Doctoral School. Become world-class.
Doctoral School
Becoming a world-class researcher is challenging yet rewarding. It takes amazing dedication, incredibly hard work and a lot of support.
So whether you’re a current or prospective research degree candidate, our Doctoral School is here to give you that support.
As part of our vibrant and diverse research community, you’ll be guided by our highly trained supervisors and helped by a team of skilled administrators, researcher developers and managers all focused on enabling your success.
And because we understand that your research journey is as unique as you are, we tailor our training and development opportunities to your needs, helping you become the best researcher that you can possibly be, thinking across disciplines, working with industry and delivering research with real world impact.
We provide an imaginative range of social activities and a distinctive programme of research specific seminars, well-being workshops and conference style development days. So you’ll gain exposure to lots of new thinking and future opportunities, while we help you make friends, build your network, develop your resilience and rise to the challenge of becoming world-class.
All of which means that by the time you come to leave us, whether to continue your career in academia or take up a senior role in industry, you can take that next step with confidence.
It’s an exciting time for research at the University of Salford.
Your Training and Development
We offer a wide range of training and support designed to meet your specific needs.
Salford Postgraduate Research Training (SPoRT)
This programme is designed to help you develop the skills needed for effective research. It will also provide you with extremely valuable transferable skills that will enhance your employability for a career in academia or industry.
Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference (SPARC)
The Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference is our forum for developing research, offering a space for you to exchange ideas with other researchers. Held every year, this two-day conference attracts a large number of researchers from across a range of disciplines.
Festival of Research
The festival of research brings together academics, students, industry and the public to discuss and develop the future research strategy at the University of Salford.
A month-long programme showcases our research, with a focus week of flagship events at MediaCityUK. Find out more on the Festival of Research's website.
Career routes and case studies
Take a look at some of the fascinating research being carried out by our doctoral candidates, and discover how their findings have made real world impact.
Case studies
High quality supervision
Research supervision is a demanding and complex role.
So to ensure that you receive the highest standards of supervisory support, we have invested significantly in the development of a sector leading, supervisor training programme.
To be eligible to supervise research, our academic staff must successfully complete this programme and are required to refresh their skills every three years.
Our Supervisor Network supports and develops best practice, offering opportunities for supervisors to meet and discuss topics with other members of the supervisory community. We are also actively involved in the new national supervisor accreditation scheme, and are piloting this with our supervisors as early adopters of The Research Supervision Recognition Programme.
Find a supervisor by searching our researcher profiles.
PhD Reimagined
Our 'PhD Reimagined' initiative aims to equip our research students with the skills they need to address global challenges, working across sectors and disciplines as they explore creative and innovative approaches to real world problems.
As a University we have developed an Industry Collaboration Strategy, which means our research students can move fluidly between research and industrial contexts, providing the skills to undertake industry-relevant research, and to translate those findings into tangible benefits.
Timelines
Depending on the qualification and study path that you choose, it can take up to seven years to gain your qualification.
Undertaking a postgraduate research degree is a major commitment of time and effort and we want to make sure that you are happy and focused enough to successfully complete it.
However we appreciate that life events can sometimes lead to the need to either interrupt or extend your research and, should such need arise, the Doctoral School will support you in any way we can.
Below is an example of a typical timeline for a full-time PhD. For details of the timeline for all other study modes, have a look at our student journey guide.

Fees and funding
As a postgraduate research student, you will need to pay annual tuition fees. These vary according to the programme you are studying.
We offer a range of scholarships and discounts to our postgraduate research students.
How to apply
Before applying for a research degree, you'll need to gather some information as the process centres around your research proposal. To help you along the way, we've outlined important dates, required information, tips on constructing your proposals and the contact information for each school's Admission team.
Contact Us
To find out more about the Doctoral School please contact the relevant subject area from the list below.
Science, Engineering and Environment Phone: +44 (0)161 295 3482 Alternative Phone: +44 (0)161 295 6435 Email: pgr-supportssee@salford.ac.uk |
Health and Society Phone: +44 (0)161 295 2280 Alternative Phone: +44 (0)161 295 4148 Email: pgr-supportshas@salford.ac.uk |
Arts, Media and Creative Technology Phone: +44 (0)161 295 6435 Email: pgr-supportsam@salford.ac.uk |
Business School Phone: +44 (0)161 295 2711 Email: pgr-supportsbs@salford.ac.uk |
You can also contact individual central PGR support team members by using the following details
- Dr Katherine Yates - Director of the Doctoral School - k.l.yates@salford.ac.uk
- Tracie Davies - Doctoral School and Research Manager - t.davies@salford.ac.uk
- Tracy Ireland - Researcher Development and Support Administrator - t.j.ireland@salford.ac.uk