Research Degrees in the Saïd Business School

1. Governance

The DPhil in Finance and the DPhil in Management (or the DPhil in Management Studies for those having started before MT2019) shall be under the supervision of the DPhil Committee of the Saïd Business School. 

2. Attendance requirements

The DPhil programmes shall be offered on a full-time basis only. Full-time students are required to meet the residence requirements set out in §6 of the General Regulations for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 

[For students starting before MT 2015: 3. Probationer Research Students  

All students are normally admitted as Probationer Research Students (PRS).

Unless granted a dispensation by the DPhil Committee of the Saïd Business School, during their first year, Probationer Research Students shall:

(a) attend such lectures, seminars and classes as their supervisor and/or the committee shall determine;

(b) satisfactorily complete such courses and coursework as the supervisor and/or the committee shall determine, dependent upon which course the student has already taken prior to commencing the DPhil;

Applications to DPhil Committee for exemption from the above will be considered.

4. Transfer of Status

Students who have taken the MSc in Management Research or MFE prior to commencing their DPhil study as a PRS are normally expected to transfer status in their third term. All students must transfer status by the end of their fourth term.

Applications for transfer of status must be submitted to the DPhil Committee and should be comprised of the following:

(a) a transfer of status form (GSO.2), signed by the student's supervisor and an appropriate college officer. The candidate should indicate clearly on the form the status to which he or she wishes to transfer;

(b) a good pass in all of the courses and coursework as stated in 3 (b) above, approved by the student’s supervisor;

(c) a satisfactory research proposal or research outline;

(d) where appropriate, one draft chapter of the thesis.]

[For students starting from MT 2015 and before MT 2016: 3. Probationer Research Students  

All students are normally admitted as Probationer Research Students (PRS) and follow either the ‘Management Research’ or ‘Financial Economics’ pathway as set out in the Course Handbook.

Management Research pathway 

(a) During their first year, Probationer Research Students will be required to attend the following three core modules, and in consultation with their supervisor, will additionally attend either one or two Advanced Research Methods courses and two or three specialist electives as set out in the Course Handbook.

(i) Introduction to Management Research Methods

(ii) Statistical Research Methods

(iii) Management and Organisation Theory

(b) All students shall satisfactorily complete the courses and coursework as determined by the supervisor and/or DPhil Committee, unless granted a dispensation by the DPhil Committee based on completion of a similar course prior to commencement of the DPhil.

Financial Economics pathway 

(a) During their first year, Probationer Research Students will be required to attend the following four core modules from the MSc in Financial Economics programme, and in consultation with their supervisor, will attend four options offered for the second year of the MPhil in Economics, one of which must be either Financial Economics I or Financial Economics II. In special circumstances, where a student has taken a substantially similar course prior to enrolment, they may substitute MPhil in Economics courses for the required MSc in Financial Economics core courses. Any substitution must be agreed to by both the Programme Director and the student's supervisor.

(i) Asset Pricing

(ii) Corporate Finance

(iii) Economics

(iv) Financial Econometrics

(b) All students shall satisfactorily complete the courses and coursework as determined by the supervisor and/or DPhil Committee, unless granted a dispensation by the DPhil Committee based on completion of a similar course prior to commencement of the DPhil.

4. Transfer of Status

Students who have taken the MSc in Financial Economics prior to commencing their DPhil study as a PRS are normally expected to transfer status in their third term. All students must transfer status by the end of their fourth term.

Applications for transfer of status must be submitted to the DPhil Committee and should be comprised of the following:

(a) A transfer of status form (GSO.2), signed by the student's supervisor and an appropriate college officer. The candidate should indicate clearly on the form the status to which he or she wishes to transfer;

(b) Passes in all of the examinations and coursework approved by the student’s supervisor, as stated in 3 above;

(c) A satisfactory research proposal or research outline;

(d) One draft chapter of the thesis.]

[For students starting from MT 2016: 

3. Probationer Research Students 

All students are normally admitted as Probationer Research Students (PRS) [For students admitted before MT2019: and follow either the ‘Management Research’ or ‘Financial Economics’ pathway as set out in the Course Handbook].

During their first year, students will be required to attain satisfactory performance in required courses as a precursor to Transfer of Status. Students may be exempted from courses following the procedure outlined in the Course Handbook. 

DPhil Management students [For students admitted before MT 2019: Management Research pathway (DPhil Management Studies students only)]

(a) During their first year, Probationer Research Students will be required to attend the following three core modules, and in consultation with their supervisor, will additionally attend either one or two Advanced Research Methods courses and two or three specialist electives as set out in the Course Handbook.

