Expand your knowledge and understanding of your professional practice to become a critically aware strategic thinker, and make a significant contribution to the advancement of policing in your area.
Complete your Professional Doctorate while working full-time - regardless of your schedule - with our flexible blended-learning delivery.
Join forces with PIER, our Policing Institute for the Eastern Region, with links to local and regional forces and chief officers at local and national level.
Always feel supported with online resources including a learning management system, online library services, web-based forums, and Study Skills Plus.
Our Professional Doctorate in Policing will help you deepen your knowledge and understanding of your chosen area of policing without the need to take time out from your career. By continuing to work as you study, you will be well placed to put your new-found skills directly into practise, as well as bringing the ongoing experience of your professional life to your course.
Throughout your studies, you will have the opportunity to develop new skills and refine existing ones, such as critical thinking, conducting original research, and communicating research to different audiences, which will not only contribute to your own professional development but give you scope to advance your particular area of policing.
The programme is split into two phases; the taught phase and the research phase. Over the first two years, you will take four 30-credit taught modules:
The Professional Practitioner-Researcher (Year 1, Semester 1)
Discover how to conduct research within the field of policing, and learn to think reflexively about your professional environment.
Extending Professional Practice (Year 1, Semester 2)
Gain in-depth knowledge of an area of enquiry related to your professional interests by studying both the academic and professional literature.
Advanced Professional Research Methods (Year 2, Semester 1)
Gain a deeper understanding of the research process and assist in the development of conceptual frameworks.
Advanced Professional Data Collection and Analysis (Year 2, Semester 2)
Begin preparing for your research project by creating research questions, outlining ethical considerations and considering the relationship between your profession, your studies and your own professional development.
During the second part of the course you will work on and complete a substantive research project of up to 60,000 words.
Assessments for the taught phase are varied - from written reports and portfolios, to presentations and a research proposal. Assessment of the research phase is by way of a written thesis and viva.
