MPhil, PhD Education

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Research opportunities

The nine main research groups within The Strathclyde Institute of Education are discrete entities that are complementary. There are several topics within each theme, and it may be that colleagues align themselves with more than one research theme and that research cuts across all the research areas we're looking at.

A key focus in considering these themes is the policy context in which The Strathclyde Institute of Education is situated. A major driver in current Scottish education is around closing the attainment gap and reducing inequality. The research themes address this issue in a range of ways.

You can study an MPhil over the course of one year or a PhD over the course of three or four years.

You can also study for a Doctorate of Education (EdD), a taught professional doctorate with a range of specialist pathways which allow you to tie your doctorate studies explicitly to your professional experience.

The Place of Useful Learning

UK University of the Year

Daily Mail University of the Year Awards 2026

Scottish University of the Year

The Sunday Times' Good University Guide 2026

View our current research opportunities

THE Awards 2019: UK University of the Year Winner

Fees & funding

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Fees & funding

All fees quoted are per academic year unless otherwise stated.

Entrants may be subject to a small fee during the writing up period.

Fees may be subject to updates to maintain accuracy. Tuition fees will be notified in your offer letter.

All fees are in £ sterling, unless otherwise stated, and may be subject to revision.

Annual revision of fees

Students on programmes of study of more than one year (or studying standalone modules) should be aware that the majority of fees will increase annually.

The University will take a range of factors into account, including, but not limited to, UK inflation, changes in delivery costs and changes in Scottish and/or UK Government funding. Changes in fees will be published on the University website in October each year for the following year of study and any annual increase will be capped at a maximum of 10% per year. This cap will apply to fees from 2026/27 onwards, which will not increase by more than 10% from the previous year for continuing students.

2024/25

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Scotland	£4,786
England, Wales & Northern Ireland	£4,786
Republic of Ireland	If you are an Irish citizen and have been ordinary resident in the Republic of Ireland for the three years prior to the relevant date, and will be coming to Scotland for Educational purposes only, you will meet the criteria of England, Wales & Northern Ireland fee status. For more information and advice on tuition fee status, you can visit the UKCISA - International student advice and guidance - Scotland: fee status webpage. Find out more about the University of Strathclyde's fee assessments process.
International	£18,050
Additional costs	Course materials Printing is provided free in the Graduate School. Most books can be borrowed from the library or by inter-library loan. Students may decide to buy a limited number of key text which they may be able to purchase second hand. Students in years one and two may spend £150 to £200. Years three and four are writing years, so less so. Placements & field trips When required, from £50 to £300 per year, though some assistance is provided from the Faculty's Research Support Fund. International students International students may have associated visa and immigration costs. Please see student visa guidance for more information. Other costs thesis binding - approximately £30 pen drives - approximately £20
Postgraduate research opportunities	Search for all funded and non-funded postgraduate research opportunities.
Funding	Take a look at our funding your postgraduate research web page for funding information. You can also view our scholarships search for further funding opportunities.

Please note: the fees shown are annual and may be subject to an increase each year.

As a lecturer, I feel that I am now better prepared to help young people, particularly future teachers, to move out of their own little bubble, to appreciate differences or diversity in the world as well as in their own countries, communities and classrooms and promote international understanding among their students.

Dr Huaping Li

Find out more about Huaping's time at Strathclyde

Our research

Research in education places a strong emphasis on collaboration and cross-disciplinary working. Education at Strathclyde produces leading research focused on nine overlapping themes with national and international relevance:

additional support needs and autism
educational and social practices in curricular subjects
equity and achievement
health and wellbeing
languages education
methodologies for change
professional learning, identity and enquiry
rights, citizenship and dialogue
education, philosophy and culture

