PhD in Finance at Henley Business School

The PhD in Finance Programme at Henley Business School, part of the University of Reading, is run by the ICMA Centre. The ICMA Centre is the product of the first active collaboration between the securities industry and a university finance department, and students benefit from state-of-the-art facilities, the latest technology and are taught by world-renowned faculty and industry experts. 

Join high-calibre doctoral candidates from more than 30 countries in the world and study at a triple-accredited global business school. Henley Business School is ideally located, set on a beautiful campus, just 25 minutes by train from London. During your studies you will have the advantage of dedicated supervision, impressive facilities and high-quality support.

We provide an outstanding research environment, conducive to the production of world-class research, and our students have found employment in a range of universities and research roles in public and private institutions. The programme provides training in quantitative skills, as well as general research training. It emphasises:

• Flexibility to meet individual needs
• Student-staff interaction
• Timely completion of the degree

As part of your personal development, you will be encouraged to engage in teaching (formal training provided), research activities, conferences and events within the Business School and around the world.

PhD FUNDING

These scholarships will be awarded based on academic merit and cover tuition fees and provide a three-year stipend (subject to performance) aligned with the UKRI. For reference, the annual UKRI stipend rate in 2024/25 is £19,237.

Please find the deadline for scholarship applications via our PhD Scholarships and funding page.

Teaching assistantship opportunities will be available for selected students.

More funding opportunities are available from the University of Reading. For more information please visit the Doctoral and Researcher College website.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

You should normally have obtained a Masters degree at distinction or merit level in a relevant area from an internationally recognised university. Relevant research and/or industry experience may be considered. In exceptional cases, applicants without a Masters degree can be considered.

As part of the application process, you will also be asked to submit a research proposal. Prior to your submission, you may wish to discuss your proposal with an individual faculty member working in the area. Please avoid contacting multiple faculty members.

HOW TO APPLY FOR A PhD

The application process normally consists of three main steps:

• Formal application (incl. research proposal, CV, transcripts and reference letters)
• Shortlisting based on the submitted documents
• Formal interview

For fees (covered if fully funded), please visit the Doctoral and Researcher College website.

RESEARCH AREAS

We offer supervision in most areas of Finance. A small selection from the range of research areas we cover would include:

• Asset pricing
• Corporate finance and governance
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Socially responsible investing.

For a complete list, please see our webpage. This shows the breadth of topics our faculty members are currently willing to supervise students in. You may wish to look up individual academic web profiles for further information on their various areas of expertise, and to see how your interests fit within the departmental research agenda.

CONTACT US

Please visit our website for full details. If you have any further questions, please contact us by email at admissions@icmacentre.ac.uk.