The Department of Education at the University of Sussex is home to a large and diverse group of doctoral researchers. PhD researchers, like their supervisors, have research interests that span a wide range of contexts internationally and they also draw on a variety of methodological approaches.

There are two routes of entry to the PhD:

• The +3 route for applicants who meet our entry requirements and have sufficient relevant prior research experience. Most PhD candidates start in September although entry is also possible at the beginning of the spring term (January).
• The 1+3 route for applicants who do not meet our direct entry criteria or who would benefit from additional research training. This is delivered through the Social Research Methods MSc and progression to the PhD is conditional on successful completion of this. Candidates offered a place on the 1+3 PhD start in September.

The Department of Education offers the following PhD courses:

• Education PhD
• International Education and Development PhD
• Childhood and Youth PhD (in collaboration with the Department of Social Work & Social Care)

Prior research experience

If you are applying for the +3 route and have previous, relevant research experience that you would like us to be aware of, please provide an overview of this in an additional document headed 'Prior research experience'. This should include brief details of research methods courses that you have taken and  research studies you have been involved with, including the methods involved.

Step One:
Checking the fit between your research interests and those of potential supervisors

We are keen to receive PhD applications in the areas in which we have specialist expertise and renown. You can check how your research interests and  approach relate to those of our own below:

Centre for International Education

Name	Substantive research interests	Methodological interests and expertise	Examples of doctoral studies supervised
Professor Barbara Crossouard	Gender and sexuality; education and development; gender and development; social inequalities in schooling and higher education; education and  citizenship; work and education	Qualitative research, informed by decolonial, postcolonial and poststructural feminisms	- Rethinking Sexuality Education: Voices of rural Zambian youth - Youth Citizenship Identities in Urban Tanzania - The Production of Distinction: Social class and gender in an international school in provincial India
Dr Marcos Delprato	Inequalities in education and development with a quantitative focus; regions: Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa; early marriage and gender; wealth and school violence impacts on learning; Indigenous discrimination in education systems; private-public school learning gaps, efficiency analysis of secondary education systems: spatial education inequalities; monitoring SDG4; climate change and extractivism.	Quantitative analysis; economics of education.	- Incidence of Globalizing Processes in Initial Teacher Education in Colombia. - Developing a Transformative Vision of Global Education? Unpacking quality and learning in the policy formation and content of Sustainable Development Goal 4
Professor Máiréad Dunne	Sociology of education, global social and educational inequalities, identities, diversity and difference (gender, sexuality, religion, ethnicity, SES), education and work, research and knowledge production (decolonisation, feminism, poststructuralism)	Qualitative methodologies informed by poststructuralism, post-coloniality, decoloniality and feminism, textual analysis, participatory research, visual methodologies	- Social class and schooling in neoliberal times: A Bourdiusean analysis - Of bellies and books: Pregnancy in Mozambique school girls - Troubling sexualities: Young people in the context of HIV/AIDS in South Africa
Dr Louise Gazeley	The relationship between social (dis)advantage and educational exclusion and inclusion; diversity and equality as issues for teachers' professional development; parental involvement in education	Predominantly qualitative. Also critical theory and accessing the perspective of educationally and socially marginalised groups	- Early Years professionals' understandings of poverty in the UK - Case study of the formation of boys' learner identities in a UK secondary school located in an area of social disadvantage - A case study of parental involvement in basic education in Ghana
Professor Linda Morrice	Migration and development; refugee education; informal learning; integration; social identities; citizenship; refugee resettlement and structures of exclusion.	Qualitative and participative methodologies, especially narrative, creative and life history	- The gendered impact of migrant integration policies in three regions of Belgium; Unaccompanied children and young people: Constructing belonging in community through learning
Professor Mario Novelli	Education and conflict; global governance of education; education and globalisation; foreign aid and education	Critical political economy approaches to education; critical discourse analysis; ethnographic approaches to research incl Michael Burawoy's 'extended case method'; rigorous and systematic reviews; participatory research approaches; community engagement	- A critical analysis of discourses of inclusion in education, and contributions to peacebuilding in South Sudan - Post-emergency educational response in Pakistan
Professor Jo Westbrook	Learning to read; reading and comprehension; wider reading of narrative texts; multilingualism; teacher education in the UK and developing countries; socially inclusive pedagogies	Case study; qualitative methods; action research; ethnographic and participatory approaches; mixed methods; systematic and rigorous literature reviews	- Teacher learning communities in the UK - Complementary education programmes and the opportunity to learn in the northern region of Ghana - The sustainability of village LEAP (Literacy Educational Awareness Project) community schools in rural Sindh, Pakistan

