Research Interests
Open to PhD applications in:
- Public international law
- International human rights law
- International legal theory
- History of international human rights law
- United Nations structures
Public outreach & key achievements
My work has been published widely and has received of a number of awards. I am the author of a monograph entitled Human Rights and Radical Social Transformation: Futurity, Alterity, Power (Routledge, 2017) which was shortlisted for the 2018 Hart-SLSA Early Career Prize. I am also the editor of the landmark edited collection The Times and Temporalities of International Human Rights Law (Hart, 2022, with Dr Ben Warwick).
In 2019-20, I was awarded a Leverhulme Research Fellowship to investigate issues of time and materiality in international human rights law monitoring mechanisms. In 2018, I was awarded the QUB Vice-Chancellor's Early Career Research Prize. This prize recognises a scholar whose research demonstrates outstanding significance and excellence in the first five years of their career.
I am an Editorial Board Member of leading international journal Human Rights Law Review. I am a member of the Royal Irish Academy's Ethical, Political, Legal and Philosophical Studies Committee and a member of the Peer Review Colleges for the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Research students
| PhD area | A Constructive Interpretation of the Sentencing of Hate Crimes in Northern Ireland in the Period 2020 to the Present Day |
|---|---|
| Name | John Thomas |
| PhD area | International human rights Law and the creation of legal obligations |
| Name | David Browne |
| PhD area | Accessing justice: How women experience the legal system when seeking redress for domestic abuse in Northern Ireland |
| Name | Aoife Clements |
Alumni: Where are they now
| PhD area | Addressing misogyny: The law, hate crime and new feminist approaches |
|---|---|
| Name | Dr Meghan Hoyt |
| Years of study | PhD awarded 2024 |
| Current Position | Women's Sector Lobbyist Policy Assistant, WRDA |
| Quotation | "Professor McNeilly provided wonderful supervision and guidance throughout the PhD process. I received thoughtful, meticulous feedback on my work, as well as support in terms of academic opportunities and career progression. I have undoubtedly benefited from Professor McNeilly's expertise and scholarship and remain deeply appreciative of her kindness, encouragement and flexibility throughout the PhD process. " |
| PhD area | Transgender activism in conflict and transition |
| Name | Dr Philip Rivers |
| Years of study | PhD awarded 2023 |
| PhD area | Beware the benefit scroungers! The coalition's welfare reform policies in the UK as a social control mechanism applied to disabled people |
| Name | Dr Ivanka Antova |
| Years of study | PhD awarded 2018 |
| PhD area | The human rights challenge to immunity in international law |
| Name | Dr Selman Ozdan |
| Years of study | PhD awarded 2016 |
Discover More
- Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
- School of Law
- QUB Gender Network
- The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice
- Human Rights Centre
Get ahead: tips on how to prepare your application to study for a PhD at QUB Law
Read our guidance on the steps in our PhD applications process and how to present your research proposal.
Interested in a postdoctoral fellowship at QUB Law?
If you have already completed a PhD or are about to do so, and you are looking for a mentor for a postdoctoral fellowship in one of my areas of expertise, please get in touch via email. The School of Law has a strong track record in supporting able candidates who are working towards fellowship applications to funders such as the British Academy, EU Marie Sklodowska-Curie scheme, ESRC NINE and the Leverhulme Trust.