schools listed below. For any queries about any aspect of the application process or informal enquiries about where your research might fit within a School, please contact the relevant School PhD Coordinator (details below).

In our selection of successful applications, we will be looking in particular for the following:

• Research proposals that fit with one or more of the key themes of our Research Communities (see https://www.westminster.ac.uk/research/communities ).
• Research proposals with strong inter-disciplinary potential.
• Applications which meet the university’s commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion.

The studentships will consist of:

A fee waiver (at home fee level) and an annual stipend which will match UKRI stipend levels and will include London weighting. UKRI have not announced their 25/26 stipend level yet, but in 24/25 the UKRI UK fees are £4,786 and the stipend is £21,237 (which includes London weighting). The stipend will be for three years.

Applications are welcomed from international students. The difference between the home fee waiver and the fee for international students would need to be met by the student. Overseas fees for 25/26 are £17,000.

Applications should be submitted by 5pm on Friday 7 February 2025.

Interviews will take place in the week beginning 10 March 2025.

Apply Now – Please submit your application here for a September 2025 start and here for a January 2026 start.

Please make sure you detail within the application form the programme you wish to be considered for – see School information below.

You must include the title of the studentship in your application i.e. The Quintin Hogg Trust Studentship.

For more information on our entry requirements for research degrees see

https://www.westminster.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/entry-requirements

and on how to apply see:

https://www.westminster.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/how-to-apply-for-a-research-degree

The information and resources highlighted here https://www.westminster.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/thinking-of-doing-a-phd will also provide useful reading to support your application.

Applications are welcome across our twelve Schools:

School of Applied Management

The School welcomes research proposals related to the themes of its two research centres:

• The Centre for Digital Business Research (https://tinyurl.com/mr35enss)
• The Centre for the Production of the Built Environment (https://tinyurl.com/9e44jewc) 

These themes include:

• Information systems and digital business
• Information management and modelling
• Business process management
• Digital business design and transformation
• Ontology engineering and knowledge representation
• Construction management and digital construction
• Sustainability in the built environment and climate change
• Project management

We also welcome interdisciplinary proposals spanning the above research areas, with the potential to positively impact the lives of individuals, organisations and society.

For enquires contact: Dr Alireza Nazarian (a.nazarian@westminster.ac.uk)

Available Programmes:

• MPhil/PhD Business Information Management
• MPhil/PhD Project Management
• MPhil/PhD Operations Management
• MPhil/PhD Property and Construction

School of Architecture and Cities

The School of Architecture and Cities invites applications in the subject areas covered by the School's research groups and centres:

Architectural Humanities Research Group

Emerging Territories Research Group

Transport and Mobilities Research Group

Design Practices Research Group

Active Travel Academy

Centre for Air Traffic Management Research

For enquiries contact: Dr Kate Jordan (k.jordan@westminster.ac.uk)

Available programmes:

• MPhil/PhD Architecture
• MPhil/PhD Architecture by Practice
• MPhil/PhD Transport
• MPhil/PhD Urban Design

School of Arts

The Centre for Research and Education in Arts and Media (CREAM) in the Westminster School of Arts (WSA) welcomes applicants in any of our areas of expertise (moving image and media aesthetics, expanded photography, art and society, fashion, music). 

CREAM is particularly interested in applications exploring research around environmental questions, propositions and answers as they impact and relate to the global majority. CREAM is also interested in projects exploring questions of sustainability, ecology and environment as it relates to art and technology.

We also welcome proposals that re-think past knowledge and reflexively engage with archives as trajectories and counter hegemonic historical discourses. 

For enquiries contact: Dr Ozlem Koksal (koksalo@westminster.ac.uk) 

Available Programmes: 

• MPhil/PhD Music 
• MPhil/PhD Creative Media 
• MPhil/PhD Moving Image and Media Aesthetics
• MPhil/PhD Expanded Photography 
• MPhil/PhD Visual Arts 
• MPhil/PhD Fashion

School of Computer Science and Engineering

The profiles of our Research Groups, including their research interests and suggested PhD research topics, can be found at https://www.westminster.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/research-areas/school-of-computer-science-and-engineering. All applications matching these interests will be considered. This year, the School is particularly focused on applicants whose research can result in real-life impact (e.g. through the use of virtual and mixed reality, or other technical and theoretical means) in the areas of health, wellbeing, sustainable cities, urban environment, arts, communication, culture, diversity and inclusion.

For enquiries contact: Dr Alexandra Psarrou (a.psarrou1@westminster.ac.uk )

Available Programmes:

• MPhil/PhD Computer Science
• MPhil / PhD Electronic Engineering

School of Finance and Accounting

The School particularly welcomes applications in the areas of Accounting (Accounting Standards; Auditing; Corporate Governance; Financial Reporting and Disclosure, Sustainability Reporting and Taxation) and Finance (Capital Markets; Corporate Finance; Behavioural Finance; Financial Institutions; Financial Econometrics; FinTech; Digital Finance; Market Microstructure and Sustainable Finance).

For enquiries contact: Dr Alireza Nazarian (a.nazarian@westminster.ac.uk)

Available Programmes:

• MPhil/PhD Accounting
• MPhil/PhD Finance

School of Humanities

The School welcomes applications in any areas of the humanities (literature, English language, linguistics, visual culture, history, creative writing, languages and area studies), as well as cross-disciplinary projects that combine insights from the humanities with those from other subject areas. We would particularly encourage projects in the areas of culture, ethnicity and migration; heritage, cultural memory and identity; decolonising the humanities.

