Find a PhD supervisor

Once you've identified the subject area you wish to research, you will need to find a supervisor for your project. All Doctoral Researchers are provided with a lead supervisor, who will act as the main source of academic supervisory support and research mentoring during your time as a Doctoral Researcher at the University.

Start your search

Âé¶¹¾«Ñ¡ for supervisors below to see who you think may be a great fit for your research area. Once you have identified they are able to offer appropriate supervisory support, you can start to reach out to staff using the contact details provided on their profile. 

Âé¶¹¾«Ñ¡ results for “criminal law”

Professor John Child

Professor John Child

Professor of Criminal Law
Head of Research (Law)

Birmingham Law School

John is interested in doctoral candidates in criminal law doctrine and theory, comparative criminal law, and/or criminal law and neuroscience.

John's previous successful doctoral students include:
* Rachel Gimson, ‘Captured red handed: the impact of social media on the evolving concepts of the criminal defendant and the presumption of innocence’ - Completed in 2016;
* Stavros Demetriou, 'Anti-Social Behaviour and Civil Preventive Measures: Creating Localised Criminal Codes?' - Completed in ...



Professor Chris Thornhill

Professor of Law

Birmingham Law School

Chris has supervised PhDs on many legal topics, including: Constitutional Reform in Kenya; Constitutional Reform in Egypt; the Jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in National Constitutional Law in South America; the Global Right to Food; the History of International Criminal Law; Military Law and Legal Reform in China; Constitutional Law and Populism in Poland and Brazil; Constitutional Reform in Scotland; Constitutional Reform in Turkey; Constitutional Reform in ...

Dr Marianne Wade

Dr Marianne Wade

Reader in Criminal Justice

Birmingham Law School

European Criminal Law
European Criminal Justice
Comparative criminal and criminal procedure law
Structural Developments in Criminal Justice
Terrorism – Phenomena and Responses
Trafficking Human Beings

Current doctoral students:

The Challenges Associated with Identifying Victims of Trafficking Human Beings – Matthew Davis
The Suitability of Trial by Jury for Trafficking in Persons Cases – Jack Murphy









Dr Emma J Breeze

Assistant Professor in International Criminal Law

Birmingham Law School

International Humanitarian Law (the law of armed conflict), International Criminal Law, Transnational Criminal Law (to include cross-border crimes, such as trafficking and piracy)
International law and global legal studies (to include conflicts, transitional justice, international criminal law)




Professor Alexander Orakhelashvili

Professor Alexander Orakhelashvili

Professor of International Law

Birmingham Law School

Professor Orakhelashvili has supervised or is currently supervising doctoral students undertaking research in the following areas:
• Aut dedere aut judicare as a customary rule
• The UN member states and individuals sharing international responsibility for the serious violation of international law committed during peace support operations
• Iran and Nuclear non-proliferation
• John Austin’s theory of law
• Implications of New Technology for Targeting under International Humanitarian Law






Dr Kirsty Moreton

Dr Kirsty Moreton

Associate Professor in Law

Birmingham Law School

Dr Moreton is interested in supervising Doctoral Students in the areas of healthcare law, particularly decision-making, child and adolescent healthcare, pregnancy and reproduction, and palliative care. She also has interests in criminal law relating to sexual offences, and intersections with medical law. Topics utilising feminist and care ethics are also of interest.
Previously supervised to completion:
- Wendy Suffield, ‘Reconsidering the Moral Status of the pre-conscious fetus: a multi-criterial, multi-level ...

Dr Tara Lai Quinlan

Associate Professor in Law and Criminal Justice

Birmingham Law School

criminal law, criminal procedure, terrorism, counter-terrorism, police, disproportionality in the criminal justice system, stop and search, jury diversity

Professor Kate Bedford

Professor Kate Bedford

Professor of Law and Political Economy

Birmingham Law School

I am happy to read PhD proposals in the following areas:
• Law and development (especially in Latin America)
• Law and political economy
• Gender, sexuality, and law
• Gambling regulation





Professor Natasa Mavronicola

Professor Natasa Mavronicola

Professor of Human Rights Law

Birmingham Law School

Professor Mavronicola is keen to supervise postgraduate research students whose research interests lie in the following areas:

torture and inhuman and degrading treatment
the right to life
the interpretation of human rights
LGBT* rights
the interplay between counter-terrorism and human rights
the relationship between human dignity and human rights
the intersections between human rights and criminal justice
the relationship of any of the above with legal philosophy








Dr Peter Coe

Dr Peter Coe

Associate Professor
Director of Research Impact

Birmingham Law School

Dr Coe welcomes expressions of interest for prospective PhD students in his areas of interest, and the field of Media Law more broadly.

Professor Anthea Hucklesby

Professor Anthea Hucklesby

Professor of Criminal Justice

Birmingham Law School

Anthea has supervised research students in many aspects of criminal justice in the UK and internationally. She welcomes applications from UK and international students interested in any area of criminal justice including, but not limited to, electronic monitoring, pre-trial detention and bail, police powers, courts, prisons, community sentences, technologies and private and voluntary sector involvement in criminal justice.