 

Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth

Name	Substantive research interests	Methodological expertise	Examples of doctoral studies supervised
Dr Liam Berriman	Digital technologies in children and young people’s lives; datafication in childhood; marketing, economics and consumption in relation to children and families; children’s everyday and material cultures; sociology of childhood; youth studies; children and young people’s media cultures; children’s agency and participation; video game studies	Qualitative and mixed method research approaches with children and young people; ethnographic methods; digital and creative methods; qualitative longitudinal research	- The relationship between video games, history and alterity - Exploring young people's socio-politics in everyday life
Professor Janet Boddy	Parents and families; parent and child health and wellbeing; parenting and family support; children in or at the edges of care; social pedagogy; cross-national research	Qualitative and mixed methods approaches, including creative methodologies and qualitative longitudinal methods; research ethics; cross-national research	- The experience of transition from special school to mainstream further education for young people with autistic spectrum conditions - Meanings of environment in children's everyday lives in India and the UK - Narratives of food poverty over time: an action research study of arts-based group work
Dr Louise Gazeley	The relationship between social (dis)advantage and educational exclusion and inclusion; diversity and equality as issues for teachers' professional development; parental involvement in education	Predominantly qualitative. Also critical theory and accessing the perspective of educationally and socially marginalised groups	- Early Years professionals' understandings of poverty in the UK - Case study of the formation of boys' learner identities in a UK secondary school located in an area of social disadvantage - A case study of parental involvement in basic education in Ghana
Dr Tamsin Hinton-Smith	Gender and higher education - staff and students; gender, education, employment and work-life balance; lone and teenage parents and educational participation; widening participation in higher education  - equity, diversity, student experience, progression and internationalisation	Qualitative methods incl online, longitudinal and timeline methodology; feminist methodology; ethics	- The intergenerational effect on educational and social outcomes for the children of single parents - Working mothers' experiences of changing the way they work - The daughters of working women: What they want from work and work-life balance
Professor Lisa Holmes	Children's social care; children in need and children in care; long-term outcomes and life trajectories; value for money of public sector services.	Mixed-methods research; secondary analysis of administrative datasets; unit costs; longitudinal analysis; research ethics and international comparative research.	- The Mediating Effects of Independence-self Regulation and Pro-social Behavioural Factors on the Relationship Between the Differences in the Trajectories for Foster and Non-foster Child and Youth’s Challenging Behaviours and School Adjustment - Therapeutic Relationships within Fostering Households - Understanding Interdependencies in Early Adulthoods: Learning from care experienced young people who participated in Lifelong Links
Dr Rebecca Webb	Children's/student's rights, voice & participation; meanings & purposes of education & schooling; gender identities & subjectivities; "uncertain pedagogies"; post-foundational theories & creative methodologies.	Qualitative with particular knowledge and interest in ethnographic approaches and creative and associated innovative methods, including arts practices.	- What is Nature To Children? A posthuman exploration of creative arts practices with children 3-9 years of age in an informal education context - A deliberative philosophical approach to opening spaces for young children (3-7) to engage with sustainability issues that matter to them - What is a Quality Interaction? A phenomenological exploration and engagement with Early Years Teachers

 

