PhD (School of Management)

at University of Bradford School of Management

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

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 one of our English Language requirements specified below:

• IELTS: a minimum score of 6.5 with no sub-test less than 6.5.
• TOEFL Internet based test: an overall test result of 94 (minimum scores apply for each subtest)

Home Students: 
£4,596

International Students:
£18566

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.