GraduateLaw
Master of Philosophy (Law)
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
About this program
An MPhil is a research degree, not coursework. Students admitted into QUT's Master of Philosophy (Law) are essentially doing a scaled-down PhD, working under a single or small team of academic supervisors on an original legal research thesis over roughly one to two years, rather than sitting through lectures and exams. It suits people who already have a strong law or related honours-level qualification and want to test whether they're suited to (or want to build a track record for) doctoral-level legal research, an academic career, or specialist policy/research roles.
QUT's law faculty has active research strengths in areas like technology and law, health law, and Indigenous legal issues, and MPhil candidates typically align their thesis topic with an existing supervisor's research area to get meaningful guidance rather than working in isolation. There's no fixed curriculum in the conventional sense; progress is marked by milestones (research proposal, confirmation of candidature, periodic progress review) rather than semester-based units.
Graduates either progress to a PhD (the MPhil can function as a stepping stone with credit transfer in some cases), move into specialist legal research or policy roles, or use the qualification alongside existing legal practice experience for academic or think-tank positions.
Fees & duration
English test scores
Verified qut.edu.au ↗
Course structure
Study plan in 4 parts
- Milestone-based structure rather than semester units: research proposal and literature review
- confirmation of candidature seminar
- periodic progress review
- thesis submission and oral examination
- one primary and one associate supervisor aligned with the candidate's research area
- a small number of research methods and academic writing units
- varying by candidate's prior qualifications
- Typical areas of supervision available: technology and law
- health law
- Indigenous legal issues
- commercial and corporate law
Career & PR pathway
Which careers in Law lead to skilled migration depends on the occupation, not the degree title. See the skilled occupation lists guide for which occupations are on each list, and the points calculator to check where you stand.
Admissions
Relevant bachelor's degree in law with a research proposal
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