PhD Application Guide
We are very pleased that you are considering studying for a PhD at Stirling Management School. A PhD is
unlike any other course that you will have taken and we are here to help you achieve success at each step.
This informal guide is intended to be helpful to you in understanding the nature of a PhD, how it differs from
other courses, and as a result why it has very different application procedures. The process involves,
amongst other things, developing a working relationship with a member of staff and collaboratively
developing research ideas before putting in the formal application. Successful application for a PhD
requires quite detailed knowledge of how the process works and we hope this guide will help you avoid the
common misunderstandings that often lead to a person not being accepted onto a PhD course. We are
also sensitive that many of our candidates come from overseas or non-traditional backgrounds and may not
have had the benefit of mentorship within the British system.
We suggest that you read this step-by-step guide in conjunction with the university’s Research Degrees
webpage; http://www.stir.ac.uk/postgraduate/research-degrees/ and the Management School’s
Postgraduate Research Webpage; http://www.stir.ac.uk/management/research/postgraduateresearch/.
Here you will find particular the information on the specific programmes we offer, and contact details for the
corresponding Postgraduate Research Tutor.
The tutor would welcome hearing from you at any stage, and along with your potential supervisors (once
you have identified them), they are here to help you though the application process and indeed your PhD
programme (if and when you are accepted). In part, this document outlines our application procedures;
however, it is hoped that much more than this, it will be a guide of general interest and help you begin your
PhD learning process through better understanding the path.
About the PhD
The PhD involves 3 years full-time study (or between 4 to 6 years part-time), with a time commitment of 36
hours per week (18 hours part-time). Ordinarily it involves full-time attendance at the University, although
flexibility is observed, and distance learning may be exceptionally possible. During their PhD, students
conduct research in collaboration with their supervisors which they write up into a thesis of a maximum of
80,000 words. Commonly students will complete several studies on related topics which are written up with
a coherent narrative. This may be in a “book” format, with a lengthy introduction (often systematically
reviewing the field), methodology chapters for all of the research conducted, results chapters, and
discussion chapters. Alternatively, each of the studies may be in the format of self-contained papers (each
with their own introduction, method, and results sections) that are put together in the thesis with a shorter
contextualising main introduction and discussion. In all cases, students are encouraged where appropriate
to try to publish their work, normally in well regarded journals. Throughout this process there will be regular,
one-on-one supervision and mentorship from two leading researchers with emphasis on collaborative
working and progression through a programme of flexible, tailored, personal development. Our students are
given the opportunity to attend relevant lectures, online tutorials, summer schools and workshops, and the
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opportunity to engage in a small amount of paid teaching of increasing responsibility in order to build up
their profile in this area if they so choose.
There are two main examinations, although progress is also monitored on a regular basis including whether
training is completed, especially that agreed upon as part of the application process. First, at the end of the
first year a continuation examination establishes whether the student has produced enough work to date
(normally having already completed work which is a clear contribution to knowledge) and whether they
have a sufficiently clear plan of what research they will conduct in the remainder of their PhD. Second, at
the completion of the 3 years, the thesis is examined by expert internal and external examiners who assess
whether it meets the university requirements, taking into account disciplinary norms. The examination is
based both on the written thesis as well as performance in an oral viva. PhD courses are always
challenging but we aim to provide excellent support at every stage to enable a successful outcome.
About our Programmes
We recognise that every applicant for a PhD is unique in terms of aspirations and starting point. We have
therefore developed three types of programmes in order to help the greatest number of people possible
achieve their aims with PhD, irrespective of from where they start. It is very important that you chose the
right programme for you based on your experience at the moment. A PhDs is the most academically
challenging course, and nationally success rates vary from very high to very low, with many students taking
several years longer to complete than they initially expect. Our overriding aim is to ensure that all of our
students complete within the expected period of time whilst also striving to ensure that they have the best
possible experience and the most employable CV at the end. As such, we will work with you to ensure that
you apply for the right programme and adopt a very stringent application procedure to make sure that there
are not problems further down the line. Some UK departments may promise shorter application procedures
or more ready direct entry to “3 year PhD courses”; in our experience, where lower standards than ours are
adopted students are likely to take much longer overall, have a more stressful time, not have as high a
quality of research, and be less likely to succeed.
Benefits of the MRes and MRes plus PhD programmes
Our website details our three types of programme. Unless a student already has a Masters which primarily
focuses on research techniques (for example, an MRes or some MSc in Economics programmes) we
normally recommend that students take the MRes before starting a PhD. This can seem surprising to
students with an existing MA/MSc degree, but whilst the MRes is a type of Masters, it differs substantially
from the others. Simply, the MRes focuses mostly on research techniques (5 out of 6 modules) with a little
focus on theory. In contrast, most other Masters focus on theory (commonly all but one module) with just
enough focus on research techniques to allow completion of the dissertation. Both types of Masters are
very valuable to have prior to starting a PhD. If you haven’t had extensive previous methods training (such
as an MRes or equivalent) you will need to develop these skills during the PhD period. Realistically, for
most people this extra work will likely mean that your PhD will take four years. It is therefore beneficial in
many cases to instead take a four year MRes and PhD programme and in doing so benefit from the more
structured research training on the MRes as well as gaining an extra degree in the process (graduating with
both an MRes and PhD).
If you want to take both the MRes and the PhD the simplest way is to simply apply for the MRes in
Business and Management Research Methods. The application is easy and straightforward and can be
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made on the MRes in Business and Management Research Methods course page on the website;
http://www.stir.ac.uk/postgraduate/programme-information/prospectus/management/business-andmanagement/
During the MRes year you can then apply for direct entry to the three year PhD programme. Acceptance on
the MRes does not indicate acceptance on the PhD, for which you will have to make a separate application,
which will be evaluated like any other. However, on the MRes year you will be given guidance and practice
with producing research proposals and learn a lot more about what the PhD and academic research
entails. If you get good grades you will have strong evidence of research skills. Taken together, this will
maximise your chances of acceptance on a PhD, here or elsewhere.
Alternatively, you can apply for the four year MRes plus PhD programme. This application procedure is
very different and follows the standard PhD application procedure below. The procedure is lengthier as the
assumption is that students on the MRes will progress to the PhD and it is only fair on you that we give an
indication that this is likely, for which we will need a lot of information. However, it is also recognised that
some of the requirements will be more difficult for students who have not benefited from having already
completed the MRes. This would include challenges in producing the research proposal and not being able
to present a track record of research competence (as would be indicated by the MRes grade transcript).
We therefore evaluate the applications for the four year programme more leniently than those for direct
entry to the PhD and as such progression between the MRes and PhD year is conditional on; (a) the
production and acceptance of a more developed proposal, (b) the continued availability of supervision, and
passing the MRes with a weighted average of 60% grades. It is important to note that progression between
the MRes and PhD years on the four year programme is not at all guaranteed and that the proposal
especially is challenging and will be judged to the same level as any other. However, you will be given
strong support to produce this so you will have every opportunity to continue where this is the right course
for you.
Direct Entry to the PhD
For students with strong existing research capability they are encouraged to apply for direct entry to the
three year PhD programme. This will include students who have completed the MRes (here or elsewhere),
have a Master’s degree with an equivalent amount of research training, or have developed an equivalent
degree of research ability from another source. For such students, it will be especially important to
demonstrate this ability through a very high quality proposal (see below). We have a strong track record of
accepting students directly on the PhD where appropriate. Students taking such a path submit a training
plan along with their application, on which they are partially assessed; commonly this would include
passing three specified appropriate Masters level modules (at 60%) during the first 12 months of their PhD.
How to Apply for a PhD
Applying for a PhD is very different than applying for most undergraduate or masters programmes. Most
academic courses involve submitting a short application, often with personal statement, which will be
judged as to whether it meets the "cut-off" for admission in terms of previous qualifications and motivation.
