Research Degrees in the Saïd Business School

Differences from 2018/19 to 2022/23

  • 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. 

[For2. Attendance requirements

The DPhil programmes shall be offered on a full-time basis only. Full-time students startingare fromrequired MTto 2015meet andthe beforeresidence MTrequirements 2016:set out in §6 of the General Regulations for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 

 13. 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.

    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 D.Phil Committee, unless granted a dispensation by the D.Phil Committee based on completion of a similar course prior to commencement of the D.Phil.

  • Financial Economics pathway

    • (a) During their first year, Probationer Research Students will be required to attend the following four core modules from the M.Sc in Financial Economics programme, and in consultation with their supervisor, will attend four options offered for the second year of the M.Phil 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 M.Phil in Economics courses for the required M.Sc 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 D.Phil Committee, unless granted a dispensation by the D.Phil Committee based on completion of a similar course prior to commencement of the D.Phil.

  • 2. Transfer of status

    Students who have taken the M.Sc in Financial Economics prior to commencing their D.Phil 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 D.Phil 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 1 above;

      (c) A satisfactory research proposal or research outline;

      (d) One draft chapter of the thesis.]

  • All students should participate in the academic life of the School. This will include regular attendance at academic area seminar series, participating in the annual doctoral conference, and participating in various relevant conference and workshop opportunities as they arise.

    1. 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.

    During their first year, students will be required to attain satisfactory performance in required courses as a precursor to transferTransfer of statusStatus. Students may be exemptexempted from courses following the procedure outlined in the DPhilCourse Notes for GuidanceHandbook

    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 D.PhilDPhil Committee, unless granted a dispensation by the D.PhilDPhil Committee based on completion of a similar course prior to commencement of the D.PhilDPhil.

    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 M.ScMSc in Financial Economics programme, and in consultation with their supervisor, will attend four options offered for the second year of the M.PhilMPhil 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 M.PhilMPhil in Economics courses for the required M.ScMSc 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 D.PhilDPhil Committee, unless granted a dispensation by the D.PhilDPhil Committee based on completion of a similar course prior to commencement of the D.PhilDPhil.

    24. Transfer of statusStatus

    AllStudents studentswill mustnormally transferbe statusexpected byto theachieve endTransfer of Status in their fourth term after admission. 

    Applications for transfer of status mustshould be submitted to the D.PhilDPhil Committee and shouldwill be comprised ofcomprise the following:

    (a) Aa completed transfer of status form (GSO.2), signed by the student's supervisor and an appropriate college officer.  Students must complete a TNA (training needs analysis) form confirming their training needs for the following academic year.;

    (b) Passesa incompleted allTraining ofNeeds theAnalysis examinations and coursework approved by the student’s supervisor, as stated in 1 aboveform;

    (c) Aa substantial piece of written work relevant to the proposed thesis as specified for each stream in the DPhilCourse Notes for GuidanceHandbook.

    FurtherTo detailssuccessfully achieve Transfer of theseStatus, students must have satisfactorily passed the appropriate assessment requirements areas set out in thesection D.Phil3 above. NotesIn forcases Guidancewhere a student is required to re-sit/resubmit an assessment item, a deferral of Transfer of Status will be granted automatically.

    TwoFull assessorsdetails appointedof byrequirements can be found in the DCourse Handbook.Phil. 

    The DPhil Committee will appoint two assessors who will read the work, interview the student and submit a written transfer reportrecommendation to the D.Philcommittee in a written report. Committee with recommendations as to whether or not the student should be allowed to transfer to D.Phil. status.

    The D.Phil.DPhil Committee will then decide in the light of the assessors’ report whether to approve Transfer of Status will be approved. 

    A student whose first application for transferTransfer of Status is not approved (including whetherwhere 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 unsuccessful 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.

    Full details can be found in the DPhil Notes for Guidance. 

  • 35. Confirmation of D.Phil.DPhil status 

    Students mustwill Confirmnormally DPhilbe expected to achieve Confirmation of Status by the end of their ninth term after admission. 

    Applications forshould confirmationbe ofsubmitted status as a Student forto the DegreeDPhil ofCommittee Doctorand of Philosophy shallwill comprise the following:

  • (a) a confirmationcompleted Confirmation of status applicationStatus form (GSO14) signed by the candidate’s supervisor and an appropriate officer of the candidate’s college. Students must complete a TNA (training needs analysis) form confirming their training needs for the following academic year.;

    (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.;

    • a completed Training Needs Analysis form.
    •  
    • (e) Sections (b) and (c) together should not exceed 35,000 words.
    • FurtherFull details of these requirements arecan setbe outfound in the DCourse Handbook.Phil. Notes for Guidance. 

      The D.Phil.DPhil Committee shallwill appoint two assessors who maywill beread the same assessors as were chosen for the transfer of status. Assessors selected at this stage may also be chosen for the final viva voce. The assessorswork, interview the student and submit a written confirmation reportrecommendation to the D.Philcommittee in a written report. Committee with recommendations as to whether or not the student should be allowed to confirm D.Phil. status.

      The D.Phil.DPhil Committee will then decide in the light of the assessors’ report whether to approve Confirmation of Status will be approved. 

      A student whose first application for Confirmation of Status is not approved will beis 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 athe second attempt the D.Phil.DPhil Committee can neither approve Confirmationthe of Statusapplication nor approve transfer to the MLitt degree, the student will be removed from the Register of Graduate Students. 

      Full details can be found in the DPhil Notes for Guidance

    • 46. Integrated Thesis (Three paper route)

    • A D.Phil.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 D.Phil.Course Notes for GuidanceHandbook.

      A D.Phil.DPhil Thesisthesis submitted under this rubric may include joint publications, providing that, aside from the candidate, none of the named co-authors is a student. Where a joint publication with another student is included, thisthe candidate must becertify in addition tothat the minimumpaper has not been used as part of three academic papers required to be included in the D.Phil.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, the Director of Graduate Studies, and the D.Phil.DPhil Committee and must be approved at the time of confirmationConfirmation forof D.Phil.DPhil status. Evidence must be submitted at the time permission is sought that at least one of theThe three academic papers hassubmitted should have been written for publication, been submitted tofor anpublication identifiedand/or journal, if not yet accepted orbeen published.

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

    • 57. Thesis

      Theses for the Degree of M.Litt.MLitt which exceed 50,000 words and those for the Degree of D.Phil.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 boardDPhil of Graduate StudiesCommittee to exceed this limit.