The School welcomes enquiries relating to hardware of telecommunications, computer networks, games technology, electronic engineering and software engineering. Areas of research in which staff are currently active include gaming, e-business, home automation, learning technologies, intelligent systems, security and forensics, robotics and cloud computing.<br>A PhD, Doctor of Philosophy, is the highest-level qualification, based on individual and detailed research, resulting in a thesis of about 80,000 words.<br><br>The School offers specialist supervision if you wish to pursue research programmes for the award of PhD. You may undertake your research either full-time or part-time. If you are accepted for PhD research you will be assigned to a Director of Studies (your main supervisor) and at least one second supervisor. There will be a programme of training workshops and seminars to support you.<br><br>As a research student you will exposed to a versatile range of academics. You will be encouraged to take part in various activities, seminars, to publish in collaboration with your supervisors and to take part in research conferences nationally and (where possible) internationally. The Faculty as a whole also has a growing population of research students who organise social and academic events<br><br>The value of a PhD<br>The Doctor of Philosophy or PhD is recognised worldwide and is often an essential requirement for those wishing to follow an academic or research career in industry or commerce. <br><br>For some jobs a PhD is virtually a necessity in the academic world. In many professional roles it is an indicator of personal commitment, critical and creative thinking, personal management and ability to work with and even manage others, and is a step to promotion and higher-level, often managerial, roles.<br><br>After the PhD<br>From the very start of your PhD journey we encourage you to think about what happens after you graduate: how the PhD will contribute to your career plan from identifying and getting your first job to beyond. We use the VITAE research career development framework to help you plan for your future.