university of leeds phd thesis

Welcome to White Rose eTheses Online

White rose etheses online.

Welcome to White Rose eTheses Online, a shared repository of electronic theses from the University of Leeds, the University of Sheffield and the University of York.

Student from the University of Leeds, Sheffield or York? Need to upload your thesis? Start by creating an account , or login to your account

If you are unsure if this is the right place for you, check the FAQs .

Recent additions for Leeds , Sheffield , York or all recent additions .

What is White Rose eTheses Online?

This repository gives access to theses awarded by the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York. The available repository content can be accessed for free, without the need to log on or create an account, as per the instructions of the depositing author. We also make the content available through aggregator sites via harvesting mechanisms.

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Examination process overview

When you're approaching the end of your research degree, there are a few steps you'll need to take to initiate the submission and examination process. 

Find out the process and timescales for the submission and examination of your thesis so you know what to expect and how long it's likely to take. Please see the Guide to the thesis submission process  (PDF) for more detailed information. 

For information about what will change, such as your stipend payments and council tax status after you submit your thesis, make sure to read the Between Submission and the Viva page of the For Students website .

During the final year of the standard period of study

• A range of support is available for your final year of the standard period of study via online training courses and modules. You can find more information on the Training and research skills page of the For Students Website .
• You should familiarise yourself with the expected and maximum time limits for the submission of your thesis on the How long does a research degree take? page of the For Students website . You can check your GRAD record for all milestones dates and contact your Graduate School if you have any questions.
• You should also begin thinking about the process for examination entry. You can find out more about the examination entry process on the Examination entry page of the For Students website .

At least three months before submitting your thesis

• You should complete and submit the GRAD examination entry workflow. Read more about this process on the Examination entry page of the For Students website .
• Your supervisor will approach potential examiners.
• Once the potential examiners have informally agreed, your supervisor will complete their part of the examination entry workflow with the nominations.
• The workflow is checked by your Graduate School and Director of Postgraduate Research Studies (DPGRS). It is then sent to Doctoral College Operations (DCO) to check the eligibility of the proposed examiners before the Progression and Examinations Group (PEG) reviews and approves the recommendation.

Proof-reading your thesis

• You are permitted to have your thesis proof-read by a third party for submission before examination. You can find out more about proof-reading in the Postgraduate Research Proof Reading Policy and Guidance on the Policies and Procedures page of the SES website (PDF) . 
• Responsibility for all aspects of the thesis submitted for assessment remains with you as the author of the thesis. 

Submitting your thesis

• Theses should be submitted via GRAD as a PDF; hard-bound copies are not required.
• You may upload your thesis to GRAD at any time in the day up to 23:59 on or before your thesis submission deadline, but please bear in mind that it is likely that Graduate School and Doctoral College Operations staff will only be available to support and assist you during normal office hours. 
• Where the maximum time limit for submission falls on a day when the University is closed because of either a holiday period (for instance a Bank Holiday) or a weekend, the deadline for upload of the thesis to GRAD will be no later than 23:59 the next working day. 
• Further information is available on the Submitting your thesis page of the For Students website . 

Your oral examination (viva)

• This will normally take place within three months of your examiners receiving your thesis.
• You can attend the Your Viva workshop run throughout the year by OD&PL. You can find more information about this workshop and other support available on the Training and research skills page of the For Students website .
• If you wish, your supervisor can attend your viva.
• The examiners informally notify you of their recommendation (usually immediately after the viva but within 24 hours).
• Further information is available on The viva page of the For Students website .

After your oral examination (viva)

• The examiners prepare an examiners’ report on the viva which is passed to the DPGRS before forwarding to DCO. 
• The examiners’ report is considered at the next Progression and Examinations Group meeting. The examiners’ recommendations are always subject to final approval by that Group. 
• If you've been recommended for the award of the degree with no corrections, you can prepare and deposit your eThesis. 
• If you've received a referral, you'll receive individual notes for guidance, outlining the required changes to help you prepare to resubmit. These notes must be submitted with the examiners’ report for approval by the Progression and Examinations Group. The notes will be issued to you by DCO after approval. Further information about referral is available on the Referral and resubmission for research degrees page of the For Students website . 
• Further information about what to do after your viva is available on The outcome of your viva page of the For Students website and After your viva page of the For Students website . 

Depositing your final thesis

• Once the internal examiner has approved any corrections, you can arrange for your eThesis to be uploaded to White Rose eThesis Online (WREO). You can find out more about WREO on the Submit your eThesis page of the University library website . 

