PhD Study

Study for a PhD funded by the Dawes Centre for Future Crime.

The Dawes Centre funds and/or supervises a wide variety of PhD research. Our scholarships are available for ‘pre-set' topics or for ‘open topics'. Pre-set topics are specific topics that have been suggested by supervisors here at UCL and which they will be happy to supervise. Pre-set topics can be found here. Open topics are topics proposed by the applicant. For details of current PhDs underway at the Dawes Centre please visit our Current PhD projects section. Details of UCL SECReT – the UCL Security Science Doctoral Training Centre – can be found here.

OPEN EVENING –  catch up with our PhD open evening recording from 30 March 2023

View our current PhD studentships.

Apply for our PhD programme.

Why do a PhD with the Dawes Centre for Future Crime at UCL?

The Dawes Centre for Future Crime at UCL focuses on research concerned with future of emerging crime threats, and then works with law enforcement, policy makers and industry to deliver pre-emptive interventions for the benefit of society. As such, we are keen to fund and supervise PhD researchers working across a wide range of topics. This range of topics – and the funding available – can be seen on the postgraduate research pages of the Department of Security and Crime Science website.

What is the relationship between the Dawes Centre and the UCL Doctoral Centre for Security Science (UCL SECReT)?

Both the Dawes Centre and UCL SECReT are part of the UCL Jill Dando Institute for Security and Crime Science (UCL JDI). The Dawes Centre is a specific research centre focusing on future crime. It provides funding and supervision for PhDs in our areas of interest. UCL SECReT is a doctoral training centre and all PhDs within our department are registered there, including those funded by Dawes.

What are the benefits of carrying out a PhD funded and/or supervised by the Dawes Centre?

• Our research is exciting! We choose to take on topics that are looking at new areas of crime or new ways of reducing current crime using new technology and techniques. This means our work is pushing at the limits of current knowledge. We have students already working on adventurous topics such as biohacking, cyberweapons, crime in smart cities, and tracking child sexual abusers on Instagram. This focus means our students are highly in demand among employers seeking to stay ahead of the curve.
• The Dawes Centre is recognised as a centre of excellence in its field. This means that police and law enforcement agencies, respected academic institutions, and private sector companies work with us to deliver our research. Our students commonly gain access to industry support and this leads to a more informed and relevant PhD, often with access to data, lab facilities, etc.
• The topics that we choose to fund/supervise are of interest to the practitioner community. This means that from the outset we are focused on how your PhD could achieve impact in the real world. Ultimately, this translates into more significant research outputs, such as papers and briefing documents for industry, all of which enhances your employability.
• The Dawes Centre is part of the UCL JDI, which, in the last Research Excellence Framework exercise (REF 2014) was ranked joint-1st in the country for impact in its unit of assessment. UCL itself is consistently ranked amongst the top ten universities in the world (eg. by the QS World University Rankings). This means that you will be supervised by academics who are leaders in their fields - or getting there!
• By ensuring that our students are also part of UCL SECReT we embed you within a cohort of other students in the department. This means that you have a group of highly motivated and intelligent people around you also completing PhDs. This creates an excellent social network that our students have suggested is a great positive of carrying out a PhD here.
• We seek to create learning opportunities for our students beyond the research aspect of your PhD. Through UCL’s Graduate School, we encourage you to gain skills such as presenting, networking, communication, and leadership. The aim is to ensure that when you emerge with your PhD you have a rounded skills-set that enhances your employability.