A number of fully-funded scholarships are available for study within the Business School doctoral programmes.

Key Information
Deadline 23:59, 03 February 2025
Value
Full tuition fees (UK or Overseas level) with annual stipend for up to 4 years set at the UKRI minimum level (pro-rata for part-time students)
Nationality
All Countries
Contact Email Email Admissions Team

Overview

The University of Edinburgh, established in 1583, is a world leading university, ranked 22nd in the world in the QS 2024 rankings. The University of Edinburgh Business School is accredited by the:

  • Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
  • EFMD Quality Improvement System (EQUIS)
  • Association of MBAs (AMBA)

This triple accreditation highlights the quality of teaching and excellence of research at the School.

The University of Edinburgh Business School places great value on Doctoral research in bringing fresh ideas, perspective and energy, critical in sustaining a vibrant research culture. The School is looking to recruit doctoral candidates with a real passion for research and great potential to carry out timely and highly impactful work. However, we understand that joining a PhD programme can be financially difficult. To ensure that highly achieving individuals from all nationalities and backgrounds have the opportunity to study with us, our School is offering a number fully-funded scholarships. Each scholarship will be awarded to a candidate looking to pursue their own research topic in one of our academic research areas.

We strongly encourage and are attentive to applications from minoritised candidates, including:

  • Under our widening participation policy, we welcome applications from those with a low income background, who will be the first in their family to go to university, or who have been in care.
  • Minority ethnic group
  • LGBTQ+ applicants
  • Disabled applicants

Your proposed area of study must fall within one of our six broad research areas. While any topic that falls within the six broad research areas will be considered, applicants whose proposal aligns with highlighted areas of interest may be given preference.

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

  1. Programme:All candidates must hold a conditional or unconditional offer onto one of our Doctoral programmes and expect to join in September 2025. While you can be awaiting an application outcome when applying for this scholarship only those with an offer can be considered. Therefore, please ensure all necessary documents have been uploaded to your programme application at least 10 working days before the scholarship deadline.
  2. Academic Standing: This normally requires a minimum qualification (or expected qualification if you are a current Masters student) of above-average academic achievement, typically 65% or above overall at the Masters level, with a distinction-level dissertation, or the overseas equivalent. For PhD Financial Technology, this requires a Masters with a distinction classification or the overseas equivalent. For applicants to our PhD with Integrated Study programmes, applicants who do not hold a Masters can be considered if they have a First at Undergraduate level, or the international equivalent, with a mark of 70 or more in the dissertation module.
  3. English Competency: You must meet the English requirements for the PhD programme. The most commonly approved certificate is an IELTS, for which the minimum accepted score is 7.0 overall with at least 6.0 in each section.

Please note that we will not generally consider candidates who have already obtained a PhD or equivalent qualification.

How to Apply

To be considered, candidates must submit both a programme application and a scholarship application using the University Online Application System. To access the scholarship application you must first complete your programme application.

We strongly encourage applicants to reach out directly to potential advisors at the Business School by email to discuss the opportunity of doing a PhD under their supervision. Applicants should take care in ensure the academic staff they reach out to have similar research interests. To do this, candidates should browse staff profiles.

Selection Process

Eligible applicants will be ranked initially by a selection panel comprising of senior academic colleagues within the Business School broadly within the applicant’s discipline. The top ranked candidates will then be invited to an interview with the Business School PGR Programme Director and senior Business School research colleagues. The interview will focus on motivation, research experience and contribution of the research.

Applications are ranked considering a number of criteria, most importantly:

  • The academic background of the candidates, including their achievements/research experience so far
  • The potential of the candidates' doctoral research proposal (e.g., novelty, contribution)
  • A whole person approach – preparedness and potential to:
    • undertake and complete a PhD
    • flourish with funding
    • contribute to a positive/diverse PhD community

Scholarship awards are subject to candidates successfully securing admission and joining the PhD with Integrated Study in Management, PhD with Integrated Study in Accounting, PhD with Integrated Study in Finance, PhD Business Economics, PhD Management Science & Analytics, or Financial Technology in September 2025.

Award Announcement Date

Candidates will be notified of the outcome of their application in late spring 2025.

Please be aware that we also hold a reserve list. In the event that a successful candidate later declines their award, the award will be offered to the top candidate on the reserve list. Candidates will be notified if they are listed as a reserve candidate.

Contact

Postgraduate Research Admissions
phd@business-school.ed.ac.uk