Postgraduate Research
The Graduate School is at the heart of Birmingham Newman University’s research and postgraduate community.
It supports high-quality research and postgraduate education – both on campus and via distance learning – while ensuring students receive strong academic and pastoral support.
Our mission
- Promote excellence in research and postgraduate education
- Share best practice across all areas of postgraduate study
- Monitor and review postgraduate programmes to support high completion rates
- Ensure appropriate academic and pastoral provision for postgraduate students
Leadership and support
The Graduate School is led by the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor – Research and Scholarship, who oversees research strategy and represents the University in national networks such as GuildHE, CREST, and MURG.
Supporting roles include:
- Head of Graduate School – responsible for policy, progress monitoring, and compliance with validating partner regulations
- Research Office Administrator – manages student records, ethics applications, and funding processes
Our structure
The Graduate School includes:
Postgraduate Research Students
A vibrant community of scholars engaged in original research across disciplines.
Research Centres
- Applied Humanities Research Centre
- Centre for Community & Social Justice
- Education and Childhood Research Centre
REF Units of Assessment
- Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy
- Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience
- Social Work and Social Policy
- Education
- Sport and Exercise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism
- English Language and Literature
- History
- Theology and Religious Studies
The Graduate School coordinates submissions to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and hosts regular staff seminars and workshops.
Researcher development with Vitae
Birmingham Newman is a proud member of Vitae, the global leader in researcher development. Vitae offers expert resources for career planning, academic progression, and skills development.
All staff and students have full access to www.vitae.ac.uk using their institutional email address. Popular resources include:
- CV examples for academic and non-academic careers
- Advice on pursuing an academic career
- The Vitae Researcher Development Framework
- Guidance on completing a doctorate
Supervision areas
Education and Professional Studies
The Education and Professional Studies team at Birmingham Newman University is actively engaged in a wide range of research initiatives. Our work is collaborative and interdisciplinary, involving colleagues from across the University and partnerships with regional, national, and international organisations.
This research reflects our commitment to advancing educational theory and practice, contributing to professional development, and shaping policy through evidence-based inquiry.
Research Interests
- Education and social policy
- Creativity and imagination in education
- Cultural politics of media/popular culture education
- Inter-professional collaboration and communities of practice
- Safeguarding children and workforce reform
- Education and interdisciplinary practitioner research
- Qualitative research methodology and research representation
- School assessment and discursive negotiation of learning identities
- Higher education practice and student engagement.
English
English is a thriving research area at Birmingham Newman University, with expertise spanning colonial and postcolonial literature, twentieth-century and contemporary writing, drama, and manuscript and print culture.
Our team actively contributes to national and international academic communities through conference presentations, publications, and collaborative projects. We host a regular research seminar series and co-organise the annual Print Networks Conference, which explores the history and influence of print culture.
Staff publish scholarly articles, edit literary texts and essay collections, and are contracted for forthcoming monographs with leading publishers including Ashgate and Palgrave Macmillan.
Creative and Cultural Engagement
English staff work closely with published writers and dramatists to enrich both regional and national literary and performance culture. Our research is outward-facing, creative, and committed to making a meaningful contribution to public discourse.
Current Doctoral Research
PhD students in the department are exploring topics such as:
- Postcolonial and eco-critical representations of landscapes in Indian literature
- The twentieth-century middlebrow writer Clemence Dane
- The representation of Trade Unionism in twentieth-century literature
Research Interests
- Early modern drama
- Early modern travel writing
- Print culture
- The contemporary dramatist Edward Bond
- Colonial and postcolonial literature
- African women’s writing
- South Asian literatures
- The twentieth century middlebrow writer Clemence Dane.
History
History at Birmingham Newman University is a dynamic and wide-ranging research area, with work spanning from classics and reception to modern political culture. Our historians publish across diverse platforms, contribute to local and national media, and speak at academic events around the world.
In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), much of the subject area’s research was recognised as internationally significant, with a proportion rated as world-leading.
