Edge Hill is home to a thriving and dynamic research culture and offers full-time and part-time research degrees in a wide range of subject areas. Studying for a postgraduate research degree will enable you to immerse yourself in a topic that especially interests you and to independently explore a gap in your existing research.
Our research degrees are organised and run centrally through the Graduate School, which coordinates the training, supervision and support of our research students.
Your study options
Masters by Research (MRes)
If you are looking to undertake a Masters programme with a substantial element of research, perhaps as preparation for joining a PhD, then our Masters by Research (MRes) course is for you.
Our Masters by Research (MRes) course provides a short and intensive research experience in a subject area of interest to you. Covering both practical and theoretical aspects, you will complete a research project supported by a programme of research training, helping you to develop the knowledge and skills to design, conduct, evaluate and communicate your own research in your chosen discipline.
Studying for a PhD provides you with the opportunity to make an original contribution to knowledge. Through a substantial programme of research, you will critically investigate and evaluate a specific topic and demonstrate an understanding of research methodology appropriate to the field of study. Topics for study may result from personal interest, an area of study related to an earlier qualification or an issue that an employer would like you to investigate.
A PhD is awarded on the quality of your thesis and your performance in an oral examination (viva voce), where you will present your chosen research topic to a group of senior academics. You will also need to demonstrate how your research findings have contributed to new knowledge or extended existing theory or understanding.
A PhD will typically last a minimum of three years full-time or four and a half years part-time. While PhD students normally base their research at the University, they may conduct significant aspects of their work elsewhere, such as at home or in the workplace.
On successful completion of a PhD you will have an internationally recognised and respected qualification. The skills and knowledge acquired while planning, conducting, analysing and writing up your research will significantly enhance your CV and help you stand out in a competitive graduate employment market.
Our postgraduate money matters guide outlines the tuition fees and financial support arrangements for UK students joining a PhD or MRes at Edge Hill University.
We can help explain what student funding you may be entitled to receive and how to apply for it. You are encouraged to explore all potential sources of additional funding for your postgraduate studies to maximise the total amount you have to support the payment of tuition fees and your living costs.
Our Fees, finance and scholarships page outlines everything to do with fees and funding for International students joining Edge Hill University at any level, including our PhD and MRes research degrees.
Please be aware that our MRes research degrees are only available to International students if the student is one of our current undergraduate students who is seeking to progress to an MRes, or if the student is fully funded by a third party organisation.
If you are an Edge Hill graduate, you may be eligible for a 20% fee reduction if you start an eligible full-time or part-time postgraduate programme in the 2026/2027 academic year. To be eligible, you must have recently completed your undergraduate award, PGCE, PGDE or Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching at Edge Hill University.
This offer is available to eligible UK students, EU/EEA and Swiss students who have settled or pre-settled status, and Irish nationals.
Staff in all subject areas across the University are engaged in research that is addressing some of society’s most pressing challenges, providing expertise to develop solutions and prompt change.
Our research centres and institutes also work to bring together staff from different departments, alongside visiting professors and professionals from external organisations. This combined range of expertise ensures that research degrees can be pursued in a wide range of subject areas.
For further information about any of our research degree opportunities, you can get in touch with the Graduate School, which will be happy to assist you.
