MPhil/PhD Studentships in the School of Social Science

The School of Social Sciences at the University of Westminster is pleased to offer three Studentships for prospective PhD researchers starting in September 2025. Located in the heart of London, the School of Social Sciences has an active research culture to which our well-established doctoral research programme makes a vital contribution. The School is home to the Centre for Psychological Sciences, Centre for the Study of Democracy, and the Centre for Social Justice Research, all of which have a vibrant community of PhD researchers. Research in the School across these fields has an international reputation for excellence, as was confirmed by the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.

The successful candidates will have exceptional research potential in one or more Social Science disciplines: Criminology, International Relations, Politics, Psychology or Sociology. We welcome and encourage creative and multi-disciplinarity approaches. We are particularly keen to see applications from students from under-represented backgrounds.

The studentships will consist of:

A fee waiver and an annual stipend of £21,237 (24/25 rate, raising each year in line with UKRI increases) for three years.* This includes London weighting.

Please note that while overseas fee-paying students may apply, the fee waived would be at the home/EU rate and successful applicants will need to pay the difference in the tuition fee if assessed as overseas.

We are looking for high-quality prospective doctoral students who will contribute to at least one of the key areas of research within the School listed below. We strongly recommend you discuss your proposal with potential supervisor/s before submitting, as applications will require their support to be shortlisted. See the research centre websites for details of our areas of research and supervision.

Westminster Centre for Psychological Sciences

• Stress, health and wellbeing (includes the Psychophysiology and Stress Research Group (PSRG) Learning and development

• Brain, cognition and perception

• Identity, self and society

• Forensic and investigative psychology

www.westminster.ac.uk/research/groups-and-centres/westminster-centre-for-psychological sciences

Further details of advertised projects can be found here

Centre for the Study of Democracy

• Contemporary democratic theory and practice

• Critical international relations theory and practice

• Energy security, energy transitions, political economy of resources

• Governance, public policy, neoliberalism, complexity, anthropocene

• Politics of identity, gender, misogyny, race, sexuality, technology

• Postcolonial politics, nationalism, small states, Asian geopolitics

• States, security, development, rights, diplomacy, violence

www.westminster.ac.uk/csd CSJR

• education, critical pedagogies, prisoner education

• family studies, young people, juvenile justice

• gender studies, queer theory, sexuality, embodiment

• leisure studies, public space, gentrification

• media activism, social movements

• migration and border regimes, terrorism studies, trafficking, organised crime

• prisons, probation, criminal justice, convict criminology

• race and racism, policing, religion, social class

• sex education and sexual harm

www.westminster.ac.uk/csjr

The studentships will include a comprehensive personal and professional development training and mentoring programme provided through the University of Westminster Graduate School. The researchers will join a School that is strongly committed to decolonising and diversifying policies, practices and cultures within, and beyond, Higher Education. The School is fully committed to enabling a supportive and safe learning and working environment which is equitable, diverse and inclusive, based on mutual respect and trust.

Entry requirements and how to apply

Candidates should normally have a minimum classification of 2.1 in their Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent and preferably a Master's degree. Applicants whose secondary level education has not been conducted in the medium of English should also demonstrate evidence of appropriate English language proficiency normally defined as IELTS: 6.5 (overall score with not less than 6.0 in any of the individual elements).

You can read more about what should be in a PhD research proposal here:

https://www.westminster.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/entry-requirements/how to-write-your-research-proposal

You can read more about our entry requirements here:

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

To make an application, follow the link below to apply for the programme most appropriate to your research.

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

Interviews will take place through online video communication.

It is essential you include the title of the studentship in your application header i.e. “SSS Studentship”.

For queries about any aspect of the application process, or informal enquiries about areas of research, please contact the relevant research centre:

Centre for Psychological Sciences: PsyPhDEnquiries@westminster.ac.uk

Centre for the Study of Democracy: PoliticsIRPhDenquiries@westminster.ac.uk

Centre for Social Justice Research: SocCrimPhDenquiries@westminster.ac.uk

* Minimum full-time enrolment before submission is 33 months. Fee waivers and maintenance 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.

Link for submitting applications:

University of Westminster: Application Portal

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