Information on Research Groups

Research activity in the Faculty of Law is supported by 19 Research Groups, including an individual group embedded within and bearing the same name as each of the Faculty’s five Centres/Institutes. These Research Groups were originally created in 2020 (four more were added in 2025) with the aim of promoting and facilitating the research culture of the Faculty by providing a structure that supports projects and encourages interaction between scholars. Membership in more than one Research Group is encouraged to facilitate cross-disciplinary interactions.

The purpose of each Research Group is to:

• Support and foster new and ongoing research amongst its members;
• Encourage collaboration and community building within the group;
• Provide informal support and guidance, particularly to new and early-career colleagues;
• Promote the research and activities of the group and serve as a first point of contact for internal and external communications regarding research in the group’s field, primarily via a dedicated section on the Faculty website;
• Participate in the review of graduate research applications falling within the Group’s collective field of expertise.

Each Research Group is led by a Group Chair—see Role of Research Group Chairs below. When a Research Group is housed within a Centre/Institute, normally, the Director of the Centre/Institute also acts as Group Chair.

Each Research Group—with the exception of the Human Rights (Bonavero Institute), Criminology, and Socio-Legal Studies groups—receives a £2,500/year budget for research-related activities. The use of this budget to achieve the above objectives is at the discretion of individual Research Groups and its Chair(s). See the Research Group Allowance Policy & Process for more information.

Unless they choose to opt out of the scheme, each Teaching Group and Graduate Discussion Group in the Faculty is explicitly aligned with an appropriate Research Group (see further below). Teaching Groups and Discussion Groups may change their allocation if they wish.  

Note: If a Teaching Group does not wish its graduate applications to be processed through the Research Group structure, it can opt out of this part of the proposal and continue to assess graduate applications autonomously.

Membership

Each Teaching Group and Graduate Discussion Group in the Faculty is assigned to a Research Group, and the members of each Teaching or Discussion Group automatically become members of that Research Group.  Faculty members and research students may additionally opt to become a member of any other Research Group they wish to join.

Current Research Groups

The following 14 Research Groups have been created, and Chairs appointed. For the academic year starting October 2025 these are:

In addition, our five Centres/Institutes each have an associated Research Group:

Teaching and Discussion Groups

Our existing teaching and discussion groups have been allocated to these new Research Groups as follows:

