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Research opportunities

We offer opportunities to study for a PhD or DBA over three years (full-time).

You can study for these degrees within any of our core research areas.

Take a look at our supervisors' tab on this page for an indication of our areas of expertise.

Find out what our PhD/DBA graduates studied.

Distance learning

Potential applicants should note that there is no dedicated distance-learning programme.

View our current research opportunities




Global Research Scholarship

Strathclyde Business School is offering up to 15 PhD fee-only awards.

These will be competitively awarded to outstanding applicants for PhD study with a start date of 1 October 2024.

Applicants must have an excellent academic track record with appropriate external recognition and be able to demonstrate commitment to their chosen field of study. Applications are welcome in all of our subject areas but we particularly welcome applicants interested in any of our areas of research expertise. The awards will apply for each year of study, up to a maximum of 36 months of full-time study.

Deadline:

30 April 2024

Funding:

Funded

John Anderson Research Studentship Scheme (JARSS)

John Anderson Research Studentship Scheme (JARSS) doctoral studentships are available annually for excellent students and excellent research projects.

There are two main sources of funding:

  • Central University funding
  • Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council - Doctoral Training Partnership (EPSRC - DTP) funding.

The JARSS 2023/2024 competition will open in October 2023 and students successful in this competition will commence studies in October 2024. Faculties will set their own internal deadlines for the competition.

Academics/Supervisors make the applications for this scheme and there are various deadlines across the Department and Faculties, therefore, in the first instance, all interested students should contact the Department where they would like to carry out their research.

Deadline:

Funding:

Funded

THE Awards 2019: UK University of the Year Winner

Strathclyde Business School

We offer an excellent academic environment where you can pursue your research degree. As a postgraduate research student, you're required to:

  • attend the Strathclyde Business School Faculty Research Methodology Programme, achieving a minimum of Certificate level; it comprises four modules over two to three days each; if you're part-time, you'll spread these over two years
  • ensure regular meetings and contact with your supervisors

Full-time students

You'll have access to computing/hot-desking, printing, email and kitchen facilities. You're expected to be in the Department on a regular basis. You'll also attend the Department's research seminar series as well as other occasional workshops.

Part-time students

You'll have hot-desking facilities giving you regular access to the Department and helping you integrate with other students and staff. You're required to attend the Department for at least 10 days per year. This is in addition to the Research Methodology Programme. 

Potential applicants should note that there is no dedicated distance-learning programme.

Triple-accredited business school

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Fees & funding

All fees quoted are per academic year unless otherwise stated.

Entrants may be subject to a small fee during the writing up period.

Fees may be subject to updates to maintain accuracy. Tuition fees will be notified in your offer letter.

All fees are in £ sterling, unless otherwise stated, and may be subject to revision.

Annual revision of fees

Students on programmes of study of more than one year (or studying standalone modules) should be aware that tuition fees are revised annually and may increase in subsequent years of study. Annual increases will generally reflect UK inflation rates and increases to programme delivery costs.

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Scotland
  • 2024/25: £4,786
  • 2023/24: £4,712
England, Wales & Northern Ireland
  • 2024/25: £4,786
  • 2023/24: £4,712
International
  • 2024/25: £19,600
Additional costs
Placements & field trips

The cost of fieldwork or research trips would usually be met by the student but they can apply for funding to enable them to attend conferences or training.  All funding requests need to be approved by the supervisor and PGR Director.

Study abroad

If a student chooses to study overseas, the costs will be met by the student as this is not a requirement of our programme.

International students

International students may have associated visa and immigration costs. Please see student visa guidance for more information.

 

Funding

Take a look at our funding your postgraduate research web page for funding information.

You can also view our scholarships search for further funding opportunities.

Postgraduate research opportunities

Search for all funded and non-funded postgraduate research opportunities.

Please note: the fees shown are annual and may be subject to an increase each year. Find out more about fees.

