Colleagues in the School of Business and Management pursue research as members of one or more of our research centres or theme groups.

Our research centres

• Centre for Critical and Historical Research on Organisation and Society (CHRONOS)
• Digital Organisation and Society Research Centre (DOS)
• Centre for Research Into Sustainability (CRIS)

Our researchers

A full list of our researchers, publications and projects can be found here.

Full-time PhD students have an annual review and also a semi-annual review (SAR) every year. Part-time PhD students have an annual review. The SARs and annual reviews are opportunities to reflect upon progress and achievements as well as to set goals for the coming six to twelve months.

Students are required to attend and pass three research methods courses as part of the upgrade process to the PhD route. Specifically, students need to attend and pass Philosophy of Methods, Qualitative Research Methods for Doctoral Students, and Quantitative Research Methods for Doctoral Students.

The upgrade time scale and process is in accordance with Royal Holloway processes and guidelines.

We are committed to attracting high-quality PhD students and as such you will need to meet our entry criteria. These are:

• Usually an undergraduate degree at 2.1 level and a Masters with Merit
• A high-quality research proposal
• A credible personal statement
• Strong performance at interview

Before applying we recommend securing a supervisor in order to apply for your research project.

We advise getting in touch with the Director of Postgraduate Education for your chosen research degree to inquire whether there is any other additional material they require you to submit in your application

English language requirements

All teaching at Royal Holloway is in English. You will therefore need to have good enough written and spoken English to cope with your studies right from the start.

The scores we require

• IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5.
• Pearson Test of English: 67 overall. Writing 76 no other subscore lower than 59.
• Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III.
• Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C.
• TOEFL ib: 88 overall, with Reading 18 Listening 17 Speaking 20 Writing 26.
• Duolingo: 120 overall, 135 in Literacy, 135 in Production and no sub-score below 100.

Country-specific requirements

For more information about country-specific entry requirements for your country please see here.

Graduating PhD students have gone on to junior academic positions with the following institutions:

• Lancaster University Management School
• Loughborough University
• Queen Mary University
• Coventry University
• Northampton University
• Roehampton University
• Brunel University
• Oxford Brookes University
• Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
• King Faisal University
• Princess Nourah University
• the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce
• Tehran University of Medical Sciences
• the International Islamic University Malaysia
• University of Lagos
• University of Sheffield
• University of Sussex

They have also progressed to mid-level academic positions, such as Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, with the following institutions:

• Southampton University
• Universiti Utara Malaysia
• University of Greenwich
• Kingston University
• Liverpool John Moores University
• Northumbria University
• Portsmouth University
• Sheffield Hallam University
• the University of Westminster
• National Chengchi University, Taiwan

Some have been appointed to high-level professorial positions with the following institutions:

• Chester University
• Prince Mohammad Bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship.

Home (UK) students tuition fee per year*: £5,006

EU and International students tuition fee per year**: £26,400

Other essential costs***: There no additional costs in excess of £50 per item.

…How do I pay for it? Find out more about funding options, including loans, grants, scholarships and bursaries. 

* and ** These tuition fees apply to students enrolled on a full-time basis in the academic year 2025/26.

* This figure is the fee for the academic year 2025/26 and is shown as a guide.Please note that for research courses, we adopt the minimum fee level recommended by the UK Research Councils for the Home tuition fee. Each year, the fee level is adjusted in line with inflation (currently, the measure used is the Treasury GDP deflator). Fees displayed here are therefore subject to change and are usually confirmed in the spring of the year of entry. For more information on the Research Council Indicative Fee please see the UKRI website.

** This figure is the fee for EU and international students enrolled on a full-time basis in the academic year 2026/27.  

Royal Holloway reserves the right to increase fees for all students annually. For further information see fees and funding.

*** These estimated costs relate to studying this particular degree at Royal Holloway during the 2026/27 academic year. Costs, such as accommodation, food, books and other learning materials and printing, have not been included. 

Scholarships

The School offers a limited number of merit-based scholarships that contribute towards tuition fees and/or maintenance.  These scholarships are highly competitive. