Accounting and Finance

Research is central to the Department of Accounting and Finance at the University of Bristol. The most recent UK-wide research assessment, REF 2014, rated 78 per cent of the school's research in business and management as 'world leading' or 'internationally excellent'.

Candidates entering the PhD programme are normally required to take 60 credit points of taught units in their first year and to participate in PhD workshops and reading groups. Students are also encouraged to undertake further training in agreement with their supervisor for the duration of their studies.

Research groups

The main research themes reflect the interests of staff members. The particular strengths of the department lie in applied financial econometrics, empirical finance, financial reporting and auditing, management accounting, public sector accounting and accounting for sustainability.

Details of the current research and supervision interests of individual members of staff are available on the school website.

When writing the research statement to accompany your application, the primary requirement is to define and situate your research within an academic/disciplinary context. You should remember that people in the academic community are the main audience or readership for postgraduate research. This means that you will need to identify:

1. The research questions or problems that you intend to address;
2. The research context for your project/programme of work;
3. The methods you think you will use to pursue the key questions
4. Two potential supervisors for your research – please refer to the staff profiles as listed by research group/interest.

In considering your application, significant weight will be given to the extent to which you can demonstrate a clearly thought out and specific interest in research and how this would fit into the wider context of research undertaken in the department.

Applying to Bristol

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