Publication of pass list

Pass lists are published weekly, usually on a Friday. Your name will be published on a pass list after: 

• The examiners’ report has been approved at a Graduate Board’s Progression and Examinations Group meeting.
• DCO has received confirmation that the internal examiner is satisfied that you've completed any required corrections.
• You have submitted your eThesis.
• You've paid all your tuition fees.
• Marks have been returned for any taught modules that form part of your programme of study.
• After your name has been included on a pass list, your examiners report will normally be uploaded to GRAD within 10 working days.
• You will be notified of award of your degree by email and in GRAD.

Further information on the award of your degree and graduation can be found on the Award of your research degree and graduation page of the For Students website . 

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Research Theses

All theses listed are PhD theses unless otherwise stated. Abstracts are available for most theses and can be viewed by following the appropriate link.

The title of each of these theses is a link which, if followed, causes the thesis (pdf) to be downloaded or displayed. 

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• Faculty of Social Sciences
• School of Sociology and Social Policy
• Research degrees

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

A PhD is the most internationally-recognised research qualification.

Studying for a PhD allows you to become an expert in your chosen specialist area, and gain high-quality research training that will equip you to undertake subsequent research projects. You will also become a key member of the School’s academic research community.

Throughout your doctoral studies, you will carry out original research under the guidance of two supervisors and will produce an original thesis of approximately 100,000 words. 

For the first twelve months, or eighteen months if part-time, you will be enrolled as a provisional PhD candidate. In this period, you develop a detailed research proposal and write a literature review. This work is then submitted to a panel of examiners who assess it and provide you with feedback and advice on the progress of your research.

This procedure is called 'upgrading' and is an important means of monitoring the progress of your work, assessing, amongst other matters, whether your proposal has enough weight to be accurately explored through a PhD research path.

After successfully upgrading, you will enrol as a full PhD candidate, complete your research and write a thesis of approximately 100,000 words. 

The degree of Doctor of Philosophy is awarded on the basis of this thesis, and your viva voce, where you present and discuss the rationale, methods and findings of your original study with an examining panel.

A PhD can be taken full-time (three years) or part-time (five years).

Areas of supervision

Our research supervision offers a wide breadth of activity across several key academic teams.

The School has approximately 70 students studying towards a PhD who come from around the world, including 50 academic and research staff, working both as individual scholars and through specific groupings or centres.

Explore our research centres to discover the themes and supervisors relating to your field of study:

• Centre for Disability Studies (CDS)
• Centre for Ethnicity and Racism Studies (CERS)
• Centre for Research on Family, Life Course and Generations (FLaG)
• Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies (CIGS)
• The Bauman Institute

Many of our academic staff are also involved in the Leeds Social Science Institute which fosters interdisciplinary research collaborations and provides training for our postgraduate researchers.

Research training and skills

Although we cater for diverse backgrounds, PhD registration will always involve a doctoral programme, in which you will undergo research training, alongside the preparation of the thesis.

We assess the specific research needs of all prospective PhD candidates each year, and you will probably undertake further training to ensure you have the necessary research skills.

As part of the ESRC funded Doctoral Training Centre, the ESRC accredits the school for the 1+3 and +3 schemes. We expect all PhD candidates to complete the required research training, equivalent to the MA Social Research by the end of the first full year of their PhD.

If you are an overseas candidate, you should be aware that we need you to demonstrate you already have, or are willing to undertake, the required research training.

However, we understand there will always be exceptional cases and situations where the specific research needs of a researcher have to be considered and the School tries to tailor the research training to individual needs.

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• Thesis or dissertation

Leeds Harvard: Thesis or dissertation

Reference examples.

Family name, INITIAL(S). Year. Title . Type of qualification, academic institution.

Dang, V.A. 2007 . Three essays in financial economics . Ph.D. thesis, University of Leeds.

Citation examples

Author and date.

When the author name is not mentioned in the text, the citation consists of the author’s name and the year of publication in brackets.

It was emphasised that citations in the text should be consistent (Jones, 2017).

If you have already named the author in the text, only the publication year needs to be mentioned in brackets.

Jones (2017) emphasised that citations in the text should be consistent.

Three or more authors

If a source has three or more authors, the name of the first author should be given, followed by the phrase "et al."

It was emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent (Jones et al., 2017).

Jones et al. (2017) emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent.

Leeds Harvard does not use ibid to refer to previously cited items. If you are citing the same item twice in a row (i.e. you do not cite any other items in the text between the two citations) you must write the full citation again. As usual, if you are directly quoting or paraphrasing specific ideas, you should include a page number (if there is one). 

