Research Topics

Research topics are various and negotiable. If you are interested in a particular issue and want to find answers, you will be encouraged and supported. View examples of previous students’ thesis questions.

Finding a supervisor

You should approach a UTS Faculty of Law full-time academic and secure their agreement to supervise your work well before the application deadline.

  • If you are enrolling in 76040 you must obtain the signature of an academic member of staff in the Faculty of Law who is willing to supervise your thesis.
  • If you are enrolling in 77740 you may approach a supervisor. If that person agrees to supervise you must obtain their signature. It is, however, not necessary to find a supervisor prior to submitting your application. As part of the subject you will approach a supervisor during the coursework component of the subject.

In drafting your application, discuss your ideas for a thesis with a potential supervisor so they can advise you, offer topic suggestions, or help you formulate a specific research question. Your proposed supervisor must sign your application form indicating their support for your application.

You may already have taken a subject with this Faculty member. We recommend that students choose an elective subject in an area of interest which they intend to focus on in their coursework research. You may then approach the lecturer or subject coordinator in this subject to supervise your thesis.

If this is not possible, we recommend that students:

Please note each academic can supervise a limited number of students each session.

Research Proposal

Once you have found your supervisor, discuss and prepare a research proposal using the required template (available at the bottom of this page). 

The proposal should be a brief outline of the proposed research, no more than four pages, and must provide the following:

  • A short survey of the literature and the leading cases in the area of proposed research.
  • An outline of why the proposed research is significant and why you wish to research it.
  • A clear statement of the working hypothesis.
  • A statement of the research methodology to be adopted.
  • A statement showing the particular area to be researched and a tentative outline of the sections that the research is expected to address.
  • The name and signature of the full time academic from the faculty, who is willing to supervise the research.

Submit the research proposal signed by your supervisor with your application by the advertised deadline. 

Prior Related Research

While students must provide full disclosure of research done for another purpose, either with UTS:Law or elsewhere, coursework completed as part of a core or elective subject already undertaken is not usually considered to be prior research.

In the research subject, students can build upon an interest developed through one or more subjects that they have studied, but the research must be an amplification of earlier work. In most cases, the research thesis extends and develops research done in one or more of the core or elective subjects already undertaken. In appropriate circumstances a candidate may undertake a new topic.

It would not be appropriate for students to incorporate text from prior related research done for another purpose, whether with UTS Faculty of Law or elsewhere, and that research shall not form part of the work completed for the research subject and shall be excluded from the final assessment.

If prior related research has been undertaken (such as in a research essay submitted as part of subject assessment), this research should be disclosed at the time the topic is submitted for approval.

The student shall provide such further information concerning prior related research (including a copy of that research) as may be requested by the supervisor or the Subject Coordinator.

The prior related research should be noted in a short statement to be included as a preface to the thesis.

Need more advice?

For advice regarding coursework research (research thesis, project or paper) contact: