Research Degrees

Why the ICWS?

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies offers a unique scholarly environment in which to pursue doctoral research. Doctoral candidates are able to draw on the wide-ranging expertise of staff in a supportive, friendly environment. The Institute is located in Bloomsbury, the heart of intellectual London; students at the Institute have access to the world-class Senate House libraries as well as to the libraries of all the colleges of the University of London.

The School of Advanced Study draws on its expertise in research and teaching to provide programmes of varied and challenging research and skills training. These programmes help support our students and graduate researchers in their wider preparation for careers, in academia or elsewhere.

Topics

Topic	Supervisor
Protection of refugees and other displaced persons	Dr David James Cantor
Human Rights and refugee law	Dr David James Cantor
Refugee law and policy; immigration law; forced displacement	Dr Sarah Singer
Terrorism, anti-terrorist measures and foreign nationals	Dr Sarah Singer
Human rights law	Dr Sarah Singer
Minority rights protection; ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, especially Afro-descendants in Latin America; Dalits and caste-based discrimination; Roma in Europe	Dr Corinne Lennox *Please note, Dr Lennox is currently not accepting new PhD applications.*
Indigenous peoples' rights	Dr Corinne Lennox; Dr Damien Short *Please note, Dr Lennox and Dr Short are currently not accepting new PhD applications.*
Human rights and development; human rights-based approaches to development; UN human rights mechanisms	Dr Corinne Lennox *Please note, Dr Lennox is currently not accepting new PhD applications.*
Transnational social mobilisation and norm entrepreneurship	Dr Corinne Lennox *Please note, Dr Lennox is currently not accepting new PhD applications.*
Sociological and anthropological approaches to human rights	Dr Damien Short *Please note, Dr Short is currently not accepting new PhD applications.*
Reconciliation initiatives	Dr Damien Short *Please note, Dr Short is currently not accepting new PhD applications.*
Genocide Studies	Dr Damien Short *Please note, Dr Short is currently not accepting new PhD applications.*
Ecocide; Human Rights aspects and implications of environmental destruction and degradation	Dr Damien Short *Please note, Dr Short is currently not accepting new PhD applications.*

Supervisors

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies has been supervising interdisciplinary doctoral degrees for over half a century. The focus of research degrees has increasingly been on the humanities and cognate social sciences, particularly on the subjects of human rights, globalization and development, politics, and Commonwealth history. Students pursue their academic interests in the friendly and supportive environment of the Institute; their research is enhanced by the outstanding libraries of the University of London, including the Institute’s own prestigious collection.

Both residential and distance-learning research degrees are offered.

Funding opportunities are noted at the bottom of the page.