For enquiries contact: Dr Sylvia Shaw ( s.shaw@westminster.ac.uk)

Available Programmes:

• MPhil/PhD English Literature
• MPhil/PhD English Language
• MPhil/PhD Linguistics
• MPhil/PhD Visual Culture
• MPhil/PhD Modern and Applied Languages
• MPhil/PhD History
• MPhil/PhD Creative Writing

Westminster Law School

Westminster Law School welcomes applications in any of its areas of expertise including: legal theory; law and technology; entertainment law and popular culture; international law; human rights; policing and criminal justice; law and development; gender and sexuality; and commercial law. For more information about research degrees in the Law School, please visit https://www.westminster.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/research-areas/law and https://www.westminster.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/law/find-a-supervisor.  

For enquiries contact:  Dr Alexandra Fowler (a.fowler@westminster.ac.uk) or Ruth Mackenzie (r.mackenzie1@westminster.ac.uk) 

Available Programmes: 

MPhil/PhD Law

School of Life Sciences

The School would welcome applications in the following areas of our established research expertise:

• AI, imaging and health;
• Exercise, resilience and nutrition;
• Mechanisms of disease
• Medicines development;
• Biomarkers of healthy ageing, infection and disease;
• Quantum biology;
• Stem cells, biomaterials and nanotechnology.

We would be particularly interested in interdisciplinary research proposals in the context of human health encompassing the above-mentioned research areas.   

For enquiries contact: Dr Polly Hayes (p.hayes@westminster.ac.uk)

Available MPhil/PhD Programme pathways:

• Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology
• Biology
• Biotechnology
• Microbiology
• Molecular Biology, Biophysics and Biochemistry
• Nutrition
• Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacy

School of Management and Marketing

The School welcomes in particular applications in the areas of: interfunctional coordination; customer experience; services and digital marketing; influence of organisational and national culture; social innovation; sustainable Tourism and events; sustainable consumption.

For enquiries contact: Dr Alireza Nazarian (a.nazarian@westminster.ac.uk)

Available Programmes:

• MPhil/PhD Business Studies and Strategy
• MPhil/PhD Consumer Research
• MPhil/PhD Marketing

School of Media and Communication

The Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) in the School has a long-standing reputation for producing world-leading research. CAMRI welcomes applications which explore the political, economic, social and cultural significance of the media across the globe. CAMRI research is focused on four key themes: Communication, Technology and Society; Cultural Identities and Social Change; Global Media; and Policy and Political Economy. See www.camri.ac.uk for more information about our research and potential PhD supervisors. CAMRI particularly welcomes applicants from the Global South.

For enquiries contact: Dr Ed Bracho-Polanco (e.brachopolanco@westminster.ac.uk)

Available Programmes:

MPhil/PhD Media Studies

School of Organisations, Economy and Society

This School hosts two Research Centres and three Research Groups. Their profiles and research interests are available at:

• Centre for Employment Research (https://centre-employment-research.com/)
• Westminster Development Policy Analysis (https://westminsterdpn.com/)
• Research Centre on Peripheral Populations; Global Economic Policy Group and Research Group on Entrepreneurship (https://www.westminster.ac.uk/research/groups-and-centres)

All applications matching their interests will be considered. For this year the School welcomes in particular applications in the areas of: Labour standards and worker rights; Global Health Policy; Migration (especially gender and health related); Integration of peripheral populations; International trade and investment; Education and labour economics; Policy evaluation; Applied econometrics; Administrative data studies (e.g. NPD-LEO); Energy economics; Evidence-based Human Resource Management; Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace; Entrepreneurship (especially EDI, Innovation and Ethics related); Social entrepreneurship; Corporate sustainability management.

For enquiries contact: Dr Alireza Nazarian (a.nazarian@westminster.ac.uk)

Available Programmes:

• MPhil/PhD Economics
• MPhil/PhD Human Resource Management
• MPhil/PhD Leadership and Development
• MPhil/PhD Entrepreneurship 

School of Social Sciences

Within the School of Social Sciences candidates can pursue a PhD in either Psychology, Politics and International Relations, Sociology or Criminology.

The Centre for Social Justice Research (CSJR), established in 2023, sets out to understand contemporary social inequalities and challenge the power relations and institutions that sustain them in order to bring about meaningful social change. CSJR members are experts in a range of areas in critical social science, including prisons, migration, education, gender, race, and social class. We welcome creative and interdisciplinary projects and are particularly keen to see applications from students from non-traditional backgrounds.

www.westminster.ac.uk/csjr

For enquiries contact: SocCrimPhDEnquiries@westminster.ac.uk

The Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD), established in 1989, has a longstanding reputation for research excellence. Research in Politics and International Studies at CSD was ranked fourth highest in the UK for impact in the Research Excellence Framework 2021. CSD academics undertake socially engaged, methodologically diverse and often interdisciplinary research that aims to address a range of critical political challenges in relation to democracy worldwide.

www.westminster.ac.uk/csd

For enquiries contact: PoliticsIRPhDEnquiries@westminster.ac.uk

The Westminster Centre for Psychological Sciences conducts inclusive, practice-informed research with global impact across different sectors of society. Our research falls into five themes and we welcome applications in the following areas: health, stress and wellbeing; learning and development; brain, cognition and perception; identity, self and society; forensic and investigative psychology.

Westminster Centre for Psychological Sciences

For enquiries contact: Dr Kyoko Murakami (k.murakami@westminster.ac.uk)

Available programmes:

• MPhil/ PhD Criminology
• MPhil/ PhD Politics and International Relations
• MPhil/ PhD Psychology
• MPhil/ PhD Sociology

* Minimum full-time enrolment before submission is 33 months. Fee waivers are in place for the three-year studentship. Following that there is a six month no fee period for writing up.  Should a doctoral research student not have submitted by the end of the no fee period then a £1,500 fee is applicable.