A PHD student from the University of Bradford has been sworn in as leader of Sierra Leone.

Opposition candidate Julius Maada Bio took the Presidential oath to become leader of the African nation earlier this week.

It means he will have to put his PhD in Peace Studies at the university, which he started in 2014, on hold.

As well as being a senior research fellow at the university, Mr Bio is leader of the Sierra Leone People’s Party and a former military ruler who briefly ruled the country in 1996.

He emigrated to the United States in the late 90s, earning a master’s degree in international affairs from American University in Washington during his decade there.

He received 51.8 percent of the vote in the runoff on Saturday, beating Samura Kamara from the governing party, the All People’s Congress, who won 48.2 percent, according to Electoral Commission figures.

The university has today offered "huge congratulations" to Mr Bio, 53.