UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

Accounting & Finance
Part of the Faculty of Law, Business & Social Sciences and a federated member of the Business School
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Postgraduate research

Welcome to the Department of Accounting & Finance’s section on postgraduate research degrees.

Over the past years, the Department has presented over 40 successful doctoral candidates from all parts of the world, including many who have achieved national and international reputations for their research.

  • In the last Research Assessment Exercise in 2001, the Department gained a 5 rating.
  • The University of Glasgow was founded in 1451, and is one of the oldest and most prestigious seats of learning in the UK.
  • It is a member of the "Russell Group" of leading research-led universities in the UK.
  • The Master of Research, as well as the Doctoral Programme, have been accredited by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

What will you study?

The PhD is our main research degree, with the MRes and DipRes mainly aimed as intermediary qualifications towards a doctorate. Students normally take up to 4 years (full time) to complete the PhD programme.

  • Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
  • Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
  • Master of Research in Accounting & Finance (MRes)
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Research in Accounting & Finance (DipRes)

Aims and Learning Outcomes

The primary aim of the doctoral programme is to provide well-qualified students with an exciting, demanding training and grounding in the highest standards of research in accounting and finance.

Students who have completed the first year of the doctoral programme, passing all elements of the doctoral research training programme and graduating with either a Diploma or Masters of Research in Accounting & Finance, will have achieved a high level of knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods, as applicable to accounting and finance research, as well as in-depth knowledge of a wide range of both theoretical and empirical accounting and finance literature. They will have an appreciation of the main research paradigms and philosophies used in accounting and finance research, and will have gained a wide range of experiences in research, expressing their ideas both orally and in writing, and in interacting with other students and academics from around the world. Graduates will be fully equipped to design, conduct and report on high-quality research and will be well qualified for a programme of doctoral research, for employment as researchers, or for other jobs where analysis and excellent communication skills are valued.

Students completing a Master of Philosophy or Doctor of Philosophy degree in accounting and finance, will have further developed their research competence, particularly in their chosen field. Most importantly, they will have completed in the case of an MPhil, a masters thesis, providing some contribution to knowledge or in the case of the PhD, will have produced a substantial doctoral thesis demonstrating a significant contribution to knowledge in their chosen field. In either case, they will leave Glasgow well equipped to further develop their own research projects and, especially the doctoral students, to make substantial contributions to the international learned journals.