Jones et al. (2017, p.24) emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent and argued that referencing is a key part of academic integrity (2017, p.27). Furthermore, having a broad range of references in a text is an indicator of the breadth of a scholar's reading and research (Jones et al., 2017, p.14).

When to include page numbers

You should include page numbers in your citation if you quote directly from the text, paraphrase specific ideas or explanations, or use an image, diagram, table, etc. from a source.

"It was emphasised that citations in a text should be consistent" (Jones, 2017, p.24).

When referencing a single page, you should use p. For a range of pages, use pp.

p.7 or pp.20-29.

If the page numbers are in Roman numerals, do not include p. before them.

(Amis, 1958, iv)

Common issues

When you're referencing with Leeds Harvard you may come across issues with missing details, multiple authors, edited books, references to another author's work or online items, to name a few. Here are some tips on how to deal with some common issues when using Leeds Harvard.

Skip straight to the issue that affects you:

• Online items
• URL web addresses
• Multiple authors
• Corporate author(s) or organisation(s)
• Multiple publisher details
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• Missing details
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• Sources written by the same author in the same year
• Sources with the same author in different years
• Two authors with the same surname in the same year
• The work of one author referred to by another
• Anonymising sources for confidentiality
• Identifying the authors’ family name (surname)

• Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures
• Institute for Medieval Studies
• Research degrees

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Our PhD can be studied on a full-time or part-time basis and will culminate in the completion of a research thesis.

Subject Specialisms

We welcome proposals for any area of research within Medieval studies, however the expertise of our academic staff  means we are particularly keen to hear from prospective PhD students who have in interest in the following areas:

• Religion including clergy, religious orders, papacy, cult of saints, sermons and theology, canon law, Islamic institutions of learning, Jewish cultural history and Jewish-Christian relations and mysticism.
• Literature including Late Medieval Italian and Renaissance (including lyric and political writing), Latin and Anglo-Latin, Old English, Anglo-Norman, Middle English, Arthurian Literature, Middle High German, Old Norse (including mythology), Old and Middle French.
• Culture including courtly culture, heraldry and trans-cultural encounters.
• Society including food, gender, medicine and animal studies.
• Language including Latin and the vernaculars, translation and communication.
• Material culture including art, architecture, manuscripts, coins and numismatics.
• Medievalism including post-medieval reception of medieval texts, middle ages in film and medieval themes in games.
• War including warfare, crusades, tournaments, arms and armour.
• Geographical including Scandinavia, England and Scotland, German-speaking lands, Baltic, East-Central Europe, Southern Italy and Sicily, Mediterranean, Iberia, Middle East, frontiers and boarders of medieval Europe.

We also cover many of these themes across the medieval period. Search for a supervisor and see the expertise of our academic staff in our staff profiles.

We would strongly encourage you to contact the  IMS in the first instance, before applying, for advice on areas of supervision available.

Programme Structure

Your PhD will usually take 3 years (or 5 years for part-time students), and during your first year you will develop important foundation skills and knowledge to prepare you for undertaking doctoral-level research. Therefore, a unique aspect of our PhD course is that you will take a number of taught modules at the start of your study. This helps us to ensure you are fully prepared for undertaking your research and that you have received training in techniques you may need for developing your thesis. 

Modules may include: 

• Research Methods and Bibliography
• Medieval latin (or alternative source language, if more relevant to the intended area of research)
• Palaeography: Reading Medieval Manuscripts
• You will also take a non-assessed module in a foreign language relevant to your area of research.

Your first year will also focus on shaping a plan for your thesis and your PhD supervisors will work closely with you to provide bibliographical and methodological guidance.

In the subsequent years, you will continue conducting your research under the guidance of your supervisors. Each year you will present an annual paper on your progress at a research seminar held by the Institute for Medieval Studies. This is a great opportunity to gain experience of presenting papers and is also an opportunity to share your work with academics and fellow students from across the Institute. You will also be encouraged to seek out opportunities to present papers at national and international conferences in order to further develop your experience of academic research.

Research opportunities

Civil engineering.

Expertise of research area architecture; concrete; construction; energy geotechnics; environmental engineering; high speed rail; infrastructure robotics; project management; public health engineering; safe low carbon buildings; sanitation; structural engineering; transport infrastructure

Research in the School of Civil Engineering contributes to delivering the infrastructure that we all rely on in everyday life. We have an ethos of working at the interfaces with other disciplines to tackle key societal and technical challenges, and our research has an impact on a global scale.

