PhD Law and Innovation

The Law School welcomes PhD proposals in the area of law and innovation and especially proposal related to the work of the Legal Innovation Centre. Examples of proposals in the area of law and innovation would include Legal technology: innovation and informatics; Intellectual property law; Unusual trademarks; Pharmaceutical patents & access rights; Privacy protection in the digital age; Internet governance; Intellectual property & human rights

The Legal Innovation Centre was established in 2016 with the support of key industry stakeholders. A pioneering collaboration between the School of Law and the School of Computing and Intelligent Systems at Ulster University, the Centre promotes and supports innovation in legal services and access to justice.

Innovation is more than just technology - it is the pursuit of improvement. For us, innovation harnesses new methods of designing, thinking, creating and delivering legal services and promoting access to justice. We approach innovation from a design-thinking perspective, grounded by a robust understanding of the evidence base. The Legal Innovation Centre at Ulster University brings together research into the application and impact of new legal technology and opportunities for the education and training of current and future lawyers in essential legal tech skills.

PhD graduates are recognised by employers to hold valuable transferrable skills, as the nature of the degree trains candidates in creativity, critical inquiry, problem solving, negotiation skills, professionalism and confidence. The most recent Ulster survey of PhD graduates found that 92% had secured employment within the first year since graduation (HESA Destination of Leavers Survey 2015), and while two thirds end up in the Higher Education or Research sectors, the range of skills acquired equips the remainder for employment in a wide range of contexts.