Doctor of Philosophy - Social Work

Research programmes involve writing a thesis on a particular topic with specialist supervision. Students are given research training, which is tailored to the particular needs of their research and takes into account any training they have previously received. Students also have opportunities to attend modules on relevant subjects on a non-assessed basis to fill any gaps in their background.

The School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR) has a long and distinguished history and is one of the largest and most successful social science research communities in Europe. In the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, 100% of Kent's Social Work and Social Policy research was classified as ‘world-leading’ or 'internationally excellent' for impact and environment

The School supports a large and thriving postgraduate community and in 2010 distributed in excess of £100,000 in Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) quota awards, and in University and SSPSSR bursaries and scholarships to new students.

Academic staff specialise in research of international, comparative and theoretical significance, and they have collective strengths in the following areas: civil society, NGOs and the third sector; cross-national and European social policy; health, social care and health studies; work, employment and economic life; risk, ‘risk society’ and risk management; race, ethnicity and religion; social and public policy; sociology and the body; crime, culture and control; sociological theory and the culture of modernity.