Woman in teaching environment

Find out more about our research

Supervisors

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Supervisors

Name	Areas of expertise
Dr Paul Adams	education policy pedagogy PSHE and citizenship educational theorising positioning theory
Dr Laela Adamson	language-in-education policy and practice in sub-Saharan Africa and other postcolonial contexts the Capability Approach education and international development policy and practice education and social justice diversity, recognition and belonging in UK schools, including decolonisation of the curriculum
Dr Celia Antoniou	second/foreign language pedagogy; multilingualism; applied linguistics TESOL student/teacher agency and motivation TESOL teacher training/development L2 curriculum and materials development L2 learning technologies, GEN AI
Dr Lorna Arnott	early childhood education and early experiences early childhood digital play innovative methodologies and voice with children under 6 years old. early childhood creative play early childhood peer cultures and social play
Dr Farid Bardid	motor development and learning health-related factors of children’s motor skills and physical activity (esp. psychosocial and cognitive factors) developmental trajectories of health (esp. motor skills and physical activity) pedagogy in physical activity, physical education and sports development and evaluation of movement programmes
Dr Ingeborg Birnie	Gaelic (medium) education language revitalisation including in digital domains minority Languages in education minority language rights languages and language use in education and society
Prof Claire Cassidy	philosophy with children/practical philosophy children and childhood studies human rights education/children's rights children's voice, participation, and citizenship inquiry and critical thinking
Dr Osman Coban	children’s reading practices and children’s literature Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education (in particular, its current and emerging impact on educational theory, classroom practice, and pedagogical approaches) inclusive education TESOL and multilingualism in early years and primary education collaborative reading practices and its role in education
Dr Angela de Britos	bilingualism and bilingual education biculturalism and cultural studies English as an additional language/ ESOL immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers teaching and learning of modern (foreign) languages
Prof Jonathan Delafield-Butt	autism, infant and child development intersubjectivity, embodiment, social and emotional development serious games in learning and assessment machine learning and data science analytics interdisciplinary research between engineering, psychology, psychiatry, and education
Dr Jane Essex	STEM education including outreach and public engagement inclusive science inclusion/ disability studies teacher education for inclusive practice co-creation and socially just research methodologies
Dr Jonathan Firth	memory, metacognition and teacher professional learning evidence-informed approaches to learning, study skills, and assessment use of field experiments, metacognition research, meta-analysis and systematic review teaching of school (pre-tertiary) psychology, including online teaching the psychology of learning, including learning theories
Dr Katja Frimberger	phenomenological-hermeneutic; conceptual research. philosophy of film/cinema as education; cinematic representations of pedagogical relationships. philosophy of theatre as education, e.g. in acting/directing theory and practice. concept of Bildung/(self)formation/through the arts/ in the Catholic intellectual tradition (e.g. Meister Eckhart; Jacques Maritain).
Dr Navan Govender	critical literacies for engaging (a)gender and (a)sexual diversity (i.e., queer critical literacies) and/or race and ethnicity (i.e., critical race literacies) in English language, literature, and literacy education multimodality and (re)design (multimodal) critical discourse analysis (including social semiotic and discursive-material approaches) critical and queer (auto)ethnography critical, queer, and decolonial praxis in teacher/higher education
Dr Stephanie Hardley	socioecological models and whole school approaches to health and wellbeing promotion socioeconomic disadvantage, stigma, and education effects curriculum and policy discourse analysis interdisciplinary work - using psychology, sociology, public health, and education theories to conceptualise school health promotion qualitative research methods
Dr Alan Huang	second/foreign language learning and teaching metacognition and learning teacher professional learning educational technology TESOL and applied linguistics
Dr Katie Hunter	educational Inequality adult and Community Learning mentoring Interventions reading and literacy interventions qualitative Research
Dr Sharon Hunter	human rights inclusion philosophy of childhood academic literacy
Dr Mariya Ivancheva	higher education: political economy, labour, and management comparative, historical and geopolitical topics in university education, including socialist/alternative experiments academic and teaching identities and social movements for change political economy of digital education, AI, outsourcing and automation gender/race/class/intersectional inequalities and social justice in education
Dr Tomasz John	TESOL, language education, and curriculum development multilingualism and intercultural communication Global Englishes and English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) internationalisation of higher education social justice in English language teaching
Dr Ambika Kapoor	Social and Environmental justice and children's geographies Children's voice and agency Global Childhoods (with a focus on the Global South) Rights based policies related to children Ethnography and research methods with a focus on children's voice
Dr Eleni Karagiannidou	digital literacies, inclusion and pedagogy gen-AI technologies, learning and teaching (across all levels) transitions early childhood education and early experiences mixed and quantitative methods
Dr Karsten Kenklies	LGBT issues in educational theory (conceptual or historical non-empirical research) intercultural comparison in educational theory (conceptual or historical non-empirical research) hermeneutic pedagogy (conceptual or historical non-empirical research) aesthetics & educational theory (conceptual or historical non-empirical research Japanese education (conceptual or historical non-empirical research)
Prof David Kirk	curriculum development and change curriculum history models-based practice in physical education Bernstein and the social production of pedagogic discourse
Prof Markus Klein	social inequalities in education child development social mobility comparative research secondary data analysis
Dr Cara Lamb	gender and physical education models-based practice in physical education activist research social justice issues in education qualitative research.
Dr David Lewin	philosophy of education technology and education (conceptual and philosophical approaches particularly) religion, spirituality and education mindfulness and contemplative practices ethics, values, virtues and moral education
Joanna McPake	bilingualism and bilingual education language learning and teaching Gaelic-medium education minority language revitalisation ethnographic and ethnomethodological approaches to analysis
Dr Joan Mowat	inclusion, policy and practice, with a specific (but not exclusive) focus on children with social, emotional and behavioural needs the mental health and well-being of children and young people issues around marginalisation, poverty, stigmatisation and labelling educational leadership and issues around school climate, ethos and relational approaches to promoting positive relationships and behaviour mixed-methods research
Dr Zinnia Mevawalla	education for critical consciousness disability studies and inclusive education in the early years children's rights and social justice education in the early years listening to children's voices in the early years critical, qualitative and play-based methodologies
Dr Iain Moore	practical physics education teaching and learning in STEM Education equity in STEM educational management and leadership mixed methods pragmatic investigation of pedagogy
Prof Peter Mtika	student teaching, mentoring and practicum, teacher preparation, professional learning, inclusion, equity, and social justice teacher education institutions and school partnerships international education and sustainable development teacher education policy and practice
Dr Stavros Nikou	educational technologies immersive technologies (AR/VR) and artificial intelligence instructional design with technology teacher digital competencies STEM pedagogies
Prof João M Paraskeva	educational theory, policy and reform critical theory anti-colonial and decolonial theories identity, inclusion, difference and equity advanced/itinerant curriculum theory higher education
Professor Ian Rivers	equalities/diversity mixed methods bullying and harassment health and education children's understanding of politics
Dr Nicola Robertson	education in, and through, objects of popular culture expressions of fandom and identity formation/self-reflection philosophy of education (particular interest in francophone philosophy) education and philosophies of technology robotics and artificial intelligence (current and speculative uses in education)
Dr Anna Robinson	emotional psychology, development and wellbeing Autism, mental health and neuro-inclusion trauma research: trauma-informed pedagogy, therapeutic interventions and healing-centered engagement counselling, psychotherapy, group psychotherapy and Emotion AI Creative-Relational Inquiry, Participatory Methodologies and Co-production
Prof Carol Robinson	children and young people's voices, experiences and participation children and young people's rights and human rights education the translation of the UNCRC into policy and practice children as researchers student engagement in higher education
Prof Debs Robinson	inclusive education for ASN, SEND, disability action research participatory research and co-production teacher education and development education and employment
Dr David Roxburgh	L3 language learning models in primary schools the teaching of Chinese language and culture in primary schools the promotion of STEM learning in primary school contexts comparative education experiences mixed methods research
Dr Rebekah Sims	intercultural competence in higher education writing in teacher education programmes writing pedagogy including TESOL initial teacher education writing across the disciplines (e.g., teaching writing to STEM students)
Prof Yvette Taylor	sexuality & gender social class higher education feminism & queer theory qualitative methods (incl. mixed methods, ethnographic & PAR)
Prof Kate Wall	professional learning through practitioner enquiry and teachers as researchers exploration of voice in regard children, adolescents, teachers, and practitioners visual and creative methodologies mixed method research approaches children and young people as co-researchers
Dr Yuchen Wang	inclusion and diversity in education student/pupil voice international development technology research engagement and impact
Dr Alastair Wilson	educational inequality school & community based development school and community mentoring learning disabilities qualitative research design
Dr Siqi Zhang	sociology of education gender and social class international student mobility in higher education social inequality in education (including gender, class, race) identity formation and global citizenship

Support & development

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Support & development

The Graduate School

The Graduate School is a friendly and supportive study environment for research students studying subjects within Humanities & Social Sciences.

Our staff will support you through your studies and you'll become part of a community of students who get involved with our workshops, seminars and competitions.

Postgraduate Certificate in Researcher Professional Development (PgCert RPD)

Our PgCert RPD programme aims to ensure you get the most out of your current research activities at Strathclyde and helps you prepare for your future career as a researcher.

We'll help you recognise and develop your transferrable skills that'll have a positive impact on your research, now and in the future.

PgCert Researcher Professional Development

Careers

The University Careers Service can help you with everything from writing your CV to interview preparation. Take a look at our careers service pages to get more information.

Student support

From financial advice to our IT facilities, we have a wide range of support for all students here at Strathclyde. Get all the information you need at Strathlife.

International students

We've a thriving international community with students coming here to study from over 140 countries across the world. Find out all you need to know about studying in Glasgow at Strathclyde and hear from students about their experiences.

Visit our international students' section

Postgraduate research at the Strathclyde Doctoral School

The Strathclyde Doctoral School offers a vibrant, student-centred research and training environment, dedicated to supporting both current and future research talent.

Bringing together all four of our faculties, it is committed to enhancing the student experience, increasing research outputs and opportunities, and ensuring that training is delivered at the highest standard.

