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.

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.

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Find out about what progress might look like at each stage of study here: Research degree progress structure.

Research support

Excellent research support and training

The Graduate School provides a range of personal, professional and career development opportunities. This includes workshops, online training, coaching and events, to enable you to enhance your professional profile, refine your skills, and plan your next career steps as part of the Researcher Development Programme. The researcher development programme (RDP) offers workshops and seminars in a range of areas including progression, research management, research dissemination, and careers and personal development. You will also be offered a number of online, self-study courses on BBL, including Research Integrity, Research Skills Toolkit, Research Methods in Literature Review and Principles of Research Methods.

Library services

Brunel's Library is open 24 hours a day, has 400,000 books and 250,000 ebooks, and an annual budget of almost £2m. Subject information Specialists train students in the latest technology, digital literacy, and digital dissemination of scholarly outputs. As well as the physical resources available in the Library, we also provide access to a wealth of electronic resources. These include databases, journals and e-books. Access to these resources has been bought by the Library through subscription and is limited to current staff and students.

Dedicated research support staff provide guidance and training on open access, research data management, copyright and other research integrity issues.

Find out more: Brunel Library

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.

You will receive tailored careers support during your PhD and for up to three years after you complete your research at Brunel. We encourage you to actively engage in career planning and managing your personal development right from the start of your research, even (or perhaps especially) if you don't yet have a career path in mind. Our careers provision includes online information and advice, one-to-one consultations and a range of events and workshops. The Professional Development Centre runs a varied programme of careers events throughout the academic year. These include industry insight sessions, recruitment fairs, employer pop-ups and skills workshops.

In addition, where available, you may be able to undertake some paid work as we recognise that teaching and learning support duties represent an important professional and career development opportunity.

Find out more.

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.