Overview
Our Business and Management PhD gives you the knowledge and skills you need to become a researcher and scholar in Business and Management.
These transferable skills are in high demand in knowledge-intensive organisations and environments. They will help you maximise opportunities in careers that include complex cognitive tasks.
To find out more about our key research areas, you can visit the relevant subject group research pages. These are:
- Entrepreneurship and Innovation
- Information Systems and Operations
- Leadership, Work and Organisation, comprising:
- Work, Employment and Human Resource Management (WEHRM)
- Management and Organisation (M&O)
- Strategy, International Business and Society (SIBS)
- Marketing
Important information
We’ve highlighted important information about your course. Please take note of any deadlines.
Your course and study experience – disclaimers and terms and conditions
Please rest assured we make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the programmes, services and facilities described. However, it may be necessary to make changes due to significant disruption, for example in response to Covid-19.
View our Academic experience page, which gives information about your Newcastle University study experience for the academic year 2024-25.
See our terms and conditions and student complaints information, which gives details of circumstances that may lead to changes to programmes, modules or University services.
How you’ll learn
Assessment methods
Depending on your modules, you’ll be assessed through a combination of:
- Thesis
- Viva
Additional assessment information
We offer a wide range of projects for the thesis. These will be provided by our academics. You can also propose your own topic.
Postgraduate research student support
Our mission is to help you:
- stay healthy, positive and feeling well
- overcome any challenges you may face during your degree – academic or personal
- get the most out of your postgraduate research experience
- carry out admin and activities essential to progressing through your degree
- understand postgraduate research processes, standards and rules
We can offer you tailored wellbeing support, courses and activities.
You can also access a broad range of workshops covering:
- research and professional skills
- careers support
- wellbeing
- health and safety
- public engagement
- academic development
Find out more about our postgraduate research student support
Our staff
Research supervisors
Profiles of our highly qualified academic staff who are potential supervisors of postgraduate research can be found within their respective research community:
- Work, Employment and Human Resource Management
- Strategy, International Business and Society
- Management and Organisation
Marketing operations and systems, including:
- Innovation, Enterprise and Digital Business
- Marketing: Consumers, Communications and Services
- Supply Chain and Operations Research (SCORCH)
Your development
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) researcher development programmeÂ
Each faculty offers a researcher development programme for its postgraduate research students. We have designed your programme to help you:
- perform better as a researcher
- boost your career prospects
- broaden your impact
Through workshops and activities, it will build your transferable skills and increase your confidence.
You’ll cover:
- techniques for effective research
- methods for better collaborative working
- essential professional standards and requirements
Your researcher development programme is flexible. You can adapt it to meet your changing needs as you progress through your doctorate.
Find out more about the Researcher Education and Development programme
Doctoral training and partnerships
There are opportunities to undertake your PhD at Newcastle within a:
- Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT)
- Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP)
Being part of a CDT or DTP has many benefits:
- they combine research expertise and training of a number of leading universities, academic schools and academics.
- you’ll study alongside a cohort of other PhD students
- they’re often interdisciplinary
- your PhD may be funded
If there are currently opportunities available in your subject area you’ll find them when you search for funding in the fees and funding section on this course.
The following centres/partnerships below may have PhD opportunities available in your subject area in the future:
- ESRC Northern Ireland/North East (NINE) Doctoral Training Partnership
Your future
Our Careers Service
Our award-winning Careers Service is one of the largest and best in the country, and we have strong links with employers. We provide an extensive range of opportunities to all students through our ncl+ initiative.
Visit our Careers Service website
Quality and ranking
- 42% of our research is classified as 4* world-leading research – Research Excellence Framework 2021
- 65% increase in research power since 2014 – Research Excellence Framework 2021
- Global Top 130 University – QS World University Rankings 2025
- Global Top 170 University – Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024
- Top 200 for Business and Management Studies – QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024
- Top 25 in the UK and Top 100 in the world for sustainable development – Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2024Â
Professional accreditation and recognition
Newcastle University Business School accreditation
Newcastle University Business School is accredited by the:
- Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
- European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS)
- Association of MBAs (AMBA)
Only 1% of business schools worldwide hold this triple crown. Our accreditations reflect the investments we make for our students through providing a high quality teaching environment, innovative programming and active engagement with industry.
All professional accreditations are reviewed regularly by their professional body
Recognition of professional qualifications outside of the UK
From 1 January 2021 there is an update to the way professional qualifications are recognised by countries outside of the UK
Check the government’s website for more information.
Facilities
Newcastle University Business School is one of the largest Schools in the University. We have over 3,500 students representing over 80 nationalities. This valuable network extends beyond our current students to include:
- regional, national and international leaders
- over 34,000 alumni in our network, spanning over 150 countries
- leading professionals and practitioners from industry
The Business School is the gateway to Newcastle Helix – an innovation hub and community that brings together industry leaders, businesses and top researchers.
Our facilities include:
- flexible conference room with panoramic views across the city
- Wi-Fi enabled connectivity throughout the building, including three computer clusters housing over 120 PCs
- four large lecture theatres and over 25 seminar and teaching spaces, providing comfortable teaching and group study space
- dedicated Student Hub and Quiet Space, providing a balanced mix of study space for group work or quiet, individual study
- contemporary café
- employability hub to support your career aspirations
- Bloomberg Room to give you a real feel for the trading room floor
- Experimental and Behavioural Economics Lab, a state-of-the-art research facility for conducting studies in experimental economics and economic psychology
The Frederick Douglass Centre at Newcastle Helix also offers further study and learning spaces. This includes a 750 seat auditorium – the largest in the University.
Entry requirements
The entrance requirements below apply to 2025 entry.
Academic entry requirements
A 2:1 honours degree, or international equivalent, in a relevant subject. We also usually expect a master’s degree, or international equivalent, at merit or above. In addition to academic qualifications, we also value relevant work experience.
If you do not have a master’s degree, you should complete the MA in Management and Business Studies (Research) before continuing onto the PhD track. If you have a master’s degree that is not recognised by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as Research Master, you will be expected to complete a Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) in Research Methods in your first year of the programme.
