CURRENT HARPER ADAMS STAFF ONLY: Part-time PhD

If a member of staff would like to carry out a part-time (PT) PhD at HAU the following conditions apply.

• PT PhDs would run for 6 years.


• The proposed research project must align with the university's research strategy and areas of research activity.


• In an academic year only 1 member of staff per department / facility can start a PT PhD.


• Fees will be waivered against the continual professional development fund.


• Supervisors can apply for up to £10k from QR for project costs over the 6 years of the PhD.


• Half a day a week will be given for the PhD time under the work load model.


• If a member of staff leaves the employment of HAU within 2 years of completing their PhD they will be responsible for reimbursing the fees in line with HR policy.


Staff wishing to carry out a PT PhD at HAU should follow the following procedure.

Academic staff

• Staff to discuss their interest in carrying out a PT PhD with their PDR reviewer. If the PDR reviewer is not the applicant's HoD the reviewer may also need to discuss this with the HoD.


• By 31stOctober staff submit a PhD application through Stonefish. The application needs to include;PhD proposal including identified supervisors and indicative project costs.


A letter explaining why they wish to carry out a PT PhD while employed by HAU.A letter of support from their HoD which confirms that the time allocation of half a day a week has been agreed under the WL plan and this resource can be covered within the department.

November all applications will be assessed with respect to the university's standard PhD entry requirements and applicants will be informed about interviews as soon as is reasonably practical.

Applications will be assessed by Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) (ARVCR) and Director of Postgraduate Research (DoPGR).

December / January applicants will be interviewed by the APVCR, DoPGR, proposed DoS and a research active colleague with subject expertise.

If successful the workload allocation will be made for the next academic year.

Applicants will attend the PGR student induction and start their PhD end September / early October.

Professional Services and Technical staff follow the above procedure with sign off from their line manager and Head of Department.

Harper Adams University is one of the premier UK Higher Education institutions focused on the land-based and food supply chain sector.

With around 2,800 undergraduate students, plus those completing postgraduate, research and CPD programmes, Harper Adams University is the UK's largest single provider of higher education for these subjects.

Programmes fall into eleven broad subject areas but none operate in isolation. Community and collaboration are key at Harper Adams, meaning everyone, including staff, students and industry partners, benefits from a close network of knowledge and opportunity exchange.

Situated in Shropshire, the campus and the surrounding area provide an excellent working and living environment for staff and students alike.

Harper Adams is consistently positioned highly in a range of national ratings, performance measures and league tables. The University has been the highest performing modern university in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide for the last four years, climbing to 17th place in the overall league table.

In the 2020 guide Harper Adams was named Modern University of the Year and runner-up University of the Year. In the 2019 Whatuni?

Student Choice Awards, based on student reviews, Harper Adams won the Student Support category for the fifth time the only university to have taken the title since the awards began - and won the category for best job prospects for a fourth year running.

In the 2020 QS World Rankings for Agriculture and Forestry published in March 2020, Harper Adams was ranked first in the UK for academic reputation and second in the world for its reputation with employers.

Harper Adams University is internationally recognised for the quality of its research, as evidenced by the Research Excellence Framework 2022.

In order to maintain and uphold the high standards of our research, we continue to undertake initiatives to ensure that integrity, ethics and excellence are at the core of our research activities and fully embedded in our research culture.

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