PhD (School of Management)

Doctorate

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Overview

Our PhD programme offers both full-time and part-time research opportunities in a range of business and management subject areas.

You’ll conduct research under the supervision of our international, experienced, and highly committed faculty. In addition to being supervised by two well-established researchers, you will take part in research training which provides you with the knowledge and skills to design and carry out rigorous research.

We encourage and support you to prepare and submit papers to academic conferences and journals. We also encourage you to engage in teaching activities which enables you to gain valuable experience of higher education teaching and prepare you for job market.

Upon completion, you will have become an independent researcher with the ability to pursue varied career opportunities in academia, research institutions or management consultancy.

90% our graduates have taken up positions in UK/international teaching and research institutions or consultancy-based organisations upon completion of a PhD.

Professional accreditation

We are proud to be in an elite group of business schools to hold the triple accreditations of Equis, AMBA and AACSB, often referred to as the "Triple Crown".

Entry requirements

All candidates must meet one of the following conditions:

A good honours UK Bachelor's degree (a first or upper second class honours) or equivalent qualifications
A Master’s degree in Management or related subjects with average marks of 60% or equivalent
A professional qualification of degree standard obtained by examination

English language requirements

All candidates whose first language is not English must meet the English Language requirements specified below:

IELTS: a minimum score of 6.5 with no sub-test less than 6.5

Please note the English test score only has a fixed two-year validity period. If you don’t have a current English test score, please indicate the date that you will be taking the English test in your application.

If you do not meet the IELTS requirement, and you have a UKVI approved IELTS, you can take a University of Bradford pre-sessional English course. See the Language Centre for more details. For further information on English Language requirements please see the dedicated international entry requirements page.

What you will study

Candidates for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy undertake independent research in the form of a PhD thesis that meets the award’s learning outcomes.

First year: Research training stage

During the first year (or first two years for part-time students), all PhD students undertake the taught Research Methods modules as the foundation of their development as a professional researcher. The training is intended to help you develop your research, both conceptually and operationally, and to manage your project effectively.

All students study these modules in block teaching weeks.

Second/third year: PhD research project stage

From your second year onwards (or third year if you are part-time) you will focus on your research project. This typically involves

conducting the literature review
developing research instruments
carrying out fieldwork and data collection
analysing the data
interpreting the findings

In your second year (or third year if you are part-time), you also need to go through a formal progress review and this requires you to submit a progress report and present a fully developed research proposal to the review panel. After the review, your registration to the PhD degree will be confirmed (or you will be transferred to the MPhil programme if your progress is not satisfactory).

Final year: writing-up stage

You move to the writing up stage in your final year. All research students should aim to submit their thesis within their minimum period of registration (4 years for full-time and 6 years for part-time). At this stage, the tasks involved are

producing a final version of your thesis
presenting your thesis
defending your thesis in an oral examination

Learning and assessment

Training Modules consist of:

lectures
discussion
group exercises
class projects
other online (WRDTP) and face-to-face delivery modes

Assessment strategies include individual papers, individual projects and reflective essays.

The development of the doctoral thesis will be guided by two supervisors and the assessment includes Viva Voce.

Fees, finance and scholarships

Tuition fee 2024

Please see the tuition fees website for the relevant tuition and writing up fees:

Additional costs

There may be additional costs that you may incur as a student. Though these are not essential to your programme of study you need to be aware of them as a student of the University. A list of the sort of costs you might expect can be found on our fees and finance section.

Financial support

See our fees and financial support section.

Scholarships

Every year we award numerous non-repayable scholarships to UK, EU and international students on the basis of academic excellence, personal circumstances or economic hardship. For full details, visit our scholarships section.

Career prospects

During your time studying at the Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences you will have the opportunity to take part in our distinctive career booster programme throughout the duration of your course. The programme is designed to equip you with the necessary skills and graduate attributes to be job-ready when seeking employment with leading innovative organisations. The Career Booster Programme (PDF, 2.8 MB) offers you the opportunity to gain certificates in:

The European Computer Driving License (ECDL) - the benchmark for digital literacy
Sage 50 Accounting and Sage 50 Payroll - training that will allow you to develop leading accounting and payroll software skills
Project Manager Professional certificates - giving you the edge when seeking to become a Certified Project Manager
Big Data analysis and reporting skills - using Software and Services (SAS) that will lead to certification.

In addition, the programme will also include activities to promote teamwork, confidence, communication and many other skills sought by employers.

Developing a portfolio of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Certificates will demonstrate to employers that you are not only ambitious but also take responsibility for your own professional development.

Career support

The School of Management supports students on the PhD programme in a variety of ways; those on campus can attend workshops but for the most part support to PhD students is via one-to-one guidance - in addition there are training and development opportunities included in our unique and flexible Postgraduate Research Framework.

Participants on the PhD programme are in the main usually seeking a post in academia and so careers and academic staff are able to provide guidance. For those who may be looking to develop a career in the commercial world the careers coaches are able to support, students are often looking to develop their careers in consultancy and research based posts.

Study support

The School supports PhD students in a variety of ways. Most importantly, student support is via one-to-one guidance.

The Effective Learning Service is a dedicated facility within the Faculty of Management and Law, supporting our students to maximise their academic learning as well as help overseas students adapt quickly to UK education requirements.

Research

Research-active staff undertake world-leading research that addresses management and organisational issues.

The School has a strong track record and capacity in publishing high-quality and impactful research outputs in internationally-reputable peer-reviewed journals. This led to our School's strong submission to and performance in REF2021, where we achieved:

100% of our research environments rated as conducive to producing research of World Leading (4*) and Internationally Excellent (3*) quality and enabling outstanding (4*) and very considerable (3*) impact, in terms of its vitality and sustainability.
83% of the impacts submitted were rated as Outstanding (4*) and Very Considerable (3*) impact in their reach and significance.
75% of the research outputs (journal publications) were rated as World Leading (4*) and Internationally Excellent (3*) in originality, significance, and rigour.
81% of the overall quality profile was rated as World Leading (4*) and Internationally Excellent (3*) in originality, significance, and rigour.

We promote interdisciplinary research, and we work together in themed research areas, collaborating with colleagues around the world. Currently, we have three academic departments:

Find out more on our research website.

This is the current course information. Modules and course details may change, subject to the University's programme approval, monitoring and review procedures. The University reserves the right to alter or withdraw courses, services and facilities as described on our website without notice and to amend Ordinances, Regulations, fees and charges at any time. Students should enquire as to the up-to-date position when applying for their course of study.