PhD Research

A PhD (proffering the title 'Doctor of Philosophy') is the highest degree that a student can achieve, and is highly advantageous to a policing career. The Centre for Policing Research and Learning operates a 50% funded part-time PhD studentship programme for employees of our policing partners. This programme supports academically rigorous and timely doctoral research of relevance to policing. We also support affiliated PhD students conducting policing research across The Open University.

Part-time PhDs take between 3 and 8 years, and result in a thesis typically between 80,000 to 100,000 words in length. Students are supported by a specialist supervisory team, and learn techniques which enable a significant contribution to knowledge within their selected subject.

PhDs can be taken in any of the Centre's themed research areas, and opportunities are notified via Centre correspondence. A full list of PhD projects is below.  

We have opportunities for part funded MPhil research.  For more information look here.

CPRL studentship PhDs in progress

• Charlotte Gaskell - The effect of using an interpreter on the accuracy of witness accounts gathered from police interviews
• Phil Davies - The predictive potential of police operating models: How complex systems theory can support a data-driven simulation of police policy to improve efficiency
• Ashleigh Bennett - What works to increase female representation within specialist tactical roles
• Davin Parrott - The probabilistic assessment of intelligence and decision making
• Kimberley Kuhnert - Online dating initiated sexual offending
• James Senior - Serial stalking interventions
• Russ Hinton - Identifying digital investigations opportunities through the application of data science/data analytics
• Nicole Woodhall - Indecent Images of children in the UK: Has the current threat gone beyond policing’s capability to respond to it

Completed CPRL studentship PhDs

• Reuben Moreton - Developing and evaluating a training and competency framework for forensic facial identification

CPRL affiliated PhD research

• Dionysia Lali - Perceptions and expectations of the police when interacting with vulnerable people
• Kitty Chisholm - How can a short, cost effective, growth mindset intervention result in sustained improvements in behaviour management?
• Lara Kazeem - Information systems and bias within police forces

Completed CPRL affiliated PhD research

• Angela Sutton-Vane - History of police archiving practices
• Jane Roberts - Political leadership and the need to belong: An extension of theory and practice of political and place leadership through the lens of attachment theory
• Heather Barrett - In the context of multi-agency adoption and diffusion of a technology to enhance policing, can systems thinking techniques enhance or even replace, exisiting frameworks and models?