Edinburgh Law School is renowned for its research excellence. We strive to produce work that has real-world reach and influence. Our postgraduate research body is key to the School's research activities and we work hard to ensure that our research students are fully engaged with staff and projects across all our legal disciplines. The degree of PhD can be undertaken in any of the core areas of research activity covered by Edinburgh Law School. PhDs are awarded to an original piece of work that makes a significant contribution to knowledge in the field of study and contains material worthy of publication. The PhD programme offers structured legal research courses in the first year of study, alongside more specific training as needed, depending on your project requirements. The focus of the second year is on supporting the external dissemination of work. In third year all students participate in our Graduate Student Seminar Series. Candidates for the doctoral research degree submit a thesis, which is examined orally by an external examiner, who is an expert in the subject, and also by an internal examiner.