This is an archived page and for reference purposes only. We are not accepting applications for this course for the 2023/24 academic year.
Please see our postgraduate course list for the upcoming academic year.
The University of Kent's Brussels School of International Studies' interdisciplinary approach, cosmopolitan environment, firm theoretical grounding make it an ideal place to pursue a PhD by research and thesis.
A PhD (or doctorate), is awarded for a substantial piece of supervised research that is worthy of publication and makes an original contribution to knowledge in a particular field. Research students benefit from having a supervisory committee, including a main supervisor, to guide and support their research.
The PhD at BSIS is an independent project guided by your main supervisor who will have experience related to your chosen field of research. You will have regular meetings with your supervisor (at least monthly) for informal discussions as well as formal feedback on your work. The supervisor's role is to oversee your progress, give you advice as well as share any special areas of expertise.
Your progress is closely monitored by the supervisory committee to ensure you remain on track to produce a thesis of value to the academic community. You will be reviewed at regular interviews and this includes induction, probation, annual and submission review.
At BSIS, we hold weekly research seminars for all our PhD students and staff to attend. This is an opportunity to showcase your research and to exchange, debate and share ideas with fellow students and faculty staff. Each term, every student is required to present a piece of work which might be a research outline, results of a bibliographic search or a field trip report.
The research community at BSIS is a diverse, friendly and growing group who benefit from the interdisciplinary nature of the School and each student contributes significantly to this community as well as providing mentor and support to our taught master's student body.
Research areas
At BSIS, we can supervise in the main areas of law:
- International Humanitarian Law
- International Human Rights Law
- International Criminal Law
- European Human Rights Law (especially European Convention on Human Rights)
- Theories of Public International Law
Our main two supervisors are Professor Yutaka Arai and Professor Harm Schepel.
Professor Schepel is interested in the legal institutionalization of capitalism on different levels of governance. His work draws on institutional economics, political economy, economic and legal sociology and social and legal theory. The general area includes fields such as international trade and investment law, law and development, corporate governance, the law of the European internal market, comparative and European competition law, and the regulation of private governance regimes.