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The Doctoral College works with our academic Schools to meet the personal and professional needs of our many doctoral researchers.

Studying for a PhD at City, University of London

Choose City for your research degree and you will be in good company. We have been involved in pioneering research for more than 100 years and continue to develop new areas of national and international importance.

Over 30 per cent of our students are studying at postgraduate level, creating a community of around 3,000 postgraduates that includes over 500 doctoral researchers.

You will become part of a university community that is passionate about developing world-leading research, committed to academic excellence, focused on business and the professions, and dedicated to providing extensive support for doctoral researchers.

We offer a variety of research programmes across our five Schools and a research training environment that empowers you to develop your skills and knowledge as well as preparing you to develop your career after your PhD.

Our programmes encourage creativity, critical reflection, conceptual development, professional competence, judgement and confidence.

Discover more about our pioneering research and read about our research areas.

Study with us

Why choose City?

Opportunities for collaborative research

Much of our research is supported by industry and there are excellent opportunities for collaborative work. Many of our doctoral researchers are supported by grants from industry or the Research Councils.

Information about our industrial networks and partnerships.

An international outlook

City has a highly international outlook, with over 30 per cent of our students coming from outside the UK, drawn from more than 160 countries.

Our research programmes are supported by European, US, Chinese and Japanese industrial partners, and City staff collaborate on research projects with academics from universities around the world.

Central London location

City's location in central London puts you at the heart of business, finance, the creative industries, law and government.

The institution is minutes away from the Square Mile - London's world-famous financial district - where you will find the headquarters of financial and professional institutions, major arts complexes and media offices, teaching hospitals and specialist medical research centres.

Many things are close by, from world-renowned experts to specialist libraries and institutes.

Our Research Excellence

The Research Excellence Framework is an exercise to assess research quality at all UK higher education research institutions.

Data published by HEFCE during the last iteration in 2014 showed that 75.7 per cent of City's submission to the REF was rated as being world-leading (23.3 per cent = 4*) or internationally excellent (52.4 per cent = 3*).

A supportive environment

We encourage a culture of discovery and enterprise and provide a range of ways to support you as a research student and ensure that your time at City is positive and inspiring.

  • We provide a comprehensive suite of training opportunities for research students, including induction days, Researchers' Development Days, seminars, and opportunities to present your research and develop your research skills.
  • We are members of the Bloomsbury Postgraduate Skills Network which gives you access to a range of training and development opportunities provided by our network partners.
  • We provide an extensive range of online training opportunities via our dedicated LinkedIn Learning environment.
  • Our Research and Enterprise team can help you take advantage of opportunities for knowledge and technology transfer arising from your research and develop broader enterprise skills.
  • Our Accommodation Service will help you find somewhere to live. We have special accommodation for postgraduate students.

Find out more about our services for Students.

These include Career and Skills Development, Library and IT services, the City Health Service, Saddler's Sports Centre and help for people with disabilities.

How to Apply

Before submitting a formal application to undertake a research degree at City, University of London, you are advised to explore the research interests of our academic colleagues to ensure that we can support your proposed research.

This will enable you to identify potential supervisors. You can expect to have some informal discussion about your research proposal, in particular with the member of academic staff who may be best placed to offer you supervision.

If these discussions are concluded to everybody’s satisfaction, you are then invited to submit a formal application.

Specific information about the research degree application process, entry requirements and contact details can be found on the programme’s webpage and can also be found in the research degrees sections of the relevant School and Department webpages: