The Bradford Executive Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA)

School of Management

After opening our doors in 1963, the School of Management has been an international leader in business education, research and knowledge transfer. For more than 50 years, we have been providing engaging and innovative teaching, learning and research that makes a difference to the world. We hold the coveted Triple Crown of accreditations from AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB and we have created an environment of world-leading management education and research where everyone can flourish.

Advantages of the DBA

The Bradford Executive Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) is the pinnacle of management education. It provides an unprecedented fast-track to the status of global expert in a particular field.

This doctoral degree is as academically rigorous as a PhD, but is designed for senior experienced professional managers and brings together academic theories and concepts, with business and management practices.

Our DBA is specifically designed for individuals looking for the next challenge in their career. It offers a range of personal development and career opportunities, and some of our students publish in leading academic and practitioner journals.

Your fellow DBA students will be an elite group of about 25 international managers who you will meet, network and share ideas with at several taught session in years one and two, and during your research phase via regular peer review workshops in different locations.

DBA graduates at University of Bradford School of Management will become part of our international alumni network of business people. Current and recent DBA students work for companies such as Shell International, Coca-Cola, Siemens, Bayer, ING Group and Phillips International.

DBA Structure and delivery

Our DBA comprises of a taught and research phase, each year international managers enrol on this specialist part-time DBA programme. In the first phase, there are specialist modules delivered by leading academics and practitioners on research methods, critiquing literature and advanced studies in management practice. DBA students will be allocated two experienced supervisors to guide them through the research phase, which involves conducting empirical research and writing a dissertation.

We require a research proposal of 1,500–2,500 words setting out the context, literature and research methodology of your project. This will enable us to place you in one of our four research centres – Accounting, Finance and Economics; People, Organisation and Entrepreneurship; Logistics, Supply Chain and Technology; or International Business, Marketing and Branding', and allocate supervisors.

Annual fees

Fees for the first 4 years are £42,026, followed by a £5,125 annual continuation fee.

What you can do with a DBA

You will make a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge in your area of expertise while studying part-time and remaining at work, allowing you to practically apply your knowledge directly back to the workplace. You will open up a new realm of personal development and career opportunities including teaching at international business schools, high-level consultancy and board-level roles.

“The overall structure of the DBA allows students to learn academic approaches to becoming a qualified researcher and each segment of the programme thoroughly teaches the necessary stages to getting to write the final thesis. Beyond the academic lectures however, students will find incredible inspiration from the network of other DBA students, supervisors and administrative staff.”

Cara Antoine, DBA graduate

Research topics

Our DBA students research a broad range of topics, covering – corporate social responsibility, circular economy, leadership, banking and international finance, branding and value creation, e-governance, international business, organisational commitment and human resource management. Research topics can be related to areas of interest, or areas requiring development from within your organisation.