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Supervisors

NameAreas of expertise
Pauline Anderson  
  • skills and jobs
  • the articulation of the relationship between education/training and work
  • labour market developments and problems
  • occupational classification
  • the green economy
Thomas Baum
  • low skills/service work in the SMART/future city
  • HRD for the tourism
  • hospitality and retail sectors
Irma Booyens
  • tourism innovation
  • sustainable tourism with an emphasis on human development
  • tourism and hospitality employment issues including livelihoods
  • slum or township tourism – place perspectives including resident views and local value chains, benefits/disadvantages
  • tourism and creative industries – linkages, visitor experiences, place-based perspectives
Kendra Briken
  • new managerial regimes in the public sector, including police and waste collection
  • global value and commodity chains, including retail, logistics and security
  • union organising in cross-national perspective
  • new technologies and cognitive labour
Joanna Butler
  • human resource development
  • employability and career management
  • professional practice in welfare provision
  • coaching and personal development
  • employee reward
Ian Cunningham
  • non-profit employment relations
  • public sector employment relations
  • union-management partnership arrangements
  • sickness absence and disability
Patricia Findlay
  • workplace innovation
  • job quality, skills and learning
  • industrial relations governance
  • gender equality
Brian Garvey
  • research areas
  • labour and global commodity chains
  • migration and employment in Latin America
  • social and environmental conflicts and new energy extraction
  • dynamics of land reform
Tasos Hadjisolomou
  • service work
  • line managers and HRM
  • industrial conflict/organisational misbehaviour
  • attendance at work
  • customer abuse
Stewart Johnstone
  • employee involvement, voice and participation
  • trade unions
  • employment restructuring
  • employment downsizing
  • employment flexibility
  • HRM in SMEs
Colin Lindsay
  • public management reform
  • public service delivery
  • governance in public policy
  • employability and skills
  • workplace innovation
  • unemployment and labour market disadvantage
  • health and incapacity in the labour market
  • welfare reform
  • active labour market policies
Daria Luchinskaya
  • skill development and skill utilisation
  • graduate transitions to employment
  • the ‘graduate labour market’, including the SME context
  • mixed methods research approaches
Darren McGuire
  • management and organisation with a focus on forced labour, labour exploitation and unfreedom
  • work and employment, skills, frontline service sector
  • Central Asia, agricultural commodities, Uzbekistan’s cotton sector
  • capability approaches, labour exploitation and human development
  • action research, participatory, creative research methods
Tony McCarthy 
  • risk and safety
  • trust and leadership
  • retirement and working in later life
  • armed forces veterans
  • food health communication
  • implicit/automatic processing and measurement
Dennis Nickson
  • aesthetic labour
  • emotional labour
  • people management issues in the retail and/or hospitality industries
  • migration and employment
Jen Remnant
  • disability
  • illness
  • equality, diversity and inclusion
  • human resource management
Pratima Sambajee
  • employment, health and well-being in south-south migration
  • culture and organisations
  • African management systems
  • post-colonialism and management.
Dora Scholarios
  • recruitment, assessment and selection
  • HRM, wellbeing and performance
  • job quality
  • graduate employability, skills and careers
Barbara Simpson
  • public leadership
  • transforming organisations
  • creative practice
  • Pragmatism, and immersion or following methodologies.
Philip Taylor
  • call or contact centres
  • offshoring and/or the globalisation of business services
  • occupational health and safety
  • work organisation and the labour process
  • new technology, work and employment
  • lean working and white-collar work
  • performance management
  • sickness absence management
  • trade unions
  • strikes, disputes and industrial conflict
Konstantinos Tomazos
  • research generates empirical and theoretical knowledge about the temporal dynamics of tourism phenomena and the tourists as consumers of marketized experiences
Adam Whitworth
  • employment support policy
  • active labour market policies
  • Individual Placement and Support (IPS)
  • work, health and well-being
  • public policy evaluation
  • welfare reform
  • social-spatial labour market inequalities
Ying Zhang
  • processes and practices of international collaborations such as joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, partnerships, and networks
  • individual and organisational identity
  • trust
  • cross cultural management

 

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Support & development

Postgraduate Certificate (PgCert) in Research Methodology for Business & Management

As part of your PhD degree, you'll be enrolled on the Postgraduate Certificate in Research Methodology for Business and Management. 

