PhD, MPhil Accounting & finance

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Research opportunities

We provide research training in both accounting and finance which will prepare you for a demanding career as:

  • an academic
  • a professional researcher in the financial services sector
  • a manager of a business, government and professional organisations

You can study an MPhil over the course of one year or a PhD over three years.

Under specific circumstances and subject to conditions, part-time study can be arranged.

You can study any option in either of our research areas:

Accounting

This is an opportunity for you to develop the theoretical competencies required to understand the role of accounting in organisations and society.
 
You'll follow an interdisciplinary approach to the technical and institutional practices that makes accounting a specific social practice.
 
We offer expertise in exploring the sociological, institutional and political approaches in the search for a thesis topic. We also assist with the methods used to produce new knowledge.

Finance

You'll develop the theoretical and empirical skills necessary to make a contribution to the latest research in your chosen area. In your first year, you'll work with your supervisor to identify areas of interest and develop an agenda for your PhD thesis. We encourage you to consider both theoretical and empirical issues as part of your agenda in consultation with your supervisors.
 
You'll learn to design and carry out research plans based on an understanding of theoretical and methodological issues. You're expected to develop the philosophical, technical and ethical awareness required to produce high-quality research.

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
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Entry requirements

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Degree

For entry into 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 with distinction or merit or overseas equivalent, although there are often exceptions. We require clear coverage of Accounting and Finance subjects at undergraduate and/or Masters level. For Finance applicants, we expect clear coverage of quantitative/econometrics subjects in undergraduate and postgraduate courses. 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.

If English isn't your first language, you'll need an IELTS score of 6.5 or equivalent with no individual element below 5.5.

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 the majority of fees will increase annually. The University will take a range of factors into account, including, but not limited to, UK inflation, changes in delivery costs and changes in Scottish and/or UK Government funding. Changes in fees will be published on the University website in October each year for the following year of study and any annual increase will be capped at a maximum of 10% per year.

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Scotland

£4,786

England, Wales & Northern Ireland

£4,786

Republic of Ireland

If you are an Irish citizen and have been ordinary resident in the Republic of Ireland for the three years prior to the relevant date, and will be coming to Scotland for Educational purposes only, you will meet the criteria of England, Wales & Northern Ireland fee status. For more information and advice on tuition fee status, you can visit the UKCISA - International student advice and guidance - Scotland: fee status webpage. Find out more about the University of Strathclyde's fee assessments process.

International

£19,600

Additional costs
Course materials

Students are required to cover the cost of binding their thesis. This varies depending on the length of the thesis and chosen binding company.  An average cost of £40-50 should be allowed.

Placements and field trips

The cost of fieldwork or research trips would usually be met by the student. Students can apply for funding to cover conference participation.

Study Abroad

If a student chooses to study overseas, the costs would be met by the student. This is not a requirement for our programme.

Other costs

Students may wish to have their thesis professionally proofread at their own expense. If required, fees for extensions to maximum duration of study will be met by the student. Graduation gown hire.

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.

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Supervisors

If you're interested in studying for a research degree we recommend that you identify members of staff with relevant expertise before applying. You should email the member of staff to chat about the potential for supervision, explaining how your proposed research topic relates to their research interests.

If your chosen supervisor is available to work with you, they'll confirm this you should then make a full application via Pegasus.

NameContactAreas of interest

Professor Graeme Acheson

graeme.acheson@strath.ac.uk

  • I am interested in applying contemporary econometric techniques to historical settings, to better understand financial market and business development
  • I am happy to consider PhD applications with an interest in Financial, Business or Economic History

Professor Dimitris Andriosopoulos

d.andriosopoulos@strath.ac.uk

  • Corporate Finance & Corporate Governance
  • Regulatory Frameworks & Political Economy
  • CSR/ESG
  • Green Finance & Sustainability

Dr Devraj Basu

devraj.basu@strath.ac.uk

  • Empirical Asset Pricing: Performance of various asset pricing models in US and international contexts. Also issues of spanning and intersection.
  • Conditional Asset Pricing: Constructing and analyzing performance of asset pricing models when conditioning information in the form of predictive variables is incorporated
  • Investment Performance Measurement: Analyzing performance of investment vehicles such as mutual funds and hedge funds
  • Commodities: Performance of commodity-based asset pricing models, commodity indices
  • Effect of financialization on commodity markets

Dr James Bowden

james.bowden@strath.ac.uk

  • Applied Machine Learning in Finance
  • Sentiment Analysis
  • Investor Behaviour on Social Media
  • Behavioural Finance
  • Activist Short-Sellers

Dr Anees Farrukh

anees.farrukh@strath.ac.uk

  • Critical and sustainable accounting

Professor Jonathan Fletcher

 

j.fletcher@strath.ac.uk

  • Fund performance - this can involve evaluating the performance of a sample of managed funds, either open-end or closed-end funds. You can select either domestic or international funds.
  • Test of asset pricing models - this area can evaluate a range of asset pricing models or focus on a small number of models
  • Portfolio choice - topics can include performance of international diversification strategies or other asset allocation studies
  • Investment trusts - topics can include factors that explain the discount, IPO performance of investment trusts, choice of open-end v closed-end funds
 

Professor David Hillier

 

david.hillier@strath.ac.uk

  • Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance 
  • Corporate Insider Trading 
 

Dr Yu-Lin Hsu

 

yulin.hsu@strath.ac.uk

  • Financial Reporting (corporate decision-making in accounting)
  • IFRS
  • Earnings Management
  • Non-Financial Reporting (CSR; carbon emission)
  • Corporate Governance
 

