Accounting and Finance

PhD

  • Entry Year 2023
  • Duration Full time 4 Years

Overview

The Department of Accounting and Finance at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) invites applications for PhD program in Accounting and Finance. You will be working alongside world-leading academics in a busy, exciting and innovative department.

We are looking for highly motivated candidates who have an excellent first degree and outstanding Master's level degree performance. Qualifications should be in a related discipline to your intended PhD studies. You should also be committed to pursuing an academic career. We are offering full-time studentships to commence in October 2023. All studentships pay a generous living allowance (2022 ESRC award was £16,062 per annum) and offer a fee waiver for four years.

The department offers an excellent research environment, with a high level of collegiality, subscriptions to state-of-the-art databases, a strong seminar series, and a senior visitors program. The Department of Accounting and Finance is one of the largest departments within LUMS – a world-ranked international business school that is highly regarded by the Financial Times, QS, The Economist and more. In the 2014 and 2021 Research Excellence Framework, LUMS was ranked first in the UK in research power and is one of few business schools whose programs are accredited by the three major international business school accreditation bodies: AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB.

The Department offers a PhD Program in Accounting and Finance. PhD students are required to complete a portfolio of PhD level courses and seminars covering finance theory, econometric and statistical methods, and research methodology. Upon successfully completing the course work, you will then research and write a thesis on a topic, which you are passionate about. Two subject experts will offer detailed supervision to ensure it will contribute new knowledge to the academic community. You will also have the opportunity to gain international experience by visiting a leading US/European school with expertise in a relevant research area. We offer an excellent environment for PhD studies, including dedicated office space, generous funding of conference and research visits, access to many specialised databases, as well as scientific computing facilities and IT support.

The Department has been consistently building the strength of a doctoral program for many years and developed comprehensive PhD training to enable our PhD graduates to succeed in the job market. Apart from training delivered by our own excellent faculty, our department regularly invites distinguished visiting professors from the best universities in the world to deliver doctoral tutorials on specialised research topics. Our PhD students have the privilege to be trained by world-leading scholars every summer and have extensive opportunities to consult external experts.

In recent years, our PhD graduates have successfully joined many excellent universities, research centres and institutions, including Australian National University, Bocconi University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Durham University, LSE, Liverpool, Manchester, Monash, and Warwick universities.

Entry Requirements

Academic Requirements

A relevant Master's degree (UK or equivalent) with Distinction level performance, both overall and in the dissertation. In exceptional circumstances, applicants with an upper second class honours degree and relevant research experience may be considered.

If you have studied outside of the UK, we would advise you to check our list of international qualifications before submitting your application.

Additional Requirements

As part of your application you will also need to provide a viable research proposal of up to 5000 words which has potential to make a significant contribution to prior literature. Guidance can be found on our writing a research proposal webpage.

English Language Requirements

We may ask you to provide a recognised English language qualification, dependent upon your nationality and where you have studied previously.

We normally require an IELTS (Academic) Test with an overall score of at least 7.5 and a minimum of 6.0 in each element of the test. We also consider other English language qualifications.

If your score is below our requirements, you may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language programmes.

Contact: Admissions Team +44 (0) 1524 592032 or email pgadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk

Course Structure

You will study a range of modules as part of your course, some examples of which are listed below.

Core

Optional

Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, but changes may be necessary, for example as a result of student feedback, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes, and new research. Not all optional modules are available every year.

Fees and Funding

The tuition fee for students with UK fee status is set in line with the standard fee stipend provided by the UK Research Councils. The fee stipend for 2023/24 has not yet been set. For reference, the fee stipend for 2022/23 was full-time £4,596.

The international fee for new entrants in 2023/24 is full-time £19,520.

Scholarships and Bursaries

You may be eligible for the following funding opportunities, depending on your fee status and course. You will be automatically considered for our main scholarships and bursaries when you apply, so there's nothing extra that you need to do.

Unfortunately no scholarships and bursaries match your selection, but there are more listed on scholarships and bursaries page.

If you're considering postgraduate research you should look at our funded PhD opportunities.

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We also have other, more specialised scholarships and bursaries - such as those for students from specific countries.

Browse Lancaster University's scholarships and bursaries.

  • Find a PhD Topic

    Discover the research interests of our academics to find a synergy with your desired area of research.

  • Studentships and Funding

    Find out more about our range of options to help you fund your postgraduate studies.

PhD students

Job Market Candidates

Our Accounting and Finance job market candidates are listed below. For a full list of LUMS candidates, please visit our PhD Job Market Candidates page. For further details, please contact the Doctoral Office.

Visiting PhD Scholars Program

Eligibility

  • The Visiting PhD Scholars program is intended for current doctoral students who are sufficiently fluent in English and proficient in their disciplines to make a positive contribution to the research culture of Lancaster University Management School (LUMS).
  • Applicants must be doctoral students. Individuals who have already obtained their PhD are not eligible for this program.
  • The Visiting PhD Scholars program and its requirements and procedures are subject to change without notice.

Cost

Visiting PhD Scholars are charged a registration levy of £500 for visits of up to 3 months.

For visits more than 3 months, visiting PhD Scholars are charged a tuition fee at the standard rate (e.g., £19,520 per year at the 2023/24 rate) or on a pro-rata basis. The department is a member of the EAA ARC International PhD Visit Scheme that provides funding for visiting PhD Scholars.

Application

In order to apply for this PhD Visiting Scholar Program, students must first find a LUMS faculty supervisor. A directory of Accounting and Finance faculty along with a description of their research interests and contact information can be found in the Faculty pages.

To be considered, applicants must submit the following documents to PhD Director in Accounting, Dr Justin Chircorp or PhD Director in Finance, Dr Chelsea Yao.

  1. CV
  2. Academic transcripts (including PhD coursework transcript)
  3. A request for a specific time to visit (begin date and end date)
  4. A brief statement (not to exceed two pages) written by the applicant explaining the purpose and goals of the visit, including the details of the research project that the applicant plans to work on while in Lancaster
  5. A recommendation letter from a faculty member at the applicant’s home institution.

Interested students should apply at least three months prior to the start of their intended visit.

QS Top 100 logo

=65th in the world for Accounting and Finance

Lancaster is ranked 11th in the UK and joint 65th in the world for Accounting and Finance according to the QS World Rankings by Subject 2023, one of nine subjects at Lancaster to be featured in the top 100 in these prestigious listings.

QS Rankings 2023

Alumni Profiles

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Important Information

The information on this site relates primarily to 2023/2024 entry to the University and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.

The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.

More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.

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We believe in the importance of a strong and productive partnership between our students and staff. In order to ensure your time at Lancaster is a positive experience we have worked with the Students’ Union to articulate this relationship and the standards to which the University and its students aspire. View our Charter and other policies.