Business Law

Commercial Law 

Company Law 

Comparative Corporate Law

Corporate Finance 

Corporate Insolvency Law 

European Business Regulation

Law and Finance 

Principles of Financial Regulation

Transnational Commercial Law 

Business and Human Rights Discussion Group

Comparative Law

Competition Law

Competition Law 

Criminal Law

Criminal Law

Criminal Law Discussion Group

Computers and Law

Law and Computer Science

Environmental Law 

Environmental Law

Environmental Law Discussion Group

Family and Medical Law 

Family Law

Medical Law and Ethics

Children's and Family Law Discussion Group 

Medical Law and Ethics Discussion Group

Health, Law and Emerging Technologies

Law and Technology

Regulation 

Future of Technology and Society Discussion Group

International Law 

Public International Law 

Public International Law (PIL) Discussion Group

Legal History

Legal History

Oxford Legal History Forum

Legal Philosophy 

Philosophy of Law 

Feminist Jurisprudence Discussion Group

Jurisprudence Discussion Group

Private Law

Advanced Property and Trusts 

Contract 

Land Law

Personal Property 

Private Law and Fundamental Rights

Restitution 

Roman Law 

Tort 

Trusts 

Obligations Discussion Group

Private Law Postgraduate Research Students Discussion Group 

Property Law Discussion Group

Public Law

Civil Procedure 

Constitutional and Administrative Law 

Evidence 

Procedural Justice and Evidence Discussion Group

Public Law Discussion Group

Taxation

Taxation

Tax Law and Policy Discussion Group

Criminology 

Criminology

Criminology and Criminal Justice 

Abolitionist Imaginaries and Praxis Discussion Group

Criminology DPhil Discussion Group

OxonCourts

Police and Policing Research Discussion Group

Southernising Criminology Discussion Group

European and Comparative Law 

Comparative Private Law 

European Union Law 

Chinese Law Discussion Group

Comparative Law Discussion Group

Competition Law and Policy Discussion Group

EU Law Discussion Group

Human Rights 

Human Rights Law 

Labour/Employment Law 

Bonavero Discussion Group

Decolonising the Law Discussion Group

Intellectual Property 

Intellectual Property 

Intellectual Property Discussion Group

Socio-Legal Studies 

Law in Society

Media Law

Empirical Legal Studies Discussion Group

Socio-Legal Discussion Group

Role of Research Group Chairs

Research Group Chairs are normally appointed for three years, with the possibility of renewal for one further year.  These positions are advertised in the usual way by the Head of Research (via e-mail) and nominations are put forward to the Board by the Personnel Committee. Except for those Group Chairs who are also Centre/Institute Directors, each Chair is paid a small salary supplement.

Research Group Chairs are expected to:

• In Coordination with the Faculty's Research Support Team, manage the Group's budget (for those groups receiving a £2500/year research allowance);
• Organise seminars and other events within the Research Group and a regular (at least annual) meeting of the Research Group to review activities;
• Act as a first point of contact for the Research Group both externally and internally;
• Ensure that support is provided for newly arrived members of the Research Group and for post-doctoral researchers working in the area;
• Think strategically about the development of research activity in their sector and provide informal guidance to colleagues within it accordingly;
• Act as a first point of contact for members of the Research Group who are interested in applying for internal or external funding, which may include providing an initial review of grant and CUREC applications (though colleagues may still approach the Faculty Research team directly if they prefer);
• Take an overview of the teaching and courses offered within the Research Group in order to ensure that research insights filter through into teaching;
• Where appropriate, seek to foster interdisciplinary work between those within their Research Group; and encouraging interaction between Research Groups and with colleagues in other University Departments.

Research Group Chairs are also expected to represent their Research Groups to other sections of the Faculty by:

• Attending the termly Faculty Research Committee in the year their research group comes up in the membership rotation (one year every three years);
• Providing an short written report to the Research Committee in Michaelmas Term (up to two pages to be submitted to the Research Committee Secretary no later than Monday, week 3);
• Liaising with the Faculty’s Communications team to disseminate research news from the Group;
• Acting as a point of contact for REF and the internal reading panel; and
• Co-ordinating the input of the Research Group’s members in the review of graduate research applications falling within the Group’s collective field of expertise.

New Research Group Chairs are expected to attend induction sessions relating to grant applications, ethics approval, data protection, and unconscious bias.

Creation of New Research Groups

In order for a new Research Group to be created, it must either:

• Be chaired by an academic postholder (Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow, RSIV, or Professor) with at least one other academic postholder in the group;

       OR

• Be chaired by an early career academic holding a Fellowship or their own research grant, with at least two academic postholders in the group.

Colleagues wishing to create a new Research Group must submit a (short) application to the Research Committee by the end of week 2 of Trinity Term, setting out:

• The proposed Chair and postholder members of the new group;
• How the group would participate in graduate admissions;
• The research support activities to be carried out, including a rough outline of how the group’s research allowance would be used;
• How the proposed group is distinct from the already existing Research Groups;
• How the proposed group is related (if at all) to any of the Faculty’s existing Centres/Institutes.

To apply, please complete the online Research Group Application Form.

The Research Committee will review applications for new Research Groups at its week 4 Trinity Term meeting, with a view to approving those that meet the above-listed requirements and on the condition that PRC approves any necessary budget increases, with the aim for approved new Research Groups to start operating the following Michaelmas Term.

Cessation of Research Groups

The brief annual written reports submitted each Michaelmas by the Research Group Chairs, along with the expenditures of each group, will be assessed on an annual basis by the Associate Dean(s) for Research. In cases where the volume of activity/spend of a Research Group is low, the AD(R) will initiate a discussion with the corresponding Group Chair. As a result of this discussion, the AD(R) may report to the Research Committee that this Group is no longer active.

Research Groups that are inactive for two successive years may be closed by the Research Committee.