2024/25 entry

MPhil, PhD Postgraduate research opportunities in Nursing and Advanced Practice

Start date(s):
October 2024, February 2025, June 2025
Study mode:
Full-time
Part-time
Course duration:
MPhil Full-time: 2 years, MPhil Part-time: 4 years, PhD Full-time: 4 years, PhD Part-time: 7 years

Tuition fees

TBC

Fee information can be found on the Doctoral Academy web pages

General enquiries:
pgradmissions@ljmu.ac.uk
International admissions
international@ljmu.ac.uk

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About this course

Excellent research opportunities await at the School of Nursing and Advanced Practice, enabling you to work at the forefront of developments with leading experts.

  • Study full or part-time over two to seven years
  • Choose from a wide range of subject areas (see Details tab for more information)
  • Complete your research degree (MPhil/PhD) in a Faculty known for its internationally-acclaimed research
  • Explore scholarship opportunities 
  • Benefit from expert supervision and researcher training
  • Enjoy excellent facilities and great employment connections

The programme route you undertake will depend on your qualifications and experience. 

You will be allocated up to four supervisors, including a Lead Supervisor who will work with you throughout your studies and provide you with appropriate levels of support and guidance. 

Throughout your studies, you will also have the support of LJMU’s Doctoral Academy which offers expert advice and guidance to those enrolled on MPhil and PhD programmes.

Fees and funding

How to fund your postgraduate research

Securing funding can be one of the main hurdles you face when considering postgraduate research. However, help is available. LJMU has a team of fees and funding experts who can offer advice based on your personal circumstances. You can contact them on 0151 231 3153/3154 or via studentadvice@ljmu.ac.uk

Employability

Further your career prospects

LJMU has an excellent employability record with 96% (HESA 2018) of our postgraduates in work or further study six months after graduation. Our applied learning techniques and strong industry connections ensure our students are fully prepared for the workplace on graduation and understand how to apply their knowledge in a real world context.

Studying for a postgraduate research degree enhances your employability in a number of ways.

As well as enabling you to focus on your specific areas of interest and expand your subject knowledge ready for employment in your chosen sector, a postgraduate research qualification enables you to take charge of your career path by demonstrating your contribution to an area of knowledge. It enhances your self-confidence and showcases your ability to work independently and ‘go it alone’.

Some postgraduate research students are already in full-time employment when they begin their studies, whilst others are recent graduates looking to extend their research capabilities and subject expertise.

A good proportion of our students return to their existing roles with enhanced career prospects, others move on to further study or take up teaching roles in educational establishments.

According to a report by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), more than a quarter of graduates felt that their employment prospects were increased by their PG qualification. And when it comes to earnings, those with a postgrad qualification have been shown to earn an average of 24% more than those who leave education with an undergraduate degree.

The student experience

Discover life as a postgraduate student at LJMU.

Course modules

Discover the building blocks of your programme

School of Nursing and Advanced Practice

Explore the possibilities

LJMU’s School of Nursing and Advanced Practice offers a wealth of postgraduate research opportunities and impactful projects that integrate education and research and promote innovative service delivery, professional development and improved patient care.

The School of Nursing and Advanced Practice works with a wide range of health and social care organisations to design, deliver and evaluate dynamic postgraduate studies. Our wide-ranging, cutting-edge expertise enables you to enhance your existing skills in the field of health and social care, develop specialised knowledge and expertise and improve your long-term job prospects. All of our core topic areas meet the needs of the current healthcare agenda and the growing demand from this ever-evolving sector for increasingly skilled healthcare professionals.

Research for a higher degree should be an exciting, enjoyable, intellectually stimulating and valuable experience and that is what is on offer in the Nursing and Advanced Practice. You will benefit from unique networking opportunities, learn all about research methodology and work with expert academics carrying out innovative research and engagement activities. The wide range of expertise on offer in the School means it is able to provide extensive supervisory opportunities for postgraduate research. And due to the applied nature of the work here, tutors are always able to ensure research is relevant to professions, policy and practice.

Resident academics offer a dynamic, simulating and supportive research environment with regular research seminars, an annual Faculty research conference and training workshops. You will have a supervisory team made up of academic leaders in their field. This team will maintain close and regular contact with you, assessing your wider training needs, helping you to progress your research and upholding the highest possible standards.

Teaching

An insight into teaching on your course

To complement your research, specific training needs will be identified on an individual basis. You can study topics such as:

  • Advanced Presentation Skills 
  • Applying for Ethical Approval 
  • How to be an Effective Researcher
  • Poster Presentation/Design
  • Postgraduate Employability Skills
  • Project Management
  • Writing Skills including Creative Planning for Writing your Thesis
  • Surviving the Viva
  • Speed Reading

Assessment

How learning is monitored on your programme

To cater for the wide-ranging content of our courses and the varied learning preferences of our students, we offer a range of assessment methods on each programme.

The MPhil differs from the PhD in terms of the depth of study required and the extent of your personal contribution to knowledge. It requires competence in conducting an independent enquiry as well as in the use of appropriate research methods and techniques. Examiners will expect you to display satisfactory background knowledge of the subject. 

To gain a PhD you are expected to show mastery of a special field and to have made an original personal contribution to the understanding of a problem, the advancement of knowledge, or the generation of new ideas. Examiners will expect you to be at the forefront of understanding in your chosen topic. 

School facilities

What you can expect from your School

We offer postgraduate researchers access to excellent teaching and learning facilities plus plentiful social spaces and, of course, support and guidance from our expert academics.

Entry requirements

You will need:

  • a minimum 2.1 or Masters degree with a research dissertation in a relevant subject 

Additional information:

  • IELTS 6.5 minimum 5.5 in each component)
  • 58-64 (minimum 51 in each component for UKVI purposes)
  • RPL is accepted on this programme

We also welcome applications from those with non-standard qualifications who can demonstrate knowledge, experience, and skills developed in the workplace or other setting relevant to the programme of research. If you do not hold the standard academic entry requirements, please use your personal statement to provide further details. Non-standard applications will be considered by the Admissions Tutor(s) on a case-by-case basis.

If you have any specific queries, please contact health@ljmu.ac.uk

Application and selection

Securing your place at LJMU

All research degree registrations are subject to approval by the Faculty and University’s Research Degrees Committee. The Applications process is as follows:

  1. Complete and submit your application using this online form
  2. You will receive an acknowledgement
  3. Your application will be considered by the Admissions Tutor
  4. We will take up your academic references
  5. You may need to provide further information or attend an interview
  6. You will be informed if your application has been successful and will find out about any conditions of acceptance

The University reserves the right to withdraw or make alterations to a course and facilities if necessary; this may be because such changes are deemed to be beneficial to students, are minor in nature and unlikely to impact negatively upon students or become necessary due to circumstances beyond the control of the University. Where this does happen, the University operates a policy of consultation, advice and support to all enrolled students affected by the proposed change to their course or module.

Further information on the terms and conditions of any offer made, our admissions policy and the complaints and appeals process.