The MPhil is a programme of independent, self-directed research reviewing or surveying and collating and evaluating existing knowledge in an approved topic and presenting the findings in a thesis for examination including a viva. Like the PhD, the MPhil develops your research and generic skills and is pursued under the guidance of a team of expert supervisors. It differs from the PhD in that it is a smaller scale of work, conducted over a shorter period of time and does not create new knowledge in the field. The MPhil can be taken as a separate, target award, but most commonly forms the initial stage of study within a linked MPhil/PhD programme, where the registration is upgraded to PhD once it is established that the work has the potential for an original contribution to knowledge.Academics and PhD students at Westminster contribute in many areas of international legal scholarship, including: international legal theory, international human rights law, the law of armed conflict, international law of the sea, international refugee law, international courts and tribunals, international energy law, United Nations law, international criminal law, nuclear non-proliferation law, cyber security law, and international environmental law. International Law at Westminster is a member of the EU Non-Proliferation Consortium. The Consortium was created in 2010 by the Council of the European Union as a network bringing together experts from across the EU to encourage political and security-related dialogue and the long-term discussion of measures to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems. Westminster Law School offers a well-established LLM in International Law for students who want to develop their expertise in this subject area and we welcome PhD proposals on international law topics.