As a postgraduate researcher, you will automatically become a member of the Strathclyde Doctoral School.

Find out more about the Doctoral School

Apply

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Apply

You can apply for a postgraduate research degree at any point in the year. We strongly advise that you contact one or more potential supervisors or the Postgraduate Research Director, Dr Anna Robinson, before completing the online application. Go to the supervisors tab above and see below for further information.

Entry requirements

Normally, a Masters degree in education or related subject from a recognised academic institution. It is also desirable for candidates to have professional experience in a field with an educational dimension.

The application

During the application you'll be asked for the following:

your full contact details
transcripts & certificates of all degrees
proof of English language proficiency (IELTS 6.5 in writing & reading required) if you're applying as an international student
two references, one of which must be academic
funding or scholarship information
research proposals of 1,500 to 2,000 words in length, detailing the subject area & topic to be investigated

By filling these details out as fully as possible, you'll avoid any delay to your application being processed by the University.

Supervisors

You'll need to identify your research supervisor before you finalise your application, preferably as soon as possible.

When you've identified a potential supervisor, based on how well your research interests match theirs, drop them an email to introduce yourself. In the email, make sure you attach a draft of your research proposal along with a copy of your CV. Don't worry about how rough your research proposal may be at this stage – you'll have help from The Strathclyde Institute of Education to refine it. If your chosen supervisor is available to work with you, they'll confirm this and nominate a potential second supervisor. As soon as a second supervisor is confirmed, an offer of study will be sent to you through Pegasus, our online application system.

When you accept our offer, you'll receive a full offer in writing via the email address you provide.

Accepting an offer

full-time

Start date: Oct 2027 - Sep 2028

Apply now

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Contact us

The Strathclyde Institute of Education

Graduate School

Telephone: +44 (0)141 444 8400

Email: hass-edu-pgr@strath.ac.uk

Chat with us

Fees & funding

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Fees & funding

All fees quoted are per academic year unless otherwise stated.

Entrants may be subject to a small fee during the writing up period.

Fees may be subject to updates to maintain accuracy. Tuition fees will be notified in your offer letter.

All fees are in £ sterling, unless otherwise stated, and may be subject to revision.

Annual revision of fees

Students on programmes of study of more than one year (or studying standalone modules) should be aware that the majority of fees will increase annually.

2025/26

Go back

Scotland	£5,006
England, Wales & Northern Ireland	£5,006
Republic of Ireland	If you are an Irish citizen and have been ordinary resident in the Republic of Ireland for the three years prior to the relevant date, and will be coming to Scotland for Educational purposes only, you will meet the criteria of England, Wales & Northern Ireland fee status. For more information and advice on tuition fee status, you can visit the UKCISA - International student advice and guidance - Scotland: fee status webpage. Find out more about the University of Strathclyde's fee assessments process.
International	£19,850
Additional costs	Course materials Printing is provided free in the Graduate School. Most books can be borrowed from the library or by inter-library loan. Students may decide to buy a limited number of key text which they may be able to purchase second hand. Students in years one and two may spend £150 to £200. Years three and four are writing years, so less so. Placements & field trips When required, from £50 to £300 per year, though some assistance is provided from the Faculty's Research Support Fund. International students International students may have associated visa and immigration costs. Please see student visa guidance for more information. Other costs thesis binding - approximately £30 pen drives - approximately £20
Postgraduate research opportunities	Search for all funded and non-funded postgraduate research opportunities.
Funding	Take a look at our funding your postgraduate research web page for funding information. You can also view our scholarships search for further funding opportunities.

Please note: the fees shown are annual and may be subject to an increase each year.

Research opportunities

The Place of Useful Learning

UK University of the Year

Scottish University of the Year

View our current research opportunities

Fees & funding

Annual revision of fees

Course materials

Placements & field trips

International students

Other costs

Our research

Supervisors

Support & development

The Graduate School

Postgraduate Certificate in Researcher Professional Development (PgCert RPD)

Careers

Student support

International students

Postgraduate research at the Strathclyde Doctoral School

Apply

Entry requirements

The application

Supervisors

Accepting an offer

UK or EU students

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Education

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Education

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Education

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Education

Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Education

Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Education

Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Education

Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Education

Start date: Oct 2027 - Sep 2028

Education

Start date: Oct 2027 - Sep 2028

Education

Start date: Oct 2027 - Sep 2028

Education

Start date: Oct 2027 - Sep 2028

Education

Contact us

The Strathclyde Institute of Education

Fees & funding

Annual revision of fees

Course materials

Placements & field trips

International students

Other costs

Our faculties & departments

Engineering

Humanities & Social Sciences

Science

Strathclyde Business School