We recognise that a sense of belonging is a key part of the postgraduate researcher experience. 

We have one of the UK's largest and most vibrant Graduate Schools and take pride in the support our postgraduate researchers receive to help them find their place in our community and to raise their profile as a researcher within the University and beyond. 

A Diverse Research Community

The 2011 QS World University Rankings place us among the top 2% of global universities - so it is no surprise that so many researchers from outside the UK choose us.

Around 40% of our full-time campus based postgraduate researchers come from outside the EU and we have significant numbers of research degree candidates from China, India, Nigeria, Malaysia, Pakistan, Taiwan, the USA, and Saudi Arabia. While our distance learning researchers are based all around the world.

Our Graduate School is one of the largest in the UK and postgraduates make up nearly 50% of our total student population - reflecting the central place held by postgraduate education in the University's mission. In total our postgraduate researcher community has some 1,300 members with researchers based across the University's forty academic Schools, Departments, and research Centres, and representing a huge range of research disciplines.

Meet Our Postgraduate Researchers

Don't just take our word for it though - hear from some of our postgraduate researchers themselves and learn more about why they chose the University of Leicester for their research degree:

Raising Your Profile as a Researcher

A crucial step in your development will be raising your profile as a researcher and making yourself known in the research community within the University and beyond. We provide a range of opportunities to help you find your feet, make new contacts, and share your work with a wider audience:

• Induction events to welcome you to our community and help you adjust to life as a postgraduate researcher - including a dedicated welcome week for international students and postgraduate researchers
• Seminars, conferences, and other research events to broaden your knowledge of research developments in your discipline and help you refine your own research ideas
• A year-round programme of networking events for postgraduate researchers such as the New History Lab and the Cafe Researcher where postgraduate researchers from all disciplines can get together over drinks to meet, talk, and share ideas
• Our prestigious Festival of Postgraduate Research where sixty of the best postgraduates get the opportunity to present their work to the wider University, employers, the media, and the general public
• Support to enable attendance at UK and international conferences where you will present papers, develop your confidence in disseminating research findings, and network with fellow researchers, academics, and employers

Find a PhD/MPhil

Learn more about why we are the natural choice for the next generation of world-class researchers - search our PhD and MPhil programmes.