Dr Kyung Yoon

kyung.kwon@strath.ac.uk

  • Empirical asset pricing
  • Market anomalies in the international stock and commodity futures markets Risk premiums in commodity futures markets
  • Market microstructure
  • Impact of market regulation 
  • Trading behaviours of market pa

Dr Panagiotis Loukopoulos

panagiotis.loukopoulos@strath.ac.uk

  • Corporate Finance & Corporate Governance
  • CSR/ESG
  • Initial Public Offerings
  • Executive compensation incentives
  • Political risk
  • Earnings management
  • Audit research

Professor Andrew Marshall

a.marshall@strath.ac.uk

  • Interest rate risk/FX risk management – empirical studies
  • Reasons for/market reaction to/pricing of the issuance of hybrid securities, i.e. convertibles, zero coupon bonds or preference shares
  • Theories of hedging
  • Capital structure theory
  • Bonds
  • Small and Medium sized companies (AIM listed companies) – hedging, performance, capital structure, cash management
  • Market reaction to layoffs
  • FDI

Dr Patrick McColgan

patrick.mccolgan@strath.ac.uk

  • Corporate finance and investment decisions
  • Corporate restructuring, asset divestitures and employee layoffs

Dr Livia Pancotto

livia.pancotto@strath.ac.uk

  • Banking Regulation
  • International Banking
  • Financial Stability and Systemic Risk
  • Financial Markets and Intermediaries
  • Credit Derivatives

Professor Krishna Paudyal

 

krishna.paudyal@strath.ac.uk

  • Corporate financial decisions
  • Investments
  • Market microstructure
 

Dr Julia Smith

Julia.smith@strath.ac.uk

Empirical quantitative and qualitative research in a number of core areas, as follows:

  • Management accounting, including the use of accounting information systems for effective management, decision-making and control of performance
  • Strategic organisational and financial management in small firms, entrepreneurship, SME financing and financial reporting in the small business
  • Accountability in social and hybrid enterprises

Leilei Tang

 

leilei.tang@strath.ac.uk 

  • Financial modelling
  • Stock index futures
  • Credit scoring
 

Dr Chandra Thapa

chandra.thapa@strath.ac.uk

  • Shock based research in corporate finance (e.g. impact of regulation, unexpected election results, natural disasters, unexpected policy announcement, change in transaction costs, addition of stocks to specialized index, death of key corporate officers, announcement of fraudulent activities, economic/financial/banking crises, prolonged period of uncertainty (e.g. brexit) etc.). Any announcement or revelation that the investment community or market was not expecting.
  • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues of investment firms and corporation
  • Climate Corporate Finance
  • Effect of better corporate social responsibility
  • Role of institutional investors in corporate policies
  • Trading of foreign investors in emerging markets
  • Effect of corporate governance reforms, including creditor protection reforms 
  • Investment policies, risk taking and innovations in emerging markets
  • Insider trading in emerging markets
  • IPOs in emerging markets

Dr Hai Zhang

hai.zhang@strath.ac.uk

  • Entrepreneurial Finance
  • SME Capital Structure
  • Portfolio optimization
  • Asset Pricing, CAPM
  • Hedge Funds
Hari Risal
The diversity of the community and the researchers’ enthusiasm are impeccable. I get to learn about various cultures, research areas, methodologies, and ways to contribute.
Hari Risal
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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.

Doctoral Training Centre

We have taken a lead (with Edinburgh University) in providing advanced training to Doctoral Training Centre students across Scotland. From 2013, the two institutions have collaborated to offer three intensive doctoral-level courses:

  • Corporate Finance
  • Empirical Accounting
  • Qualitative Accounting

Our aim is to train skilled students who will be able to compete with the best graduates in their future careers.

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 offers a vibrant, student-centred research and training environment, dedicated to supporting both current and future research talent.

Bringing together all four of our faculties, it is committed to enhancing the student experience, increasing research outputs and opportunities, and ensuring that training is delivered at the highest standard.

As a postgraduate researcher, you will automatically become a member of the Strathclyde Doctoral School.

Find out more about the Doctoral School

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

Pawel Czarnowski, Economics & Finance student
One of my main criteria for choosing a PhD program was academic excellence and the Department of Accounting & Finance at Strathclyde is among the top in the UK. I was impressed by many of the faculty members during my studies at Strathclyde and I wanted to work in the same place as them.
Pawel Czarnowski
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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. For technical social subjects, such as Accounting/Finance, in addition to Accounting/Finance/Economics subjects, we also expect decent coverage of quantitative/econometrics subjects in the undergraduate and postgraduate courses. 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

Once 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 2024 - Sep 2025

Accounting and Finance

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

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Accounting and Finance

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

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Accounting and Finance

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

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Accounting and Finance

PhD
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

Start date: Oct 2025

Accounting and Finance

MPhil
full-time
Start date: Oct 2025

Start date: Oct 2025

Accounting and Finance

MPhil
part-time
Start date: Oct 2025

Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Accounting and Finance

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Start date: Oct 2026

Research Methodology in Business and Management

MRes
full-time
Start date: Oct 2026

Start date: Oct 2026

Accounting and Finance

MPhil
full-time
Start date: Oct 2026

Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Accounting and Finance

PhD
part-time
Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Start date: Oct 2026

Research Methodology in Business and Management

MRes
part-time
Start date: Oct 2026

Start date: Oct 2026

Accounting and Finance

MPhil
part-time
Start date: Oct 2026

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Contact us

Strathclyde Business School

Postgraduate research admissions

Email: sbs-pgradmissions@strath.ac.uk