178 PhD programmes offered by the university

Our research in the States, Political Systems and Development degree at The Open University UK seeks to shed light on how states as drivers and agents of development, while also exploring  alternative political systems that challenge the prevailing development paradigms. 

Our Social Work research at The Open University UK is recognised for its innovative approach and academic rigour, with many of our academics internationally renowned as subject experts.

Language and Globalisation is a key topic in the Language and Literacies Research Cluster at The Open University UK. Globalisation can be understood broadly as a set of major technological, political, economic, technological and socio-cultural changes which have intensified over recent decades and made the world more interconnected, both physically and virtually.

Geochemistry is a key theme in the Dynamic Earth Research and Palaeoenvironmental Change Groups and has been a major focus of the research carried out at The Open University UK for nearly 40 years.

The changing climate and environmental quality underpin economies. Economic activity at the micro and macro levels also fundamentally influences environmental sustainability. This Economics of the Environment and Climate Change programme is offered at The Open University UK.

The Open University has a long legacy of research that combines design thinking and innovation approaches with systemic and environmental issues. This Sustainable Design and Innovation programme is offered at The Open University UK.

The Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics Group in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at The Open University UK is made up of the Fluid Dynamics and Soft Matter Group, Mathematical Biology, Mathematics of Planet Earth Group, Statistical Physics Group, and Theory of Condensed Matter Group.

The Migrations, Diasporas, Transnational Communities discipline at The Open University UK has extensive interests and an international profile in this field. It is engaged in a number of lived-experience, policy-, welfare- and criminologically related research projects.

The Social Policy and Criminology - Crime, Harm, Criminalisation and Criminal Justice research group at The Open University UK is recognised for critical scholarship, that challenges assumptions about ‘crime’, ‘the criminal’ and/or ‘justice’ and critically interrogates criminology as a discipline.

This Feminism, Law and Gender research cluster at The Open University UK provides an intellectual and collaborative space for academics, visiting researchers and PhD students interested in gender-focused and feminist analysis of the law.

Research in Political Economy and Environmental Politics at The Open University UK explores conceptual and practical issues at the intersection of environmental concerns, politics and justice.

Our Laboratory Astrophysics research at The Open University UK is in experimental molecular physics, with specific application to astrophysical environments.

Musical Acoustics research at The Open University UK is carried out by PhD students working individually or in collaboration with the Group’s other PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and academic staff.

A major concern of the 20th and 21st centuries has been the migration of people, objects, goods and ideas across and within borders. This Mobilities and Migration programme is offered at The Open University UK.

Religions are implicated in cultural and national traditions as well as in questions of identity and subjectivity. Political and national commitments and involvements are topics of interest here, ‘civil religion’ is a strong area of our existing research. This The State, Citizenships and Identities programme is offered at The Open University UK.

Environmental changes in Earth history can be used to help understand and predict the trajectory of future anthropogenically driven environmental change. This Climate Change, Past, Present and Future programme is offered at The Open University UK/

Research within Social Policy and Criminology at The Open University UK explores the intersections of Social Policy and Social Justice.

The Atmospheric Research and Surface Exploration group at The Open University UK undertakes world-leading climate modelling and atmospheric retrievals spaceflight instruments Beagle 2, Cassini-Huygens and the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO).

This Neuroscience and Behaviour research area is centred on the Neuroscience Research Cluster, a multidisciplinary grouping of faculty, research technicians and postgraduate research students based primarily in the School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences at The Open University UK.

Our collective research agenda at The Open University UK is defined by our commitment to Open Geographies: fostering new and emerging research exploring what it means to think geographically about the many social, political, cultural and environmental issues shaping these turbulent times.