<p>The School of Civil Engineering is <a href="https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/civil-engineering-research-degrees/doc/reputation">globally renowned</a> for its teaching, research and engagement with industry and government. According to the Research Excellence Framework 2014, we&rsquo;re 2nd in the UK for research power. We&rsquo;re a Top 100 university for Civil and Structural Engineering in the QS World University Rankings by subject 2019.</p> <h3>Our interdisciplinary research areas</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/cities-infrastructure-energy">Cities, Infrastructure&nbsp;and Energy</a></li> <li><a href="https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/civil-engineering-materials-structures">Materials and Structures</a></li> <li><a href="https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/civil-engineering-water-public-health-environmental-engineering">Water, Public Health and Environmental Engineering</a></li> </ul> <p>We have strong partnerships within the University of Leeds, including long standing collaborations with the <a href="https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/transport">Institute for Transport Studies</a> and the <a href="http://cgd.leeds.ac.uk/">Centre for Global Development</a> and a leadership role in two major initatives: <a href="https://water.leeds.ac.uk/">water@leeds</a>, an interdisciplinary centre for water research; and Cities, a University wide research theme.</p> <h3>Research centres</h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.leeds.ac.uk/info/130578/institute_for_high_speed_rail_and_system_integration">Institute for High-Speed Rail and System Integration</a></li> <li><a href="https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/civil-engineering-research-innovation/doc/centre-infrastructure-materials">Centre for Infrastructure Materials</a></li> <li><a href="https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/civil-engineering-research-innovation/doc/neville-centre">Neville Centre of Excellence in Cement and Concrete Engineering</a></li> </ul> <p>We have a range of PhD opportunities within the School of Civil Engineering. You&rsquo;ll join a friendly, supportive and diverse community of postgraduate researchers who come from all over the world.</p> <h5>Why do your PhD at Leeds?&nbsp;</h5> <p><strong>96% of our research is world-leading (REF 2021)&nbsp;</strong><br /> At Leeds, our research addresses the most prevalent real-world challenges &ndash; providing solutions that have had both a national and global impact.&nbsp;<br /> <strong>Study in an active research environment&nbsp;</strong><br /> Studying your PhD with us means you&rsquo;ll be working in a professional research environment, using UK-leading facilities to bring your project to life &ndash; alongside active researchers who are at the forefront of their area.&nbsp;<br /> <strong>A strong network of support &nbsp;</strong><br /> The Leeds Doctoral College connects our community of researchers and can offer you the guidance, services and opportunities you&rsquo;ll need to get the most out of your PhD.&nbsp;<br /> <strong>Close industry links&nbsp;</strong><br /> Our partnerships and links to companies and academic institutions give you the opportunity to network at industry talks, seminars and conferences, building connections that&#39;ll benefit your next steps after you complete your PhD.&nbsp;<br /> <strong>Professional skills development &nbsp;</strong><br /> We think of the whole picture at Leeds. That&rsquo;s why we offer a range of workshops and courses that&#39;ll enhance your skillset further and transfer into your professional career.&nbsp;<br /> <strong>Personal and wellbeing services&nbsp;</strong><br /> Mental health and wellbeing support are integral to who we are at Leeds and you&rsquo;ll have access to the full range of services we offer to ensure you&rsquo;re feeling your best &ndash; and reaching your potential in your studies.&nbsp;<br /> <strong>Join our global community&nbsp;</strong><br /> We welcome students, researchers, academics, partners and alumni from more than 140 countries, all over the world. This means, as a university, we&rsquo;re bringing together different cultures and perspectives which helps strengthen our research &ndash; and societal impact.</p> <h3>Useful links and further reading:</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://engineering.leeds.ac.uk/info/201313/research_degrees">Research degrees in the School of Civil Engineering</a></li> <li><a href="https://engineering.leeds.ac.uk/info/201315/research_and_innovation">School of Civil Engineering, Research&nbsp;and Innovation</a>&nbsp;</li> </ul> <h3>Leeds Doctoral College</h3> <p>Our <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/research-leeds-doctoral-college">Doctoral College</a> supports you throughout your postgraduate research journey. It brings together all the support services and opportunities to enhance your research, your development, and your overall experience.</p>

<p>Formal applications for research degree study should be made online through the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/research-applying/doc/applying-research-degrees">University&#39;s website</a>.</p>

<p>For general enquiries and details regarding the application process, please contact the Graduate School Office:</p> <p>e:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>, t: +44 (0)113 34 35057</p>