This certificate is designed to support you by developing your skills as a researcher. Your researcher training will provide you with the intellectual foundations that you will need for your journey into either the higher-level learning needed for advanced postgraduate research degrees or to work in a range of research focussed roles within organisational settings.

Course highlights:

  • course can be studied as a blended or fully online programme depending on your circumstances
  • course is ideally suited to part-time students juggling studies with other work
  • strong practical focus including training in software and advanced quantitative and qualitative methods
  • rich and diverse learning environment where you will study with students from around the world and studying a range of postgraduate research degrees
  • opportunity to learn from academics who are leaders in their field and working at the cutting edge of business research

Most students complete the PgCert in their first year but you can take courses throughout your degree.

Careers

The University Careers Service can help you with everything from writing your CV to interview preparation.

Student support

From financial advice to our IT facilities, we have a wide range of support for all students here at Strathclyde. Get all the information you need at Strathlife.

Postgraduate research at the Strathclyde Doctoral School

The Strathclyde Doctoral School provides a vibrant and comprehensive student-centred research and training environment in order to grow and support current and future research talent.

The School encompasses our four faculties and is committed to enriching the student experience, intensifying research outputs and opportunities, and ensuring training is at the highest level. As a postgraduate researcher, you'll automatically become a member of the Strathclyde Doctoral School.

Find out more about the Doctoral School

Meet our students

PhD student Fotis

Fotis Mitsakis

Being a PhD student here allows me to be exposed to excellent research opportunities. Administrative staff are always available and ready to provide constructive help and advice with any issue, while academics, and more precisely my supervisor, constantly provide support and valuable guidance. I feel very honoured to be part of Strathclyde’s academic community.
PGR student laura

Laura Dougan

Although knowledge and guidance from academic staff is vital when undertaking a PhD, for me, one of the most valuable things about being a student here is the support from other students. This comes not only in the form of student-led seminars where you can share ideas and get feedback on your work, but also in more informal, social settings outside of the department.
Indian student Chandrima sitting in the Lord Hope Graduate School

Chandrima Roy

I find the standards of research, learning and intellectual rigour in the PhD programme to be quite high. The comprehensive feedback, support and encouragement that I've received all along from my supervisors has been amazing! It's instilled a sense of confidence in my research and has kept me focused so far.
PhD student Andrew Clark

Andy Clark

Academic staff here take a substantial interest in the work being conducted by postgraduate researchers and offer any assistance required. This is complemented by a range of activities, including all-PhD seminar meetings and an annual PhD away day which encourage a research community atmosphere where everyone takes an interest in each others work, leading to stimulating discussion.

International students

We've a thriving international community with students coming here to study from over 140 countries across the world. Find out all you need to know about studying in Glasgow at Strathclyde and hear from students about their experiences.

Visit our international students' section

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Apply

Entry requirements

For entry onto our postgraduate research programmes, we normally look for a first-class or upper second-class UK Honours degree, or overseas equivalent, in a relevant business or social science related subject. For PhD applications, we also normally expect a Masters degree, or overseas equivalent, although there are often exceptions. When reviewing your academic achievements, we're particularly interested in grades which relate to independent research (for example, a research project or dissertation). A strong score in these elements may allow us to consider entry with a lower degree classification.

Strathclyde Business School is committed to supporting a diverse and inclusive postgraduate research population. We make decisions on entry by assessing the whole person and not relying solely on academic achievements. On that basis, please ensure that your application (via your CV and covering letter) can evidence your resourcefulness, commitment and resilience as demonstrated by broader professional and life experiences. This evidence should be centred on your ability to undertake and complete a PhD and contribute to a positive PhD community.

