Plymouth Business School

MPhil/PhD Finance

Exploring the major challenges in today’s global financial markets and institutions and corporate ventures, MPhil/PhD Finance will provide you with inspiring opportunities to undertake top level research on modern finance and investment frontiers. Supervised by scholars renowned in their fields, you’ll explore curious issues arising from the latest developments in finance research and industry practice, enriching the literature on your chosen topics.

Meanwhile, you’ll grasp research methodology and gain analytical skills for scrutinising corporate performance and assessing investment opportunities. The fulfilment of MPhil/PhD Finance will enhance your capabilities to pursue a progressive career in industry or academia.

Course details

  • Year 1

  • This full time or part time doctoral programme is suitable for people who have a particular research question or topic in mind, and wish to explore this through independent study in order to produce an original contribution to the subject. If you aspire to a research career this is the most appropriate research degree to undertake.

    You will be guided by a small supervisory team of academic experts under the direction of a Director of Studies. Even if you already have a masters degree, you will normally be registered as a ‘MPhil/PhD’ candidate and may apply to transfer to ‘PhD’ status around 10–22 months after registration, based on your progress to date.

    You will be expected to fully engage with skills development and training and to present your research in a range of scholarly contexts.

    Your PhD will be assessed via submission of either a written thesis (approximately 80,000 words), or one that combines critical writing with artistic, creative and/or professional practice, and a viva voce (an oral examination).

    For full details of what doing a PhD entails at the University of Plymouth, please visit our postgraduate research degrees pages.

    Core modules

    • GSRFINC1 Research Finance

    • MARE707 Research Skills in the Arts, Humanities & Business

      This module provides students with research skills training and a critical awareness of different methodological approaches in the arts, humanities, business, education, social sciences, law and associated fields, to enable them to make appropriate choices in their own research. It is designed to complement and support individual research projects carried out by students.

  • Year 2
  • Core modules

    • GSRFINC2 Research Finance

  • Year 3
  • Core modules

    • GSRFINC3 Research Finance

  • Final year
  • Core modules

    • GSRFINC4 Research Finance

The modules shown for this course or programme are those being studied by current students, or expected new modules. Modules are subject to change depending on year of entry.

Entry requirements

Applicants are expected to have completed a masters level qualification to a high standard (e.g. at 'merit' or 'distinction' level) as well as either a 2:1 or first class honours undergraduate degree in an area of study appropriate to your project proposal. We are happy to consider equivalent qualifications (for instance, you may have studied different subjects at undergraduate and masters level but have accumulated rich working experience in the proposed area since then).

If you do not have a masters level qualification, we recommend you consider applying for our MSc Finance programme. 

You will also need to provide evidence that you are ready to pursue the project you propose in your application. This will take the form of a sample of critical writing, and if relevant, documentation of relevant creative or professional practice.

If English is not your first language, you must have proficiency in written and spoken English (normally a minimum test score of 6.5 for IELTS, or equivalent). Given the nature of the programme, you’ll be expected to read and engage with complex theoretical texts and debates for which fluency in English is essential.

For more general guidelines and application requirements, please visit the research degrees applicants page.

Fees, costs and funding

EU applicants should refer to our dedicated Brexit webpage for details of the implications of the UK’s plans to leave the European Union.

Please visit tuition fees for postgraduate research for information about fees. MPhil/PhD Finance is in Band 1 for fees purposes.

If you are a full time student, you will pay full time fees for three years. If you have not submitted your thesis by the end of this period, then you may pay for an optional one year writing up period.

If you are a part time student, you will pay part time fees for four years. If you have not submitted your thesis by the end of this period, then you may pay for an optional 'writing up' period of up to two years.

You are responsible for meeting all of the costs related to your own research project, beyond the resources available in the department.

Please visit our postgraduate research money matters page to find out more about issues related to fees, funding, loans and paying for your programme of study.

How to apply

In addition to completing the online application form (which includes space for a personal statement), you must also upload a research project proposal of no more than 1000 words in total. Your research proposal should outline your general topic, your key aims and the research question/problem you are addressing, your proposed methodology, key definitions/thinkers/discourses/practitioners you are drawing upon and an explanation of why this topic is significant or important.

Your personal statement should briefly explain why you have chosen to apply to our programme and what you feel you can offer our research community.

You will also need to submit a sample of your critical writing (3000 words maximum) and, if relevant, evidence of your ability to undertake the practice-led research you are proposing (e.g. a DVD, portfolio, links to website, reviews, catalogue, etc.). It should take no longer than 30 minutes to view all the visual material that you provide.

For more general guidelines and application requirements, please visit the research degrees applicants page.

Markets, Innovation and Competition research group (MIC)

Market economies are more dominant today than ever before where competition intensifies, calling for innovation. On the one hand markets have facilitated wealth creation and spurred innovation; on the other, they are often held responsible for causing financial instability and widening inequality and are vulnerable to asset tunnelling, to name but a few criticisms. This gives rise to a range of connected issues to be analysed by MIC.

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