Dr Jason Haynes

Dr Jason Haynes

Associate Professor of Law
Deputy Head of Postgraduate Research & PGR Mentor

Birmingham Law School

Anti-Human Trafficking Law
International Investment Law
Sports Law



Dr Amer Tabbara

Dr Amer Tabbara

Assistant Professor of International Commercial Dispute Resolution

Birmingham Law School

• Private International Law (conflicts of law, conflicts of jurisdiction)
• International Commercial Arbitration
• International Investment Law and Arbitration
• Energy Law
• Law and Technology
• AI and Law






Dr Abd Tahrani

Dr Abd Tahrani

Honorary Professor of Medicine

Department of Metabolism and Systems Science

I currently do not accept new PhD students. I have 4 completed PhD students and 7 completed Master students. I currently have 4 PhD students under my supervision.

Professor Yemisi Takwoingi

Professor Yemisi Takwoingi

Head of the Department of Applied Health Sciences
Professor of Test Evaluation and Evidence Synthesis

Department of Applied Health Sciences

Yemisi is interested in supervising doctoral research students in the following areas:

  • Methodology for the evaluation of medical tests
  • Methodology for systematic reviews and meta-analyses
  • Primary studies and systematic reviews of tests
If you are interested in doctoral research in or related to these areas, please contact Yemisi using the contact details above.

Sasha Talavera

Sasha Talavera

Professor in Financial Economics

The Department of Economics

Postgraduate Supervision

  • Zixi Guo (2023 - present) 
  • Mohammad Aldoub (2023 - present) 
  • Fei Ge (2023 - present) 
  • Xinyi Wang (2023 - present) 
  • Zhenyi Zhai (2022 – present) 
  • Zhuangchen Wu (2021 – present)

Doctoral Research

  • Abdullah F. AlSabah (2022), “Essays on Information Arrival and Asset Prices”, placement: Capital Market Authority of Kuwait
  • Linh Vi (2022), “Essays on Employment and Wages in Online Labour Markets”, placement: Aston University
  • Ge Gao (2022), “Essays ...

Professor Lorraine Talbot

Professor Lorraine Talbot

Professor of Company Law and Company Law in Context

Birmingham Law School

I am available to supervise in the following areas. Business History, corporate law theory, critical approaches to shareholder rights and shareholder centred governance, the socio-economic and political impact of corporate activities, growth, degrowth and corporate sustainability, the visual arts and corporations, corporations and labour, corporations and social progress, business human rights, feminism, gender and corporations and the political economy of companies.

Dr Jennifer Tamblyn

Dr Jennifer Tamblyn

Honorary Clinical Lecturer

Department of Metabolism and Systems Science

This is a new skill Jennifer shall develop during her Clinical Lectureship.

Edmond Tang

Director, Research Unit in Asian Christianity

Department of Theology and Religion

  • Chinese Christianity
  • East Asian theologies & spirituality
  • Religion and politics in East Asia
  • Faith and culture

Find out more - our PhD Theology and Religion  page has information about doctoral research at the University Âé¶¹¾«Ñ¡.

Dr Junqi (Billy) Tang

Dr Junqi (Billy) Tang

Assistant Professor

School of Mathematics

Dr Junqi Tang is an experienced PhD supervisor and is currently accepting PhD students. Please email him with your CV if you are interested in working with him.

Dr Xiaolong Tang

Assistant Professor in Modern Languages
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Department of Modern Languages

I welcome enquiries from prospective students studying in the following areas:

  • Using technology to facilitate students’ learning of a foreign language;
  • Investigating student experiences of learning L2 Chinese;
  • Teaching Mandarin Chinese in a business context.

Dr Yuanbo Tony Tang

Dr Yuanbo Tony Tang

Assistant Professor

School of Metallurgy and Materials

Dr Tang currently co-supervises two PhD students and is looking for PhD candidates in the following areas.

  • Metal additive manufacturing and related subjects
  • Multi-scale experimental mechanics in extreme environment (including hydrogen)
  • Design and development of new structural alloys
  • Interdisciplinary research involving one or more areas above.

Dr Denise Tanner

Dr Denise Tanner

Associate Professor of Social Work

Department of Social Work and Social Care

Denise Tanner's current doctoral supervision covers the following areas:

• Evaluation of the teaching of communication skills to social work students
• Navigation of safety and risk by people with dementia and their carers
• Older people and carers’ experiences of ‘hospital-at-home’
• New relationships in permanent care settings from the perspective of the non-
care dwelling spouse/partner.











Dr Silvana Tapia Tapia

Dr Silvana Tapia Tapia

Associate Professor in Law

Birmingham Law School

Silvana is happy to supervise projects at the intersections between Criminal Law, Gender, and Human Rights. In particular, projects that aim to develop:

Anticolonial and/or feminist critiques of prisons and the criminal legal system.
Anticolonial and/or feminist critiques of mainstream human rights law and advocacy.
New knowledge on the links between penal violence and social reproduction.
New knowledge on feminist and anti-carceral social movements.