In contrast, a PhD involves a largely self-structured three year independent research project on a topic
which has never been looked at before, using methods that have never previously been applied in this way.
Our PhDs have a structured taught element, but around 75% of your work will be spent on the research
project. It is thus essential that the right topic area is identified along with an appropriate methodology.
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Preparing for your PhD
The PhD application process is a several month journey, which actually provides the first research and
training component of any PhD. During this time you will;


Identify a research question that has the potential to make a significant contribution to scientific
knowledge.
Develop a personal relationship with a leading researcher, the outcome of which will be a dual
commitment to work together for three years and see the project through to successful completion.
The outcome of the process is:
(a) A firm written proposal which clearly identifies a precise and much needed research question, justifies
why answering this would constitute a strong contribution to knowledge, and sets out precisely how it
will be answered.
(b) An enthusiastic commitment from the potential supervisor that this is something they want to support.
First Steps

Step 1: Identifying Area.
The first step is to identify broadly in which area you are interested in studying, through reading about
our various PhD Programmes on our website, their various entry requirements, and the different training
that each provides.

Step 2: Make an informed choice on length of programme required
The second step is to decide whether you are ready to start the PhD
Programme immediately or whether you would benefit from the
MRes first. The Postgraduate Research Tutor for the relevant PhD
Programme will be happy to provide advice.

Step 3: Finding and Making Contact with a Potential Supervisor.
For your PhD to progress well, it is essential that you have close, regular, and appropriate input from
two experienced members of academic staff. The research is much more a joint initiative than any
academic work that you'll previously have done. Therefore much of the process is developing a
personal relationship with the potential supervisor and you both deciding that you want to work together
for three years.
One of the biggest pitfalls that people make in PhD applications is
to misunderstand the nature of the relationship with their
potential supervisor. In other academic courses (e.g., degree and
masters dissertations) supervisors are assigned as part of their
workload. In contrast, PhD supervisors choose to take on
students because they want to. Motivations include; (a) wanting
to give back the help they received themselves; (b) genuinely
wanting to help a particular student; (c) wanting to collaboratively
research on a particular project.
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Supervision is very time consuming and intensive and academics can thus only take on few students
across their entire career. They will therefore have to strongly want to work with you personally on this
particular project. Much of the application for a PhD involves developing a personal relationship with an
academic who will as a result want to supervise you and work with you jointly on the proposed project.
When you make your first contact with a potential supervisor, it is very important that you
approach an academic because you want to work with them personally and that you
propose a topic that is linked to their research interests. First, you should use the Find a
Supervisor Tool; https://portal.stir.ac.uk/applicant/find-a-supervisor.jsp, entering in your
research topic keywords. The system will provide a list of all academics interested in your
area of research, with a brief outline of their work. We then recommend that you look into
them further by checking out their expanded profile and reading some of their published work, which can be
found within the relevant division’s Staff Directory; http://www.stir.ac.uk/management/staff-directory/. With
this preparation, you'll be in a strong position to make first contact with a potential supervisor via the Find a
Supervisor Tool (the system records your interest and is monitored by our admissions department.)
Please copy the relevant post-graduate research tutor for the relevant programme on the first e-mail,
and as a courtesy, generally only speak to one potential supervisor at a time. If there is not an initial
match then it is normal to then approach other potential supervisors restarting the process (you may
like to ask the person you first approached who they'd recommend). If you send a generic e-mail to
several supervisors, you are unlikely to attract a supervisor!
During your first contact you should briefly describe;
a) Your background, including qualifications, motivation and aptitude for studying on this
particular PhD programme, and your career aims;
b) What research ideas you have so far;
c) Why you want to work with them specifically, including how your research ideas fit in with the
research they've already conducted, and preferably:
d) Include a draft of a PhD proposal, or at least indicate what your research topic might be. If
you do this, it would be helpful to indicate whether you’d be willing to develop other research
questions if the potential supervisor isn’t interested in this particular topic, and if so what are
the broadly defined areas in which you are passionate.
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The initial contact with a supervisor should lead to several in person, phone, or Skype discussions, leading
to their agreement to help you (further) develop your proposal, and an indication that they'd potentially be
interested in supervising you depending on how the proposal develops. As with all relationships, two people
may not simply "click", and due to the integral nature of the supervisory relationship to PhD success, if
people are not enthusiastically and productively working together in producing the proposal then it is better
if another supervisor is found. As such, whilst initial contacts can lead to an in-principle agreement to
supervise and be supervised, until the PhD application is formally submitted both student and potential
supervisor should feel free not to proceed. The “no commitment” approach allows the "testing out" of the
PhD supervisory relationship including interpersonal compatibility and those interests are genuinely
compatible as both learn more about the research to be conducted. If an initial relationship doesn’t work
out, feel free to approach other potential supervisors, here or elsewhere. If this happens, it is hoped that
you will have benefited from interacting with the potential supervisor and their feedback, making you more
able to approach new people or determine the course that is right for you.

Step 4: Developing the Proposal
Once you've got the in-principle support of a potential supervisor you'll need to develop a precise proposal
for the research that you'll conduct. Your proposal is your plan for your PhD research: The proposal should
be at least 2,000 words (many are much longer) and should;
a) Define the work which you'll conduct over the next three years and the contribution that you will
make to the field.
b) Outline the exact contribution to knowledge you aim to make, and how you will make it.
The proposal will be written by the student, but they should source substantial input from the potential
supervisor. In all cases proposals should have several iterations of the student preparing a document which
is commented upon by the potential supervisor and re-written as a result. In some cases the potential
supervisor will suggest specific topics as well as specific studies and designs; in other cases the potential
supervisor will support the further development of a proposal already began by the candidate.
Developing your proposal should be an exciting time, full of new discovery and the challenge of planning
the research that you are strongly motivated to do. This is one of the most important things that you will do
during your PhD. This stage involves identifying a "niche" area, a gap in current scientific literature, in which
you can make a significant original contribution to knowledge. This involves not just finding an understudied
area in which you are interested, but an exact question to ask that hasn't been asked before and which
needs to be answered within your chosen field. The more precise and detailed the proposal is in identifying
a strong potential contribution to the literature and how exactly it will be addressed, the faster, safer, more
efficient, and more productive the early part of the PhD will be. In many ways, preparing the proposal is
PhD research, so finding out how motivated you are to do the proposal is a good indication as to your
suitability for a PhD. On the basis of a strong proposal, students will be able to "hit the ground running" with
the PhD research. This will help ensure that the PhD is completed on time within three years.
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Format of the Proposal
The exact format of the proposal is flexible, but it should be a minimum of 2,000 words and contain the
following information;
(a) Title. A title that accurately and succinctly reflects the work.
(b) Background. A concise summary of the background literature relevant to the proposed research.
The aim of this section is to provide context in which to understand your next section on the specific
research question and how this contributes to knowledge.
(c) Research Question and Contribution to Knowledge. Clearly set out a research question that
advances the current literature and demonstrates how this represents an original contribution to
knowledge. It is not sufficient here to generally outline an understudied area in which you are
interested, but rather you should propose a precise question which you can feasibly answer during
your PhD, fully justifying how the answering of it will advance knowledge in the field.
(d) Research Design and Methodology. This section should set out how you will go about answering
the question and should form about 50% of the proposal. The exact form of this section will depend
on the nature of the research and discipline in which it is to be conducted. Within many areas (e.g.,
accounting and finance, economics, behavioural science, and some areas of business and
marketing), for example, it would be appropriate to outline the first two studies or analyses that you
will conduct (e.g., for those using pre-existing datasets, which variables within the datasets will be
used and what analysis will be conducted; for more experimental work, what experiments will be
conducted). For other areas particularly those involving large-scale qualitative investigation, this
may be less appropriate, and the focus should instead be on detailed information on the form that
your enquiry will take, demonstrating an understanding of the epistemological challenges and
practicalities of the approach. In all cases, this section should provide a viable strategy for
answering your research question. From this section, other researchers both within and out-with the
immediate field should be able to readily see that you have a clear plan of how you will conduct your
PhD research and that this plan is feasible within the confines of a PhD.
