Research Interests
Open to PhD applications in:
- Socio-legal studies
- Transitional justice - Dealing with the past particularly in relation to archives, apologies, victims, oral history and ‘from below’ initiatives
- Cause lawyers
Public outreach & key achievements
Since 2014 I have been working together with colleagues from QUB and the Committee on the Administration of Justice, and a former senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office lawyer, to inform the elements of the Stormont House Agreement.
- 2016 winner of the QUB Vice-Chancellor’s Research Impact Prize, /News/Allnews/2016/Queensresearchersrecognisedfortheirpositiveimpactonsociety.html
- Chair of the human rights NGO, the Committee on the Administration of Justice,
- Regional networker and accredited trainer with the Oral History Society,
- Details about recent research projects can be accessed at:
Research students
| PhD area | Transitional divisions of peace: Urban -vs- rural difference of peace and reconciliation projects in Northern Ireland |
| Name | Seanin Little |
Alumni: Where are they now
| PhD area | The role of archives and archivists in Transitional Justice: A comparative study of Northern Ireland and post-reunification Germany |
| Name | Dr Julia Volkmar |
| Years of study | PhD awarded 2024 |
| Current position |
Policy Development Executive, Law Society of Ireland |
| Quote |
I am very glad to have had Professor Bryson as the primary supervisor to my thesis. Beyond her breadth of knowledge and challenging insights, she was kind and supportive throughout the entire research project. Professor Byrson's feedback has been invaluable; not only did she open up new paths to explore in my own reading and writing, she was also able to connect me with other brilliant researchers from across the UK and Ireland. |
| PhD area | Beyond compliance theories: A case study of the right to education of Syrian refugees in Jordan |
| Name | Dr Asma Amro |
| Years of study | PhD awarded 2023 |
| PhD area | Transgender Activism in Conflict and Transition |
| Name | Dr Philip Rivers |
| Years of study | PhD awarded 2023 |
| PhD area | Nursing the Troubles: An oral history of the emotional labour of acute nursing in Belfast during the Troubles |
| Name | Dr Megan Kelly |
| Years of study | PhD awarded 2022 |
| PhD area | Ex-Prisoner leadership and legitimacy: Community-based restorative justice in Northern Ireland |
| Name | Dr Allely Albert |
| Years of study | PhD awarded 2021 |
| PhD area |
Governing transition in Kosovo: Post-conflict peace building United Nations style |
| Name |
Dr Ganimete Asllani-Price |
| Years of study | PhD awarded 2020 |
Discover More
- Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
- Fellow at the Institute for Irish Studies
Get ahead: tips on how to prepare your application to study for a PhD at QUB Law
Read our on the steps in our PhD applications process and how to present your research proposal.
Interested in a postdoctoral fellowship at QUB Law?
If you have already completed a PhD or are about to do so, and you are looking for a mentor for a postdoctoral fellowship in one of my areas of expertise, please get in touch via email. The School of Law has a strong track record in supporting able candidates who are working towards fellowship applications to funders such as the British Academy, EU Marie Sklodowska-Curie scheme, ESRC NINE and the Leverhulme Trust.