Centre for Teaching and Learning Research

Name	Substantive research interests	Methodological expertise	Examples of doctoral studies supervised
Dr Emily Danvers	Critical thinking and academic writing in higher education; university student identities and experiences; higher education learning, emotion and affect; student protest; widening participation and educational inequalities and inclusive higher education pedagogy	Qualitative, feminist poststructural and new-materialist feminist research methodologies	- Strange Encounters in UK Higher Education: Understanding the experiences of visa-required international students - Foundation Students and their expectations, experiences and outcomes as they transition to UK higher education - Feminist Becomings: What are the affective capabilities of girls transitioning from post-compulsory school to life beyond school?
Dr Louise Gazeley	The relationship between social (dis)advantage and educational exclusion and inclusion; diversity and equality as issues for teachers' professional development; parental involvement in education	Predominantly qualitative. Also critical theory and accessing the perspective of educationally and socially marginalised groups	- Early Years professionals' understandings of poverty in the UK - Case study of the formation of boys' learner identities in a UK secondary school located in an area of social disadvantage - A case study of parental involvement in basic education in Ghana
Dr Christina Hancock	Autism and severe learning difficulties; special educational needs; practitioner research; special schools; play; interventions	Mixed methods; grounded theory	- Parental support for learning in the home in the early school years - Mentoring for autistic young people
Dr Julia Sutherland	English and literacy education; classroom discourse and dialogism; reading comprehension; teacher education	Qualitative, participatory and mixed-method approaches, including case study, action research and ethnography	- Dialogic talk to enhance students’ reading comprehension - Informal collaborative learning in HE in Cameroon - Teacher development through research - Sociocultural approaches to developing creative writing at A Level
Professor Simon Thompson	Teachers' professional knowledge; Initial Teacher Education; history of education; history education; teachers' lives; mass observation and education	Life history research; narrative enquiry using critical incidents; living graphs; mass observation directives	- Distance education for teacher education in Ghana: Untrained teacher experiences
Dr Rebecca Webb	Children's/student's rights, voice & participation; meanings & purposes of education & schooling; gender identities & subjectivities; "uncertain pedagogies"; post-foundational theories & creative methodologies.	Qualitative with particular knowledge and interest in ethnographic approaches and creative and associated innovative methods, including arts practices.	- What is Nature To Children? A posthuman exploration of creative arts practices with children 3-9 years of age in an informal education context - A deliberative philosophical approach to opening spaces for young children (3-7) to engage with sustainability issues that matter to them - What is a Quality Interaction? A phenomenological exploration and engagement with Early Years Teachers
Professor Jo Westbrook	Learning to read; reading and comprehension; wider reading of narrative texts; multilingualism; teacher education in the UK and developing countries; socially inclusive pedagogies	Case study; qualitative methods; action research; ethnographic and participatory approaches; mixed methods; systematic and rigorous literature reviews	- Teacher learning communities in the UK - Complementary education programmes and the opportunity to learn in the northern region of Ghana - The sustainability of village LEAP (Literacy Educational Awareness Project) community schools in rural Sindh, Pakistan
Dr James Williams	The 'Nature of Science' and the 'Scientific Method' plus what trainee & experienced teachers understand about these concepts and ideas in science; a better understanding of the 'working scientifically' approach in GCSE examinations; research on outreach programmes in science education; teaching scientific literacy in evolution; the place of Creationism in a school-based context; issues surrounding the publication of the Theory of Evolution by Means of Natural Selection by Alfred Russel Wallace & Charles Darwin.	Case studies; mixed methods approaches	Any candidates wishing to carry out research in the following areas: - History of education (esp. 19C and 20C) - Politics and policy in education (UK)  - General science education (all secondary science disciplines)  - The nature of science in science education - Primary science education  - History of science education  - Science communication, including scientific literacy  - Evolution education  - Pseudoscience in education  - Curriculum development

 

Centre for Higher Education and Equity Research

Name	Substantive research interests	Methodological expertise	Examples of doctoral studies supervised
Professor Barbara Crossouard	Gender and sexuality; education and development; gender and development; social inequalities in schooling and higher education; education and  citizenship; work and education	Qualitative research, informed by decolonial, postcolonial and poststructural feminisms	- Rethinking Sexuality Education: Voices of rural Zambian youth - Youth Citizenship Identities in Urban Tanzania - The Production of Distinction: Social class and gender in an international school in provincial India
Dr Emily Danvers	Critical thinking and academic writing; student identities and experiences; learning, emotion and affect; student protest; widening participation and educational inequalities and inclusive pedagogy	Qualitative, feminist poststructural and new-materialist feminist research	- Strange Encounters in UK Higher Education: Understanding the experiences of visa-required international students - Foundation Students and their expectations, experiences and outcomes as they transition to UK higher education - Feminist Becomings: What are the affective capabilities of girls transitioning from post-compulsory school to life beyond school?
Dr Louise Gazeley	The relationship between social (dis)advantage and educational exclusion and inclusion; diversity and equality as issues for teachers' professional development; parental involvement in education	Predominantly qualitative. Also critical theory and accessing the perspective of educationally and socially marginalised groups	- Early Years professionals' understandings of poverty in the UK - Case study of the formation of boys' learner identities in a UK secondary school located in an area of social disadvantage - A case study of parental involvement in basic education in Ghana
Dr Tamsin Hinton-Smith	Gender and higher education - staff and students; gender, education, employment and work-life balance; lone and teenage parents and educational participation; widening participation in higher education  - equity, diversity, student experience, progression and internationalisation	Qualitative methods incl online, longitudinal and timeline methodology; feminist methodology; ethics	- The intergenerational effect on educational and social outcomes for the children of single parents - Working mothers' experiences of changing the way they work - The daughters of working women: What they want from work and work-life balance
Professor Linda Morrice	Refugee and migrant education, with particular interest in: Pathways through education and access to higher education Informal learning, inclusion and belonging Participation of unaccompanied children and students with refugee backgrounds in higher education.	Qualitative and participative methodologies, especially narrative, creative and life history	- Unaccompanied children and young people: Constructing belonging in community through learning; Perceiving the value of Higher Education: a Mass Observation perspective
Dr Rebecca Webb	Children's/student's rights, voice & participation; meanings & purposes of education & schooling; gender identities & subjectivities; "uncertain pedagogies"; post-foundational theories & creative methodologies.	Qualitative with particular knowledge and interest in ethnographic approaches and creative and associated innovative methods, including arts practices.	- What is Nature To Children? A posthuman exploration of creative arts practices with children 3-9 years of age in an informal education context - A deliberative philosophical approach to opening spaces for young children (3-7) to engage with sustainability issues that matter to them - What is a Quality Interaction? A phenomenological exploration and engagement with Early Years Teachers

You can find out more about the research centres to which our doctoral supervisors are affiliated by clicking on the relevant link below:

• The Centre for International Education (CIE)
• The Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth (CIRCY)
• The Centre for Teaching and Learning Research (CTLR)
• The Centre for Higher Education and Equity Research (CHEER)

For more information about doctoral studies at the University of Sussex, visit the Doctoral School website.

Step Two:
Developing your Research Proposal

If there is a good fit between your research interests and our research profile, you can use the guidelines below to shape your research proposal before submitting it to us to review. The proposal helps us to consider your preparedness for PhD study but also the feasibility of the proposed study and its potential contribution to knowledge. The proposal therefore needs to describe as clearly as possible what you want to research, why, and how you plan to conduct the study.

The guidelines are for both the 1+3 and +3 PhD routes. However,  the research proposal for the +3 PhD will be longer (6-8 pages in length) than that for the 1+3 (2-3 pages). It will also be expected to show a deeper understanding of social science research methodology and research design.

The structure of your proposal

1. Your proposal should start with a working title which clearly reflects its focus.
2. The opening section should explain the research focus and context and provide a rationale which introduces what you propose to research and why it is important - both to you and more generally.
3. This section should end by making it clear how your research can contribute new knowledge or understanding and with a set of research questions that will guide your research. Like your working title, these will probably change as you refine your project, but they are an important starting point.
4. The next section should provide a focused overview of the key debates in the  literature that are most clearly most relevant to your study. You should end this section by making it clear how your research relates to existing research in the field.
5. The next section should include a discussion of  your methodological approach, so that it is clear how the design of the proposed study has been shaped by such things as your ontological and epistemological approach. It is also important to outline your research methods and explain what makes them appropriate for a study of the type proposed. 
6. The proposal should conclude with a discussion of any ethical and practical issues that you have identified and an indicative timeline, including the time it will take to analyse your data and to write your thesis. A full-time PhD is undertaken over 3 years (maximum 4), or 4 years (maximum 6) if studied part-time.
7. The proposal needs to include citations to the  literature used to support your arguments and finish with a full list of references.

Step Three:
Submitting your application and supporting documents

When you have finished writing your proposal, you should submit it online as part of your application for either the 1+3 or +3 PhD. You will also need to submit the following documents and if any are missing this will slow down the review process.

1. Research Proposal
2. Masters Degree Transcript
3. Masters Degree Certificate
4. Bachelors Degree Certificate

If any of the above cannot be submitted at the point of application, you should send an email explaining why this is to eswpgradmin@sussex.ac.uk immediately after submitting your application.

It is helpful but not essential to also submit an up-to-date CV.

English language requirements

If you do not have a degree from the UK, or English is not your first language, you will be required to provide evidence of your English language proficiency. If you have evidence of this when you submit your application, this evidence should be submitted also. If not, any offer made would be conditional on your being able to supply relevant evidence before commencement of your studies.

References

You should nominate two academic referees who can testify to your capacity to engage with independent study and research. Please advise your referees that references should be submitted on headed paper.

Statement of academic interests

Please provide a brief account of your academic interests.

What happens next?

When your application has been received, its details will be checked by the University's Postgraduate Admissions team. Academic faculty within the Department of Education will then review your application.

In addition to the quality of the application and how it meets the criteria for either a +3 or 1+3 place, we consider whether we can supervise your project. In those cases where the academic selectors feel there is both the potential for a worthwhile and successful study at doctoral level and there are potential supervisors available, we will proceed to interview.  These interviews will be conducted  in person, or by telephone or Skype and allow us to explore your application with you in more detail while also allowing us to answer any questions you have.

Further details about the PhD in Education can be found in the Prospectus.

Chek out the Education PhD Leaflet.

Apply online.

General guidance for writing your research proposal can be found on the University's PGR Admissions pages.