DPhil in Management

Our doctoral training will immerse you in all aspects of academic life.

You will be both a student and a junior research colleague. We provide courses in a wide variety of research methods and you will work closely with your supervisors to define your research question and develop your thesis. In addition, you will have opportunities to gain teaching and research assistant experience and become involved with the intellectual community within both Saïd Business School and the wider University. You will attend academic conferences, make presentations, organise lectures and seminars and contribute to management and academic decisions.

Both of our doctoral programmes run in parallel, with only differences in taught courses and preparation for writing in relevant journals to your subject of choice.

We have deliberately kept the programmes small which means that in the vast majority of cases, students are fully funded to allow them to devote their energies to research. The DPhil corresponds to a PhD degree offered at most other universities.

You do not need to contact any faculty in advance of making your application. Highlighted in the table are some specific projects supervisors are looking to take on doctoral students for the 2020-2021 intake. 

These are not the only faculty available to supervise, please view our full list of profiles of our faculty to investigate all areas of research interest in the school.

Student taking the DPhil in Management are required to take three core courses in quantitative and qualitative research methodology during their first year.

• Introduction to Management Research Methods
• Statistical Research Methods
• Management and Organisation Theory

Elective courses

During second and third terms, doctoral students will undertake advanced research methods training and, in consultation with their supervisor, select specialist courses, available from a choice of topics relevant to area of interest.

Examples of specialist elective courses that have previously been available are:

• Innovation, Organisation and Markets
• Organisational Theory
• Foundations of Strategy
• Social Network Analysis
• Marketing

Advanced methodology courses:

• Advanced Qualitative Research Methods
• Advanced Quantitative Research Methods

Following successful completion of all necessary courses, and by the end of their 4th term, students are expected to have successfully submitted and been assessed for their Transfer of Status. The transfer process provides the opportunity for the student to discuss their work with two independent members of staff under examination conditions and to receive feedback.

By the end of their 9th term students will be due to complete their Confirmation of Status. This process allows the student to have a review of their work by two assessors, to give a clear indication of whether it would be reasonable to consider submission within the course of a further three terms, if work on the thesis continues to develop satisfactorily.

Students will be expected to attend training, workshops and seminars on job applications, teaching, learning and assessing, interviewing and presentations skills. Students will also be given the opportunity to improve their teaching and research skills by applying for remunerated positions as teaching and research assistants, within the school or at colleges.

Thesis

The doctoral thesis should not exceed 100,000 words. It must be a significant and substantial contribution to the field of learning in management. As a rule of thumb, it should be good enough to be published in book form or as a series of academic articles. Indeed, you may even adopt a range of different methodologies and approaches. Your contribution can be in the field of theory, methodology or empirical results.

Candidates who are shortlisted are normally interviewed as part of the admissions process three to four weeks after the application deadline.

Interviews are conducted by members of faculty and will take place in person in Oxford or via Zoom if you are unable to travel to the School.

Interviews can last up to 60 minutes and you will be asked questions about your background and aspirations. You should also expect to elaborate on your research proposal.

Final decision

The Admissions Committee will decide which candidates receive an offer to join the DPhil programme. Final decisions will be emailed to all candidates by early March 2021.

There are three possible outcomes:

1. You are made an offer to join the programme
2. You are put on a waiting list
3. You will be advised that you have not been successful this year

Details about any funding received through the School are included in the offer letter.

Having received an offer, a candidate's application is forwarded to a college to be considered for membership. We will guide you through this process.

Graduate access programme now open for 2021 applications

Applications are now open for the University’s 2021 graduate access programmes.

Our graduate access programmes are designed to encourage and support talented undergraduates who would find continuing into postgraduate study a challenge for reasons other than their academic ability.

UNIQ+ remote internships offer paid summer research experience over six weeks, from 5 July 2021. Participants will work on research projects with regular support and supervision from Oxford students and staff, as well as training in key research skills.  

From July to October 2021, UNIQ+ Digital will also offer students from under-represented groups a flexible, free and fully online programme of mentoring, events and digital content to support them all the way through from considering graduate study to submitting an application.

The deadline for all programmes is 12 midday on Friday 19 March 2021.

The course fee in 2021-2022 is £21,757

Fees usually increase annually, please see the University's guidance on likely increases to fees and charges.

Course fees are payable each year for the duration of your fee liability. Following the period of fee liability, you may also be required to pay a continuation charge. Information regarding continuation charges is available on the University's continuation charges page. 

For more information about fees, fee liability and continuation charges, please see the University's fees page.

Cost of living

Please view the University's living expenses page.

There are no compulsory elements of this course that entail additional costs beyond fees (or, after fee liability ends, continuation charges) and living costs. However, please note that, depending on your choice of research topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur additional expenses, such as travel expenses, research expenses, and field trips. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for small grants from your department and/or college to help you cover some of these expenses.

In almost all cases, doctoral students admitted into our programme receive full funding over four years.

This includes course fees and a living expenses stipend. To maximise the overall availability of funding for candidates, we will identify suitable alternative scholarships and may ask you to submit funding applications. We also ask that you identify and pursue any other funding opportunities, including external funding.   

For some scholarships you are required to submit a scholarship essay and/or tick the relevant box in the Funding section of the application form.

Please get in touch with any queries about admissions, fees, or funding by emailing DPhil@sbs.ox.ac.uk.