(e) Relevance to the discipline. A short section outlining how the research conducted is relevant to the
discipline(s) related to the PhD pathway. For example, if the PhD is in Business and Management,
how is the envisioned research relevant to these areas?
(f) References. A full set of references in an appropriate academic style. These (plus any tables,
appendices etc.) are not included when considering word count.
Please see the example of a research proposal in the “useful documents” table on the website, as it
provides a useful specimen of good practice. You will not be obliged to carry out the exact research you
propose - as plans naturally change over time - but the experience of having produced this will be valuable
skills training, and the proposal will always form a "plan A" to which you can return. It is stressed again that
the proposal should be developed collaboratively with your supervisor and during this time you should also
be in contact with the relevant Postgraduate Research Tutor.
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
Step 5: Developing a Training Plan
All candidates for direct entry to the three year PhD programme should complete a training plan form and
include it with their application. If they have already completed the MRes at Stirling Management School it
is sufficient to note this. Otherwise, students should complete the form and specify what training will be
undertaken in the first 12 months of the PhD. Normally this would include taking three Masters level
modules and passing the examination of each with a module mark of 60%. This decision is important as
your progression to the second year will depend on having completed the training plan. You should
carefully discuss what training is most appropriate with your potential supervisor as everyone’s needs are
different and the aim of the training is to help you with your PhD research and wider development.
Guidance on available modules that are often appropriate is provided in the appendix of the form.

Step 6: Making the Formal Submission
Once your research proposal is worked to the standard detailed in the example, and when you are advised
by your supervisor or the postgraduate research tutor to do so, you can make your online application via
the university portal . Along with the requested information you should include; (a) your proposal, (b) the
training plan form, and (c) your current CV. In Stirling Management School, the assessment is made by the
Centre for Graduate Research in Management, which manages the PhD programmes. Applications will be
processed by the university's central admissions team and passed onto the Director of the Centre for
Graduate Research in Management for a decision on behalf of the school. Advised by the relevant postgraduate research tutor and the potential supervisors, the Director will evaluate the application in terms of
your previous qualifications, suitability for the PhD programme and pathway, and especially on whether the
proposal clearly demonstrates;
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
sufficient knowledge of the area to be aware of what similar research has already been completed;
the identification of a novel research question that has the proposed research holds potential to
provide a substantial original contribution to knowledge;
A viable strategy from which it is readily apparent how such contribution will be made.
The Director also has to be sure that the school can provide appropriate supervision for the project. The
Director will make a recommendation on behalf of the school to the university which will be ordinarily be
accepted following basic checks, and a formal decision will be sent to the student from admissions. If the
application is accepted, it will be subject to certain conditions including those set by the university.
What to do if your proposal is rejected
Please note that all applications are expected to follow the guidance outlined here; applications which have
clearly not done so (such as those which do not include a fully completed training plan or where there is no
evidenced contact with a potential supervisor) will be rejected as a matter of course, although such
students may re-apply having followed the correct procedures. In the unusual case where a student has
worked extensively and productively with a potential supervisor and their application is still rejected then
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students are encouraged to seek feedback from the potential supervisor and Postgraduate Research Tutor.
It may be that an amended version (such as with a further developed proposal) might be accepted or that it
may be more appropriate for a student to first take another course such as the MRes as a standalone
degree. Appeals against the Director's decision may be made by the potential supervisor at their discretion
to the Head of School whose decision is final.
Conclusion
We wish you well on your PhD journey. Completing a PhD needs special dedication, resilience, drive, and
stamina. Above all, it is a journey of self-discovery and self-development, culminating in a contribution to
the field. The PhD application is an important first step, but a big one, and we are available to help at all
times, both now and during the PhD programme.
This guide was produced by Professor Alex Wood,
Director - Centre for Graduate Research in Management,
Stirling Management School – Revised June 2016.
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