A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is an opportunity to pursue a topic you're passionate about at the highest academic level.

A PhD is an independent, supervised research project that is assessed on the submission of a thesis or creative work and exegesis. This course may be undertaken in any School within ECU, provided there are supervisors available in your proposed research area, and the resources and facilities required to complete your proposed project are accessible. ECU encourages interdisciplinary research that may span two or more disciplines. As a PhD candidate, you will be expected to develop a project that can be completed in three years full-time. You may submit your thesis any time after two years of full-time study, and the maximum course duration for a PhD is four years full-time. A PhD is a significant undertaking, and if enrolled full-time you are expected to commit at least 35 hours per week to your research.

Course Learning Outcomes

• Apply communication skills to explain and critique theoretical propositions, methodologies and conclusions, and cogently present findings of a complex and original investigation to peers and the broader community
• Integrate substantial and systemic understanding of complex discipline knowledge with research principles and methods to demonstrate expertise in the field
• Take responsibility and show initiative for designing and executing original research, demonstrating capacity to generate new knowledge with intellectual independence.
• Use expert skills and authoritative judgement to adapt and implement research methodologies and conduct systematic and independent investigation of theory and/or practice at the frontier of a discipline.

Career opportunities

Community development, Policing, Corrections (adult/youth), Policy Research, any justice related professional position

Possible future job titles

Police officer, Corrections officer, Researcher, Policy officer

Criminology:

Criminology and Justice research at ECU consists of two streams; the first stream is focused on offending, offenders and anti-social behaviour more broadly and the second on police practices and police operational deployment models.

Postgraduate research topics are developed in conjunction with the postgraduate coordinator or potential supervisor. Engaged research is a feature of research at ECU, and therefore students are encouraged to include an industry expert on their supervisory panel. Applications are particularly encouraged from those with an interest in: Policing Youth offending Drug and alcohol use and crime Human rights Corrections Researchers in the school are currently involved in projects focused on youth offending, policing the mentally ill, investigative interviewing, human source recruitment and management, police misconduct and police mental health and wellness.