Business and Management

The Business School is a leading provider of business and management education. Research in our School meets international standards of excellence and provides a strong evidence base to inform practice.

The School provides a lively and stimulating interdisciplinary research environment for PhD students. You will be supervised by experts in your subject area who are active researchers themselves. You will be provided with resources and support to enable you to fulfil your intellectual potential and generate research impact in your chosen field.

Researchers are fully integrated into the academic and research community. Key to your development are the learning opportunities enabled by discipline-specific research training provided by FBL, as well as skills development, including a scheme whereby PhD students can gain experience of teaching. By creating a friendly environment for research and opportunities for social interaction with other students and academics, the School supports PhD students at every stage of their research journey.

Key facts

There are around 50 PhD students in the Business School, most of whom study full-time.
Open University Business School recruits PhD students twice annually (start dates: 1st October and 1st February).
The School regularly offers fully funded studentships linked to specific areas of research expertise.
Students are engaged in projects that connect to a wide range of interdisciplinary research centres, clusters and themes within the School.
Open University Business School is a member of the ESRC Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership.

Location

Most of our full-time research students are based at our Milton Keynes campus; for details of residence requirements for different modes of study see Full-time study and Part-time study.

Career prospects

After graduating, PhD students go on to build successful academic careers in the UK or internationally. Other students use the PhD as a platform for continuing professional development in a wide variety of occupations, from policing and international development work to management consultancy and international finance.

Find your research topic

Explore specific areas of research, current and prospective projects, entry requirements, fees and funding, available supervisors, how to apply and contact details for advice.

Gendered organisational practice

History and political economy of business and finance

Policing research and learning

Research into employment, empowerment and futures

Social and responsible marketing

Social and sustainable enterprise

Space exploration analysis and research

Strategic management and leadership

Voluntary sector leadership

Related topics

Consider linked topics from other research areas.

Astrobiology, space law and governance

Governance and ethics

When I have spoken to peers about embarking on a PhD, they said that supervisors are ‘hit or miss’. I was worried about the support I needed to embark on somewhat of a marathon. However, at the OU my supervisory team has been incredible! I can guarantee that I can turn to my supervisor for anything, from PhD specific issues to more personal issues I have faced.