Criminology PhD

The Division of Criminology and Criminal Justice is made up of an exciting, diverse and intellectually curious community of researchers. Together, we are the forefront of criminological study in a range of spaces including: mental health and crime; street cultures; online sexual commerce and deviance; young people and crime; gender; race and ethnicity; immigration; the criminalisation of marginalised communities; legal decision-making and the criminal justice system; ‘high-risk offenders’, gambling, and immigration.

Collectively, we have a range of theoretical and methodological expertise to help you on your doctoral journey. We have experience and expertise in a number of research methods, including mixed methods, policy analysis, ethnography, narrative/life history methods, and media analysis. Across the department we have good experience of undertaking research in a range of spaces, including policing, the legal system, imprisonment, forensic mental health services, probation and more. We also have good experience of working with different funders and research councils including the Ministry of Justice, Department of Health, and Howard League for Penal Reform. We have close links with the policing programme at Brunel University and benefit from being part of the Department of Social and Political Sciences, which comprises of experts from politics, sociology, anthropology and history. Across the university, we have links with many other disciplines including law and psychology.

By joining our innovative, supportive and critical research community you can hope to do the following:

• Join an expert interdisciplinary community that publishes innovative and world-leading research addressing contemporary criminological concerns and emerging social and cultural challenges.
• Be part of a thriving research culture where researchers have received regular grants from the Ministry of Justice, the NHS, and third sector criminal justice charities, including the Howard League for Penal Reform.
• Benefit from excellent multi-disciplinary supervisory teams to support your postgraduate study.
• Enjoy being part of a collegial and active research environment.

Find out about the exciting research we do in this area. Browse profiles of our experts, discover the research groups and their inspirational research activities you too could be part of. We’ve also made available extensive reading materials published by our academics and PhD students.  

Learn more about research in this area.

Our researchers create knowledge and advance understanding, and equip versatile doctoral researchers with the confidence to apply what they have learnt for the benefit of society. Find out more about working with the Supervisory Team.

You are welcome to approach your potential supervisor directly to discuss your research interests. Search for expert supervisors for your chosen field of research.

While we welcome a wide range of topics in the areas of Criminology, here is an list of some potential research areas where we have specific expertise:

•      Health, crime and inequalities
•      Race, ethnicity and crime
•      Sex and crime
•      Mediated forms of sex work
•      Religion and crime
•      Street violence and street cultures
•      Illicit drug economies
•      Legal decision making
•      Policing
•      Imprisonment
•      Probation
•      CJS staffing, organisation, and occupational cultures
•      Desistance
•      Mental health and the criminal justice system
•      Gambling and crime
•      Violent and sexual offenders
•      The criminalisation of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
•      Immigration
•      Narrative criminology
•      Ethnography and visual criminology
•      Psychosocial criminology

While these are some of the areas we have explicit expertise in, we are committed and interested in expanding our own understanding by supporting your areas of interest and development. We are confident in our ability to support emerging scholars in a range of criminological topics, and committed to supporting the development of new, critical and exciting areas of scholarship within our discipline.

While we welcome applications from student with a clear direction for their research, we can also provide you with some ideas. Search for PhD topics for your chosen field of research.

A PhD involves demonstrating through original research or other advanced scholarship the creation and interpretation of new knowledge, a systematic acquisition and understanding of a substantial body of knowledge at the forefront of an academic discipline or professional practice, the ability to conceptualise, design and implement a project for the general of new knowledge, applications or understanding at the forefront of the discipline.

This course can be studied 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time, starting in January. Or this course can be studied 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time, starting in October. Or this course can be studied 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time, starting in April.

Potential funding sources

TECHNE2 awards supporting outstanding innovative, interdisciplinary research with an emphasis on creativity and practice. The programme is delivered through a partnership between Royal Holloway, University of London, Brunel University London, Kingston University, Loughborough University, University of Brighton, University of Roehampton, University of the Arts London, University of Surrey and University of Westminster.

The Grand Union: Excellence and Innovation in Social Science Research Training is an ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership uniting Brunel University London, The Open University and the University of Oxford.

Students with a particular interest in media are also able to undertake a National Qualification in Journalism (NQJ) at no extra cost alongside their doctoral studies.

The general University entrance requirement for registration for a research degree is normally a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree (1st or 2:1). 

An interview will be required as part of the admissions process and will be conducted by at least two academic staff members remotely via MS Teams, Zoom, or face to face.

Applicants will be required to submit a personal statement and a research statement.
Please contact your proposed supervisor, where possible, to receive feedback and guidance on your research statement before submitting it. Learn how to prepare a research statement here.   

• IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas)
• Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
• BrunELT: 63% (min 58% in all areas)
• TOEFL: 90 (min 20 in all)