We strongly recommend you make contact with a potential supervisor before applying. In your application, you must name your preferred supervisor (or up to three in order of preference), or the academic subject group you wish to work in.
You can use the Edinburgh Research Explorer to find potential supervisors. You can browse staff profiles, filter by research interest (under 'Fingerprints') and view recent publications by our staff at the following link:
If you have a name in mind, you can also search our Faculty A-Z to find their Business School profile and link to their research outputs:
Our subject groups
Alternatively, browse our subject groups to find out more about the types of research our faculty are involved in, as well as associated projects and research centres.
Accounting and Finance
This group focuses on areas such as accounting in society, carbon accounting, and behavioural finance, and is enhanced by a vibrant and integrated community of doctoral and post-doctoral researchers.
Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Research within this group focuses on innovative, growth-orientated entrepreneurship and the study of innovation around new information and communication technologies.
Entrepreneurship and Innovation group
Management Science and Business Economics
The MSBE group considers the development of innovative methodologies and frameworks to analyse issues of importance to business and policy decision-making.
Marketing
This group focuses on marketing and consumption practices, with many projects looking at the food and services sectors. Many projects draw on theoretical frameworks from external disciplines such as childhood studies and psychology.
Organisation Studies
Research within the group provides insight into major challenges in human resources and public policy in the fields of leadership, governance and diversity. Group members are at the forefront of developments in their specialised fields.
Strategy
The Strategy group studies contemporary issues of societal and organisational importance at local, national and global levels, and knowledge production is organised around such themes as service management and strategic change.
Contacting a Supervisor
Once you have identified potential supervisors, we recommend reaching out to them by email. Please send them a copy of your CV and draft proposal, and please ensure you mention in the body of the email why you think they would be a suitable supervisor for your topic. It is also a good idea to mention any of their work which you have read. Please allow 3-4 weeks for a response before sending any follow up emails.
Interested supervisors will likely ask to meet with you for an informal chat to discuss your project further. This meeting is likely to be online and is a chance for the supervisor to find out more about your project and whether they have the expertise to supervise you. Following the meeting, they may ask you to make some revisions to your proposal and they should confirm if they are able to be noted as a potential supervisor on your application.