Research profile
Research activities within the Business School at Brunel cover a wide-ranging and diverse field of topics from accounting, through HR, to strategy. Academic staff involved within these programmes investigate corporate governance and social responsibility, employment relations, information systems, corporate brands, marketplace cultures, international business and entrepreneurship and much more. Our research drives forward global business and societal transformation and is applied to many areas, such as NASA’s mission to Mars, humanitarian relief in Iran, biobank network across Europe, British Monarchy brand in the UK, to innovating the public sector in Saudi Arabia.
Find out about the exciting research we do in this area. Browse profiles of our experts, discover the research groups and their inspirational research activities you too could be part of. We’ve also made available extensive reading materials published by our academics and PhD students.
Learn more about research in this area.
PhD Community in the Business School
Research students are welcomed to Brunel as valued members of our thriving, research-intensive community. A research degree provides the opportunity to investigate a topic in-depth and contribute new knowledge to your discipline. Here at BBS, we have five key subject areas:
- Marketing and Corporate Brand Management
- Organisation and Human Resource Management
- International Business and Entrepreneurship
- Operations and Information Systems Management
- Accounting and Auditing
We are one of the largest PhD student cohorts in the UK. We have approximately 160 students based in the UK and around 25 based in Bahrain. Our student cohort is culturally diverse, with students from 34 different countries. The male to female ratio is at 47% to 53%. We have 4 self-elected student reps and they discuss PhD students’ comments and issues with the PGR director regularly. There are dedicated, high spec PhD areas in the Business School with all the equipment you need for your studies.
Message from the PGR Director
“The Business School community of doctoral students is going from strength to strength. We work closely with our PhD candidates and supervisors to ensure that our PhD students get exceptional experience and achieve excellence in their research. We particularly welcome students who have a solid academic background in relevant subject fields, evidenced by their past grade performance.”
Browse the work of subject-relevant research groups
Find a supervisor
Our researchers create knowledge and advance understanding, and equip versatile doctoral researchers with the confidence to apply what they have learnt for the benefit of society. Find out more about working with the Supervisory Team.
You are welcome to approach your potential supervisor directly to discuss your research interests. Search for expert supervisors for your chosen field of research.
PhD topics
While we welcome applications from students with a clear direction for their research, we are providing you with some ideas for your chosen field of research:
Research journey
This course can be studied undefined undefined, starting in undefined.
Find out about what progress might look like at each stage of study here: Research degree progress structure.
Research support
Research support
Excellent research support and training
The Graduate School provides a range of personal, professional and career development opportunities. This includes workshops, online training, coaching and events, to enable you to enhance your professional profile, refine your skills, and plan your next career steps as part of the Researcher Development Programme. The researcher development programme (RDP) offers workshops and seminars in a range of areas including progression, research management, research dissemination, and careers and personal development. You will also be offered a number of online, self-study courses on BBL, including Research Integrity, Research Skills Toolkit, Research Methods in Literature Review and Principles of Research Methods.
Library services
Brunel's Library is open 24 hours a day, has 400,000 books and 250,000 ebooks, and an annual budget of almost £2m. Subject information Specialists train students in the latest technology, digital literacy, and digital dissemination of scholarly outputs. As well as the physical resources available in the Library, we also provide access to a wealth of electronic resources. These include databases, journals and e-books. Access to these resources has been bought by the Library through subscription and is limited to current staff and students.
Dedicated research support staff provide guidance and training on open access, research data management, copyright and other research integrity issues.
Find out more: Brunel Library
BBS PhD Developmental Programme
This opportunity focuses on training students to become future HE teachers/lectures. The students are paired with their academic mentor and join them as a supporting tutor for a number of seminars over one term. Students undertake workshops about facilitating learning and teaching in higher education before and after acting as a support tutor. Students submit a 500-word reflective report and receive verbal feedback from their mentors. On completion, students are awarded a certificate and the hours count towards their Brunel Volunteer contribution.
Business Life Programme
Business Life, a programme of professional training and development events, is available to all students in the Business School and has been developed and delivered in association with professional institutes, leading employers from industry, alumni and the public sector.
Careers and your future
You will receive tailored careers support during your PhD and for up to three years after you complete your research at Brunel. We encourage you to actively engage in career planning and managing your personal development right from the start of your research, even (or perhaps especially) if you don't yet have a career path in mind. Our careers provision includes online information and advice, one-to-one consultations and a range of events and workshops. The Professional Development Centre runs a varied programme of careers events throughout the academic year. These include industry insight sessions, recruitment fairs, employer pop-ups and skills workshops.
In addition, where available, you may be able to undertake some paid work as we recognise that teaching and learning support duties represent an important professional and career development opportunity.
UK entry requirements
The general University entrance requirement for registration for a research degree is normally a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree (1st or 2:1).
An interview will be required as part of the admissions process and will be conducted by at least two academic staff members remotely via MS Teams, Zoom, or face to face.
Applicants will be required to submit a personal statement and a research statement.
Please contact your proposed supervisor, where possible, to receive feedback and guidance on your research statement before submitting it. Learn how to prepare a research statement here.
EU and International entry requirements
English language requirements
- IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas)
- Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
- BrunELT: 63% (min 58% in all areas)
- TOEFL: 90 (min 20 in all)
You can find out more about the qualifications we accept on our English Language Requirements page.
Should you wish to take a pre-sessional English course to improve your English prior to starting your degree course, you must sit the test at an approved SELT provider for the same reason. We offer our own BrunELT English test and have pre-sessional English language courses for students who do not meet requirements or who wish to improve their English. You can find out more information on English courses and test options through our Brunel Language Centre.
Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants. This information is for guidance only and each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Entry requirements are subject to review, and may change.
Fees and funding
2024/5 entry
International
£23,615 full-time
£11,805 part-time
UK
£4,786 full-time
£2,393 part-time
Fees quoted are per year and are subject to an annual increase.
Some courses incur additional course related costs. You can also check our on-campus accommodation costs for more information on living expenses.
Brunel offers a number of funding options to research students that help cover the cost of their tuition fees, contribute to living expenses or both. Recently the UK Government made available the Doctoral Student Loans of up to £25,000 for UK and EU students and there is some funding available through the Research Councils. Many of our international students benefit from funding provided by their governments or employers. Brunel alumni enjoy tuition fee discounts of 15%.
