Entry requirements

The general University entrance requirement for registration for a research degree is normally a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree and additionally, for a PhD, a Master’s degree or equivalent. All international students must show evidence that they meet the English requirement for their course of study. This applies even if English is the native language of your home country. An appropriate level of English language competence is also expected as listed below. Applicants may also be required to attend compulsory in-sessional English language support. The Senate reserves the right to assess the eligibility of applicants on an individual basis.

Months of entry

January, December, November, October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February

Course content

Research students are welcomed to Brunel as valued members of our thriving, research-intensive community. A research degree provides the opportunity to investigate a topic in depth, and contribute new knowledge to your discipline.

A PhD involves demonstrating through original research or other advanced scholarship the creation and interpretation of new knowledge, a systematic acquisition and understanding of a substantial body of knowledge at the forefront of an academic discipline or professional practice, the ability to conceptualise, design and implement a project for the general of new knowledge, applications or understanding at the forefront of the discipline. Both full-time (3 years) and part-time (6 years) study routes are available.

MPhil degree option

An MPhil involves the exploration of a research topic and is typically studied over a shorter period of 1 year for a full-time student and 2 years for a part-time student. MPhil students are required to demonstrate a systematic understanding of knowledge and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights informed by the forefront of their discipline, field of study or professional practice.

Research profile

Our research is focused in four research areas: Economic Development and Institutions, Empirical Finance, Accountancy and Corporate Governance and Macroeconomics. Within each group we have built a broad base of skills that allow us to respond to the ever-changing research environment. Each area encourages and supports individual researchers, from those just starting out as PhD students to those who have reached the highest levels of achievement. We provide support for research activities and funding proposals and provide opportunities for discussion of research ideas and the dissemination of findings.

In addition to the supervisory team, each student is allocated an academic development adviser in thier research area to ensure the quality of supervision at the department. We provide students with opportunities for engaging in teaching as teaching assistants, and teacher training is provided. We emphasise the dissemination of your research output, where students are given opportunities to present their papers in the departmental internal seminar series. We also have the annual doctoral symposium, where all students and staff get together to discuss research outputs in a friendly academic environment. Such event will give you an invaluable inspiration in your research activities.

Potential student research projects:

Macroeconomics

Economic growth
Political economy
Labour economics
International macroeconomics
Institutional economics
Development and transition economics
Growth theory and empirics
Macroeconomic theory and policy
Development economics
Exchange rate and small macro modelling
Applied macroeconomics
Open economy macroeconomics
Business cycles
Central banking
European economic governance
Exchange Rate Modelling
Applied macroeconomics

Microeconomics

Microeconomics theory
Industrial economics
Competition policy
Applied microeconomic theory
Applied Micro-econometrics
Labour and family economics

Econometrics

Financial econometrics
Econometrics of panel data
Forecasting
Non-stationary time series
Nonlinear time series
Regulatory econometrics
Time series econometrics
Macro Econometrics

Finance

Behavioural finance especially momentum, disposition
CDS
Financial development
Market microstructure and asset pricing
The impact of derivatives on underlying markets
The information content of Director trades
Executive stock options
Insider trading (general)
Determinants and consequences of financial reporting quality
Applied corporate finance
Insider trading
Financial economics
Emerging financial markets
Global finance
Credit risk and company credit rating
Behavioural finance and neuroeconomics
Innovation and company performance
Non- and semi-parametric methods
Agency Theory
Contingent capital securities
Debt Pricing
Financial Contracting
Hedge Funds
Investment Strategies
IPOs
Performance Measurement
International finance
Empirical finance
Financial crises and contagion
Arbitrage in economic and financial markets

Banking

Early Warning Systems
Banking Crises
Bank regulation
Banking sector in emerging economies
Bank performance

Accounting

Financial contracts, auditing and taxation on accounting quality
Accounting regulations and financial reporting of SMEs
Earning management anomaly and company valuation
Behavioural accounting

Department specialisms

Finance; Financial Economics; Financial Econometrics; Industrial Regulation; Labour Economics; International Finance; Macroeconomics; European Finance.

Information for international students

IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas); Pearson: 58 (51 in all subscores); BrunELT: 65% (min 60% in all areas).

Fees and funding

UK students

Full time: £4,121 Part time: £2,060

International students

Full time: £14,100, Part time: £7,050

Find out more about funding

Qualification and course duration

PhD

part time

72 months

full time

36 months

MPhil

part time

48 months

full time

24 months

Course contact details

Name: College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences
Email: Cbass-pgr-office@brunel.ac.uk

Phone: Tel: +44 (0) 1895 267051

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