Research profile
The Sociology and Communications group is a dynamic, international and globally respected community of researchers. Members are at the forefront of study into subjects as diverse as globalisation and social transformation, political communication, communication and social change; gender and sexuality, the body, human-animal studies, the senses and embodiment, race and ethnicity, the environment, urban space and cities, digital cultures, public communication, young people, rights and the global south; popular culture, comedy/humour studies, experimental multi-media, and sports studies.
- Join an expert interdisciplinary community that publishes innovative and world-leading research addressing contemporary concerns and emerging social and cultural challenges.
- Be part of a thriving research culture where researchers have received regular grants from the AHRC, ESRC and British Academy.
- Benefit from our excellent multi-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 Sociology and Communications and Media Studies.
While we welcome a wide range of topics in the areas of Sociology & Communications, here is an example list of potential research topics that we would like to supervise:
- Digital antagonism, exclusions and discrimination
- Environmental Communication
- Popular communications and Social change
- Public sphere, deliberative democracy and free speech
- Public space and protest movements
- Surveillance and algorithmic profiling
- Creative industries, inequality and diversity
- Comedy, Identity and Society
- Intersectional Veganisms
- Transgenderism and ‘Transracialism’
- Reality Television and Ethnic Minority Girls
- Cities, urban change and place
- Sensory Sociology
- Culture, Space, Time and Cities
- Political economy of communication/media
- The digital revolution and social change
- The rise of the far-right and neo-fascism
- Radical social movements, the precariat and digital labour
- Democratisation and the clash of civilisations
- World-systems analysis
- Anarchist social thought
- Emergent Digital Media Technologies
- Film & Media History
- Globalisation and youth activism
- Children and international development
- Globalisation of education
- Science and society
- Urban Space and Experience
Browse the work of subject-relevant research groups
Find a supervisor
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.
List of potential supervisors by theme
- Bodies, Space & Culture - Dr Monica Degen; Dr Sara De Benedictus; Dr Meredith Jones; Dr Sharon Lockyer
- Comedy Cultures - Dr Sharon Lockyer; Dr Simon Weaver, Hauke Riesch
- Environmental Communication - Dr Lesley Henderson; Dr Hauke Riesch; Dr Peter Wilkin; Dr Jingrong Tong
- Communications and Social change - Dr Lesley Henderson; Dr Sanjay Sharma; Dr Jingrong Tong
- Digital Cultures, Networks and Social Media - Dr John Roberts; Dr Sanjay Sharma; Dr Peter Wilkin; Dr Meredith Jones; Dr Monica Degen; Dr Jingrong Tong
- Race, Racism and Representation - Professor Sarita Malik, Dr Sanjay Sharma; Dr Simon Weaver; Dr Meredith Jones; Dr Paul Moody
- Approaches to political economy - Dr Peter Wilkin, Dr John Roberts, Dr Paul Moody
- The far-right, neo-fascism and the clash of civilizations - Dr Peter Wilkin, Dr Thomas Linehan (Politics)
- Radical social movements and the precariat - Dr Peter Wilkin, Dr Sara de Benedictis, Dr John Roberts, Prof Nicola Ansell
- The City, Public Sphere and Public Space - Dr John Roberts; Dr Monica Degen; Dr Peter Wilkin; Prof Nicola Ansell; Dr Gary Armstrong
- World-systems analysis - Dr Peter Wilkin, Dr John Roberts
- Anarchist social thought - Dr Peter Wilkin, Dr Rohn Roberts
- Emergent Digital Media Technologies - Dr Paul Moody; Dr Christian Stiegler (Journalism)
- Film & Media History - Dr Paul Moody; Dr Leon Hunt (Film & TV)
PhD topics
While we welcome applications from students with a clear direction for their research, we are providing you with some ideas for your chosen field of research:
Research journey
This course can be studied undefined undefined, starting in undefined.
Find out about what progress might look like at each stage of study here: Research degree progress structure.
Research support
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
Careers and your future
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.
UK entry requirements
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.
EU and International entry requirements
English language requirements
- 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)
You can find out more about the qualifications we accept on our English Language Requirements page.
Should you wish to take a pre-sessional English course to improve your English prior to starting your degree course, you must sit the test at an approved SELT provider for the same reason. We offer our own BrunELT English test and have pre-sessional English language courses for students who do not meet requirements or who wish to improve their English. You can find out more information on English courses and test options through our Brunel Language Centre.
Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants. This information is for guidance only and each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Entry requirements are subject to review, and may change.
Fees and funding
2024/5 entry
International
£21,260 full-time
£10,630 part-time
UK
£4,786 full-time
£2,393 part-time
Fees quoted are per year and are subject to an annual increase.
Some courses incur additional course related costs. You can also check our on-campus accommodation costs for more information on living expenses.
Brunel offers a number of funding options to research students that help cover the cost of their tuition fees, contribute to living expenses or both. Recently the UK Government made available the Doctoral Student Loans of up to £25,000 for UK and EU students and there is some funding available through the Research Councils. Many of our international students benefit from funding provided by their governments or employers. Brunel alumni enjoy tuition fee discounts of 15%.
