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Applicant profile

Our PhD programme is competitive, and we seek motivated, talented individuals with demonstrably high intellectual ability who are committed to excellence in research. A competitive applicant profile will show:

• Strong academic credentials
• Your readiness to be an independent PhD researcher
• A clear understanding of the proposed research project, its intended methods and its aims
• Alignment between the applicant’s research interests/experience and the supervisor’s or department’s research priorities

Application guidance

There are two main routes to apply for a PhD, depending on your areas of interest and intellectual preferences. You may choose either to:

• lead the development of their own research project in conjunction with and under the guidance of their supervisors;

or

• apply for a defined, supervisor-led project largely determined by an existing wider research programme.

See our guide about how to apply for doctoral study

Choosing to develop your own research project (option 1)

Key components of applying through this route are the development of a research proposal and the identification of a potential supervisor.

Identify a lead supervisor: If you decide to develop your own research project, you must first find an academic who would be interested in being your lead supervisor. You can find potential lead supervisors on the School of Management faculty website. You can also browse Pure, the University’s research portal, for profiles of individual academics as well as the research centres, institutes and units to which they belong. Your proposed research area will need to be related to the academic's research interests.

Make contact and discuss your proposed research: Potential academic supervisors are happy to discuss potential PhD projects and advise on the broad suitability of topic areas and approaches. At this point, you are likely to be asked to prepare an original proposal for consideration before consideration of making an offer is made.

Tips on writing a research proposal

Different academic faculty members will specify different requisites for research proposals. However, few successful proposals will be less than 3,000 words, and all will need to be original, based upon extant scholarly literature and the product of applicants’ own work. Many potential supervisors will generously provide advice and guidance about what they expect, but generally PhD research proposals are expected to include the following:

• Aims and objectives: What are the central aims and research questions that will guide your research? Why are such aims, questions, proposition and/or hypotheses intellectually interesting, academically worthwhile and practically purposeful?

• Rationale: Contextualise your aims and objectives in a broader field of study, identifying the main literature, authors and audiences that you are addressing.

• Methodology: Explain how you intend to conduct your research; what information you would need, how you would collect it and how you are going to analyse it. This only needs to be indicative at this juncture.

• Timeline: Provide a summary of what you are planning to do and when.

• Bibliography: Provide a short bibliography of key academic papers related to your research question.

Choosing to apply for a defined project (option 2)

If you wish to apply for a defined, academic-led project, you can see which opportunities are currently available and get an initial idea of the particular application requirements online via the Find a PhD website.

Please note that whether you apply to the PhD programme with your own proposed PhD project or for a defined project, all PhD candidates require a supervisory team comprising a minimum of two supervisors. Hence, you will need both a named lead supervisor and at least one secondary supervisor. Usually, a willing potential lead supervisor can assist in identifying possible secondary supervisors.

Applicants intending to apply for ESRC funding through the SWDTP competition ONLY:

To be considered, you must develop your own research proposal (option 1 above). In addition to the standard documents, you must submit a Student Statement Form (Annex A) with your application. For additional guidance on applying for ESRC funding, see our How to apply for doctoral study guidance.

Selection process

When your application is received, it will be forwarded to your intended supervisor(s). If they are interested in pursuing your application, they will ask the Doctoral Admissions team to review your application. This will include assessing your tuition fee status, checking that your application is complete and confirming that you meet the minimum entry criteria as quoted in the ‘Entry requirements’ section above.

The outcome of the Doctoral Admissions team review will be sent to your intended supervisor(s) who will then decide if they wish to invite you to interview. Interviews will typically be conducted online by the prospective supervisor(s) and an independent member of academic staff or the Director of Studies.

If you are applying to one of our funding competitions, there may be further shortlisting and decision stages which will be competition specific.

It is important to remember that PhD places are competitively awarded and your application will be considered as a whole including the quality of all your uploaded documents, references, and ability to meet entry requirements and demonstrate relevant research experience/potential.