Research Degrees in the Saïd Business School

Differences from 2014/15 to 2024/25

  • 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. 

    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].

    UnlessDuring grantedtheir first year, students will be required to attain satisfactory performance in required courses as a dispensationprecursor byto Transfer of Status. Students may be exempted from courses following the D.Phil.procedure Committeeoutlined ofin the SaïdCourse BusinessHandbook. 

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

    (a) During their first year, Probationer Research Students shall: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.

    • (ai) attendIntroduction suchto lectures,Management seminarsResearch and classes as his or her supervisor and/or the committee shall determine;Methods

    • (bii) Statistical Research Methods

      (iii) Management and Organisation Theory

      (b) All students shall satisfactorily complete suchthe courses, examinations and coursework as determined by the supervisor and/or DPhil Committee, unless granted a dispensation by the committeeDPhil shallCommittee determinebased 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, dependantProbationer uponResearch 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 coursemust thebe either Financial Economics I or Financial Economics II. In special circumstances, where a student has alreadytaken takena substantially similar course prior to commencingenrolment, they may substitute MPhil in Economics courses for the D.Phil.;

    • (c)required applications to D.Phil. Committee for exemption from the above will be considered.

  • 2. Transfer of status

    Students who have taken the M.Sc.MSc in ManagementFinancial ResearchEconomics orcore MFE prior to commencing their D.Philcourses. studyAny 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 statussubstitution must be submittedagreed to theby D.Phil. Committee and should be comprised ofboth the following:

    • (a)Programme aDirector transfer of status form (GSO.2), signed byand 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;

    • (bi) aAsset goodPricing

      (ii) passCorporate inFinance

      (iii) allEconomics

      (iv) ofFinancial Econometrics

      (b) All students shall satisfactorily complete the courses, examinations and coursework as stated in 1.(b) above, approveddetermined by the student’ssupervisor supervisor;

    • (c)and/or DPhil Committee, unless granted a satisfactorydispensation researchby proposalthe orDPhil researchCommittee outline;

    • (d)based whereon appropriate,completion oneof drafta chaptersimilar course prior to commencement of the thesis.

  • Further details of these requirements are set out in the D.Phil. Notes for GuidanceDPhil.

    Two4. assessors nominated by the student and his/her supervisor and appointed by the D.Phil. Committee will examine the student by viva voce and submit a written transfer report to the D.Phil. Committee with recommendations as to whether or not the student should be allowed to transfer to D.Phil. status.

    The D.Phil. Committee will consider the application and the recommendationsTransfer of the assessors and in light of this will decide whether to approve the transfer of status, or approve admission to M.Litt. status (in the case that the Committee is not satisfied that the candidate should be allowed to transfer), or approve an extension of time in order to allow the candidate to carry out further research and make revisions to his/her proposal and to resubmit at a later date (but before the PRS status period expires). The committee may request additional written work (such as a revised research proposal) or other evidence, and/or appoint an additional assessor, and/or state that the student should be re-examined.

  • 3. Confirmation of D.Phil. statusStatus

    Students will normally be expected to applyachieve for their ConfirmationTransfer of Status by the end ofin their sixthfourth term after admission. 

    Applications Theyshould 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 applyhave 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 theirTransfer 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 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;

    • (b) a comprehensive outline of the treatment of the thesis topic including details of progress made and an indication, where possible, of the anticipated timetable for submission;

    • (c) two draft chapters totalling no more than 25,000 words 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;

  • Further(d) details of theseprogress made together with a timetable for completion;

  • a completed Training Needs Analysis form.
  •  
  • (e) Sections (b) and (c) together should not exceed 35,000 words.

  • Full details of requirements arecan setbe outfound in the DCourse Handbook.Phil. Notes for Guidance. 

    The application must be submitted to the D.Phil.DPhil Committee and will be considered byappoint two assessors nominated by the student and supervisor and appointed by D.Phil. Committee. These may be the same assessors as were chosen for the transfer of status, but assessors selected at this stage may not be chosen for the final viva voce. The assessorswho will read the work, interview the candidate (examine viva voce)student and makesubmit a recommendation to the committee in a written report. The DPhil Committee will then decide whether Confirmation of Status will be approved.

    IfA thestudent committeewhose doesfirst application for Confirmation of Status is not considerapproved thatis thepermitted candidate’sto progressmake warrantsone confirmationfurther ofapplication, statusnormally itwithin mayone either recommend resubmissionterm of the original application at a later date within the normal timetable, orand approvewill be granted an extension of D.Philone term if necessary. statusIf inafter orderthe tosecond allowattempt timethe forDPhil resubmissionCommittee ofcan neither approve the application, ornor recommendapprove transfer to M.Litt.the statusMLitt, or reject the applicationstudent will be removed from the Register of Graduate Students. 

  • 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.

    CandidatesA candidate wishing to proceed in this manner must obtain permission from his/hertheir 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 a petitionpermission is acceptedgranted, a candidate wishes to revert to a standard D.Phil.DPhil thesis format the candidate must lodge a petition with his/her supervisor,seek the Schoolapproval of their supervisor and D.Phil.the 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.