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.
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
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.
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).
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.
FUNDING OPTIONS
From fully funded opportunities to scholarships, awards and loans- there are lots of resources to help you fund your research.
- Search our PhD research projects for a range of fully funded opportunities
- Find a subject that interests you in one of our 15 flagship Doctoral Training Programmes
- Check our Funding and Scholarships Finder tool to see awards you may be eligible for
- Avail of a Postgraduate Doctoral loan of up to £27,265 to cover your fees and living costs
There are also several funding bodies and external funding options
"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
"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