(i) Introduction to Management Research Methods

(ii) Statistical Research Methods

(iii) Management and Organisation Theory

(b) All students shall satisfactorily complete the courses, examinations and coursework as determined by the supervisor and/or DPhil Committee, unless granted a dispensation by the DPhil Committee based on completion of a similar course prior to commencement of the DPhil.

DPhil Finance students [For students admitted before MT 2019: Financial Economics pathway (DPhil Management Studies students only)]

(a) During their first year, Probationer Research Students will be required to attend the following four core modules from the MSc in Financial Economics programme, and in consultation with their supervisor, will attend four options offered for the second year of the MPhil in Economics, one of which must be either Financial Economics I or Financial Economics II. In special circumstances, where a student has taken a substantially similar course prior to enrolment, they may substitute MPhil in Economics courses for the required MSc in Financial Economics core courses. Any substitution must be agreed to by both the Programme Director and the student's supervisor.

(i) Asset Pricing

(ii) Corporate Finance

(iii) Economics

(iv) Financial Econometrics

(b) All students shall satisfactorily complete the courses, examinations and coursework as determined by the supervisor and/or DPhil Committee, unless granted a dispensation by the DPhil Committee based on completion of a similar course prior to commencement of the DPhil.

4. Transfer of Status

Students will normally be expected to achieve Transfer of Status in their fourth term after admission. 

Applications should be submitted to the DPhil Committee and will comprise the following:

(a) a completed transfer of status form;

(b) a completed Training Needs Analysis form;

(c) a substantial piece of written work relevant to the proposed thesis as specified for each stream in the Course Handbook.

To successfully achieve Transfer of Status, students must have satisfactorily passed the appropriate assessment requirements as set out in section 3 above. In cases where a student is required to re-sit/resubmit an assessment item, a deferral of Transfer of Status will be granted automatically.]

Full details of requirements can be found in the Course Handbook. 

The DPhil Committee will appoint two assessors who will read the work, interview the student and submit a recommendation to the committee in a written report. The DPhil Committee will then decide whether Transfer of Status will be approved.

A student whose first application for Transfer of Status is not approved (including where the outcome is a recommendation to transfer to the MLitt) is permitted to make one further application and will be granted an extension of one term to Probationer Research Student status if necessary. If after a second attempt, the DPhil Committee can neither approve transfer to the DPhil or to the MLitt, the student will be removed from the Register of Graduate Students. 

5. Confirmation of DPhil status 

Students will normally be expected to achieve Confirmation of Status by the end of their ninth term after admission. 

Applications should be submitted to the DPhil Committee and will comprise the following:

(a) a completed Confirmation of Status form;

(b) two draft chapters of no more than 25,000 words in total, which include material particularly central to the thesis;

(c) a substantial thesis outline and list of contents indicating where the submitted material is located in the thesis, a draft abstract and a glossary of key terms and;

(d) details of progress made should be given together with a timetable for completion.;

[For students starting from MT2016: 

Full details of requirements can be found in the Course Handbook. 

The DPhil Committee will appoint two assessors who will read the work, interview the student and submit a recommendation to the committee in a written report. The DPhil Committee will then decide whether Confirmation of Status will be approved.

A student whose first application for Confirmation of Status is not approved is permitted to make one further application, normally within one term of the original application, and will be granted an extension of one term if necessary. If after the second attempt the DPhil Committee can neither approve the application nor approve transfer to the MLitt, the student will be removed from the Register of Graduate Students. 

6. Integrated Thesis (Three paper route)

A DPhil thesis may be accepted for examination if comprised of a minimum of three academic papers of publishable quality. Such a body of work shall be deemed acceptable provided it represents a coherent and focused body of research. It should include an Introduction, a Survey of Literature, and a Conclusion. Current word limits and conditions are detailed in the Course Handbook.

A DPhil thesis submitted under this rubric may include joint publications. Where a joint publication with another student is included, the candidate must certify that the paper has not been used as part of the co-author’s thesis submission. Where joint publications are included, the supervisor must certify and all co-authors must certify in writing to the Director of Graduate Studies of the School that the majority of that work represents the work of the candidate.

A candidate wishing to proceed in this manner must obtain permission from their supervisor and the DPhil Committee and must be approved at the time of Confirmation of DPhil status. The three academic papers submitted should have been written for publication, been submitted for publication and/or been published.

If, after permission is granted, a candidate wishes to revert to a standard DPhil thesis format the candidate must seek the approval of their supervisor and the DPhil Committee showing good cause for the change.

7. Thesis

Theses for the Degree of MLitt which exceed 50,000 words and those for the Degree of DPhil which exceed 100,000 words, excluding the bibliography, are liable to be rejected unless candidates have, with the support of their supervisors, secured the prior dispensation of the DPhil Committee to exceed this limit.