Overview

Your future career starts at Melbourne

A PhD equips you with specialist expertise and high-level research and analytical skills. You will graduate an authority in your field and part of the legal scholarly community.

Key career outcomes

1. Pathways to academia and research leadership. A PhD is the first step towards an exciting and rewarding career in academia or research.
2. Agency and government careers. Research skills are in demand across sectors like government, NGOs, international agencies, and other academic institutions.
3. Global recognition. A Melbourne PhD positions you as a world-class researcher, ready to tackle the most pressing legal challenges.

Where can a PhD in Law take you?

A PhD makes a distinct contribution to knowledge and demonstrates a complete research 'apprenticeship', admitting you to the community of legal scholars.

Employers of PhD graduates include:

• Local and international universities
• Local and international agencies
• Legal practice locally or globally.

Set yourself apart with a PhD

Upon completion of your PhD, you will be able to:

• demonstrate command of a substantial and complex body of knowledge at the forefront of a discipline,
• independently and systematically engage in critical reflection, synthesis and evaluation,
• independently and systematically develop, adapt and implement research methodologies to extend and redefine existing knowledge,
• independently and systematically generate original knowledge and understanding such that they can make a substantial contribution to a discipline,
• disseminate research findings effectively in the professional arena and in an international context,
• demonstrate autonomy, authoritative judgement and responsibility as an expert and scholar, and
• demonstrate an understanding of, and commitment to, research ethics and integrity.

Alumni profile

“The University of Melbourne is a very good name. For me, going to Melbourne was an elevation into the prestigious league of universities that otherwise was not on my path necessarily.”

— Dr Andrea Leiter, PhD graduate, now an assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam