Imperial College Business School

Imperial College London is consistently ranked among the top universities in the world and the Business School is a key player in business education, offering a full range of programmes and degrees. As a Business School, we rank first in the UK for research environment and second for management and business students, while Imperial College London ranks first in the UK overall for research (REF 2021).

A fully-funded PhD for aspiring scholars seeking an academic career

We believe that rigorous academic analysis can provide practical solutions to complex problems in society. Our fully-funded PhD programme provides students with the opportunity to conduct their own research in a world-leading university, finding solutions to key challenges in modern business.

Starting with a one or two-year Master’s in Research (MRes), depending on your chosen research area, you will gain a strong theoretical grounding and thorough research training to prepare you for the PhD. As a doctoral student you will have the benefit of supervision from leading world scholars. You will develop the expertise and research skills necessary to pursue a career in academia with previous Imperial doctoral graduates finding success in other leading universities such as Copenhagen Business School, Tsinghua University, University of Amsterdam, University College London, and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

The Business School Master’s in Research (MRes) is an integral part of the PhD, introducing theory and research methods in Finance, Economics and Management, providing you with a solid foundation for your doctoral studies. Depending on the research area you choose to specialise in, you will embark on a one or two-year MRes programme.

In recent years, our PhD students have joined leading universities, research centres and institutions such as Tsinghua University, University College London, Copenhagen Business School, the Bank of England, the University of Bath, King’s College London, National Chengchi University, the University of Sussex and Renmin University in China. Others have sought top positions in industry or founded successful start-ups.

The doctoral programme has been re-structured in recent years to focus more on academic development and it is anticipated that over the coming years placements will focus more on academia than industry.

Explore the five areas of research:

Analytics & Operations

Our academics are research experts in the areas of business analytics and the design and management of processes across the manufacturing and services sectors. The research interests are broad, from expertise in services, pricing and transportation, to retail, digital transformation and marketing.

Economics & Public Policy

The Department of Economics and Public Policy investigates a diverse range of topics including the effect of government climate change policies on business, the contribution of knowledge assets to economic growth and how to improve the quality of service in the public sector.

Finance

Our world-class researchers engage with and disseminate research to practitioners, policy-makers and academic colleagues to develop a more robust financial system. Our faculty regularly publish in the top financial economics journals and participate actively in leading academic, industry and policy conferences.

Marketing

Doctoral students have the opportunity to work with renowned faculty on marketing projects which examine a number of key challenges, from marketing analytics and aggregating and understanding diverse information sources in decision-making, to the nature of purchase decisions.

Strategy & Organisational Behaviour

Researchers in this area consider a variety of topics about what constitutes success across a range of different industries. These include examining the rules and management of platform leadership, and the social dynamics of adoption and its consequences for firms’ strategy and innovation.

Applications for 2025 entry close on 2 December 2024.

Learn more about the admissions process

Download a brochure to learn more about the programme