PhD Research Topics

The most difficult element of arranging a PhD studentship is that of deciding on the topic for research, and finding an appropriate supervisor. It is therefore crucial that before applying, you should investigate the research activities of the department, and whether any of the current staff have research interests that are related to your proposed topic.

The three research groups each have dedicated web pages, outlining the broad areas of interest, current projects, and a list of staff active within the group:

It is worth making informal contact with appropriate members of staff, mentioning that you are interested in finding a potential supervisor. Note that you should explain your particular areas of interest, briefly but clearly. A long and rambling or excessively vague initial contact is unlikely to impress a potential supervisor. Similarly a scattergun approach of contacting all the members of a research group (let alone all research staff in the department) will not help your application.

PhD Application

Having identified a potential supervisor and research topic, you should include this information as part of your formal application. Please list two or three relevant keywords, the proposed supervisor and research group, and a brief outline of your intended topic for research. You may wish to include a fuller description of your proposed research to accompany your application, but this is not strictly necessary.

Note that applications without any information on your proposed area of research will not be processed.

The Postgraduate Research application form is available for download, or can be requested from the departmental Postgraduate Secretary, Miss Helen Bradley H.Bradley@csc.liv.ac.uk. This form should be returned, together with any accompanying documentation, to:

The University of Liverpool,
UK Student Recruitment Office (UKSRO),
Postgraduate Recruitment Team,
Student Services Centre,
150 Mount Pleasant,
Liverpool, L69 3GD,
U.K.

Tel. 0151 794 5931/4199, Fax 0151 794 2060
pgrecruitment@liv.ac.uk

Note that successful PhD applicants from outside the UK or EU/EEA will also require a Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate before coming to Liverpool.