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Researchers
Change Lives

Explore PhD study at Queen's

Want to make an impact on the world?

You could change lives with Postgraduate Research.

You don't have to be a genius to make a positive difference. There are PhD options for everyone, and it's a great way to contribute to solving a real-world challenge while exploring your passion and progressing in your field.

Get a step up in your career by working with our leading academics, in an environment where ideas and innovation flourish, and where students and researchers develop their talents and fulfil their ambitions. PhD students often progress in academia or enter industry at a high level, where their depth of expertise is highly valued

We have 79 different subjects on offer for Postgraduate Research and our Graduate School has state-of-the-art facilities and activities to support you. From Arts Management to Climate Change, there's an opportunity– and a supervisor - for everyone. 

Catch up on our PhD event from 18 November

Hear from our academics as well as current and past research students about what PhD study is really like.

Watch now

Student Experience: Supporting refugees through education research 

Morgan Mattingly, PhD, Education

Morgan is a PhD researcher at Queen’s in the field of Education. She studies the education gaps that refugees face along their migratory journey and examines how technology could help them.

Student Experience: Engineering materials to help coronary heart disease

Jude Cameron, PhD, Mechanical Engineering

Jude is from Larne, and is a PhD researcher at Queen’s in the field of Mechanical Engineering. She says "the equipment is amazing, the staff are amazing, and the people really help you get the most out of yourself and your research."

Useful links

Find a PhD Supervisor

Research Opportunities

Research Areas by Subject

Guide to Writing a Research Proposal

If you have an idea that doesn’t currently fit in to any of our currently advertised opportunities, we’d love you to submit your own proposals.

WHY CHOOSE QUEEN'S

Ranked 13th in the UK for research intensity

(Complete University Guide 2025)

OUR RESEARCH IMPACT

Top 200 most impactful university globally in tackling the UN Sustainable Development Goals

(Source: THE Impact Rankings 2024)
FUNDING YOUR STUDY

Get a Postgraduate Doctoral loan of up to £27,265 to cover your fees and living costs or you could take advantage of one of our many funded opportunities.

No. 1 GRADUATE SCHOOL

Ranked 1st out of 8 UK universities for our Graduate School

(Source: International Student Barometer, 2020/21)
MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Help solve real-world challenges and make an impact, supported by academics who are world-leaders in their respective fields.

REQUEST MORE INFORMATION AND ADVICE ON APPLYING:

All data is held and processed by the University in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and will be not be disclosed to any third parties. Personal data is never sold to a third party. For more information about how your personal data is stored and used, please visit our Legal page or see our Student Privacy Statement.

Male student with supervisor

A WORLD-RENOWNED UNIVERSITY

Queen's is a member of the Russell Group - the UK’s 24 leading research-intensive universities. Our academics are world-leading and their expertise is shared with the PhD students they supervise and guide.

A postgraduate research degree from Queen’s is a mark of distinction, signalling that you have studied at the pinnacle of your chosen field. What you learn here, you will carry with you throughout your career. 

Northern Ireland also has the lowest student living costs in the UK, making Postgraduate Research at Queen's more affordable than at most other UK universities (Save the Student National Student Money Survey 2023). 

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UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PERSONALISED, PROFESSIONAL GROWTH

At Queen's there is a thriving PhD research culture, with a community of students at all stages and disciplines, supporting and challenging each other through their respective research journeys. 

The Postgraduate Development Programme aims to support Research Students, through a suite of training courses, 1-2-1 support and skills development opportunities, in developing a range of professional skills to successfully complete their research and increase their employability. 

Our Researcher Plus award offers another opportunity to gain official recognition for the range of skills and research achieved in addition to your study. The Graduate School also hosts connection opportunities through research workshops and showcases.

Discover The Graduate School

Student looking upwards outside Lanyon

FUNDING OPTIONS

From fully funded opportunities to scholarships, awards and loans- there are lots of resources to help you fund your research.

There are also several funding bodies and external funding options

See all funding options

Margaret Topping
"Given the global market place that we now operate in, we need to train you not just as a subject specialists but as people who are highly skilled...I think one of the key unique selling points of the postgraduate experience at Queen's- is that we have that whole person approach to the PhD experience, it's research excellence on the one hand and then preparing you for whatever market you end up going in to as you look for jobs."

Professor Margaret Topping

Hear from our academics

Morgan Mattingly
"I think that Queen's is really special in that it has so many amazing professors who study such a wide variety of subject areas - the people here at Queen's are the best resource you can have"..

Morgan Mattingly, PhD in Education

Hear from more PhD Students