Meet the team
Dr Emma Folwell
Specialises in twentieth-century American history, with a focus on poverty and community action. Emma welcomes MRes and PhD enquiries in modern American history, especially projects exploring poverty and resistance in the mid-twentieth century.
Dr Juliette Harrisson
Researches myth and religion in the ancient Roman world and the reception of antiquity in modern popular culture. Juliette is happy to supervise MRes projects in ancient history, particularly those involving gender, family, myth, religion, emotional history, and the application of modern psychology to ancient contexts.
Dr Charlotte Lewandowski
Focuses on authority and identity in the High Middle Ages, especially the role of the medieval episcopate and ecclesiastical power. Charlotte welcomes MRes and PhD enquiries in Western European medieval studies, with particular interest in episcopal authority and church institutions.
Postgraduate Opportunities
The History team has a strong track record in supporting postgraduate students. Supervision is often interdisciplinary and benefits from collaboration with other research institutions, offering a rich and supportive environment for advanced study.
Sport and Health
Sport and Health is one of the most established and successful research areas at Birmingham Newman University. The team is made up of enthusiastic early-career and experienced researchers, all committed to advancing knowledge in sport performance, physical activity, health, and the social dimensions of sport.
Our research is supported by a strong institutional ethos and strategy that encourages staff to pursue impactful scholarly work.
Research Excellence and Impact
In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), the majority of published research in this subject area was rated as internationally excellent or world-leading. The social impact of our research was also recognised as internationally excellent, reflecting our commitment to real-world relevance and community engagement.
Collaborative Research
The Sport and Health team leads collaborative initiatives with:
- Universities across the UK and internationally
- Subject associations
- National and international governing bodies
- Local authorities
- Charities and businesses
These partnerships strengthen the reach and impact of our research, ensuring it contributes meaningfully to both academic and professional communities.
Research Interests
- Physical exertion and sports performance
- Mental toughness and mental skills training in sports performance
- Social and environmental correlates of physical activity and physical activity interventions (including children)
- Social justice and inequalities in sport and physical activity
- Physical activity, sport and mental health
- Bayesian data analysis in sport and health contexts
Psychology
The Psychology and Counselling team at Birmingham Newman University focuses on applied research that explores health, wellbeing, and the lived experiences of individuals and communities. Current projects include:
- Students’ perceptions of health risks and behaviours
- Narratives of untreated heavy drinking
- The experiences of same-sex couples in counselling
Our research is closely aligned with the subject area’s strengths in professional training, particularly in Counselling and Applied Psychology, ensuring that scholarly inquiry is grounded in real-world practice and impact.
Theology
The Theology team at Birmingham Newman University has a long-standing tradition of postgraduate teaching and research, supported by a well-established MA in Contemporary Christian Theology and a growing community of doctoral researchers.
We offer MPhil and PhD supervision across a range of areas, including:
- Christian theology
- Biblical studies
- Early post-biblical Judaism
- Contemporary philosophical theology
- History of philosophy
- Feminist theology
- Religious Education
- Theological reflection in ministry or professional practice
Research Culture and Collaboration
Our staff regularly publish scholarly work and present at academic conferences. We place a strong emphasis on building supportive relationships between staff and students, fostering a collaborative and inclusive research environment.
The Newman Research Centre for the Bible and its Reception, housed within the Theology subject area, offers opportunities for students to engage with scholars of international standing and participate in an active research culture.
Recent developments—including the appointment of two visiting professors and the award of a fully funded PhD studentship—have made Theology one of the University’s most rapidly expanding research areas.
Research Interests
- Old and New Testament Studies
- The use of the Old Testament in the New Testament
- Early Post-biblical Judaism
- Reception of the Jewish and Christian Bible
- Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century English Platonism and Neo-Platonism
- Contemporary developments in natural theology and its place in the science-theology conversation
- Bio-ethics
- Feminist theology
- Religious Education
- Theologising and philosophising with children
- Late ancient religion and culture
- Patristics and Early Christianity.