You can prove your knowledge of English by:

  • Passing a Secure English Language Test from our list of accepted providers with an IELTS (or equivalent) score of 6.5, with no individual element below 5.5.
  • We will also consider evidence of prior study using English as the medium of instruction, if this study was in the last five years.
  • The University has an English Language Teaching unit that offers a pre-sessional course – both on campus and online - allowing applicants to upskill in the use of English language in preparation for undertaking a postgraduate research degree. More information on the course and how to apply is available on the Pre-sessional webpage. PGR applicants should add a Pre-sessional application to their main degree application on the Applicant Portal, selecting the Pre-sessional programmes for Postgraduate students. For more information, or if you have any questions, please contact elt@strath.ac.uk.

Before you apply

Writing your research proposal

When preparing your research proposal please use the following template:

1. Working title

2. Layman’s summary of proposed research [max. 250 words]

Give us a brief summary of your proposed research project written for members of the public, rather than researchers or professionals. Why is this research important? What global/societal issues does it solve? What impact could it have on business and management in the future.

3. Research aim and objectives (or question(s)) [max. 500 words]

What’s the question you want to answer? How will you attempt to answer this question?

4. Literature review [max. 500 words]

Provide a brief overview of relevant literature to indicate any debates the research aims to engage with; any gaps or problems that have been identified; or what models the project hopes to explore or test.

5. Methodology [max. 300 words]

Provide an outline of the proposed research methodology.

6. Timeline [max. 300 words]

A PhD is 36 months minimum study (full time). In 6 months increments, indicate what you think the main activities will be. This is important as we need to assess the achievability of your proposal. This should be presented in tabular format.

6. References

Please use Harvard referencing throughout.

Notes:
  • please use Times New Roman 12 pt font
  • 1.5 line spacing
  • 2.5cm margin all round
  • hard return between paragraphs

Getting a reference

Read our help on how to choose references and what the referees need to supply.

The application

During the application you’ll be asked for the following:

  • your full contact details
  • a copy of an up-to-date CV
  • academic transcripts for both your degrees which clearly show the modules studied and the grades gained for each module
  • proof of English language proficiency, less than two years old, if English isn't your first language
  • two references, one of which must be academic – the references should focus on your academic and research skills, as well as your suitability to undertake PhD level study
  • funding or scholarship information
  • research proposal, clearly demonstrating the potential contribution both in theory and practice; please use our guidance above and attach this with your application

By filling these details out as fully as possible, you'll avoid any delay to your application being processed by the University.

Accepting an offer

When you've accepted our offer, we'll need you to fulfil any academic, administrative or financial conditions that we ask.

UK or EU students

If you're applying as a UK or EU student, you'll then be issued with your registration documentation.

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Work, Employment and Organisation

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Work, Employment and Organisation

MPhil
full-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Work, Employment and Organisation

PhD
part-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Work, Employment and Organisation

MPhil
part-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Work, Employment and Organisation

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Work, Employment and Organisation

MPhil
full-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Work, Employment and Organisation

PhD
part-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Work, Employment and Organisation

MPhil
part-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2024

Research Methodology in Business and Management

MRes
full-time
Start date: Oct 2024

Start date: Oct 2024

Research Methodology in Business and Management

MRes
part-time
Start date: Oct 2024

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Work, Employment and Organisation

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Work, Employment and Organisation

MPhil
full-time
Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Work, Employment and Organisation

PhD
part-time
Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Work, Employment and Organisation

MPhil
part-time
Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Start date: Oct 2025

Research Methodology in Business and Management

MRes
full-time
Start date: Oct 2025

Start date: Oct 2025

Research Methodology in Business and Management

MRes
part-time
Start date: Oct 2025

 

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Contact us

SBS PGR Admissions

Email: sbs-pgradmissions@strath.ac.uk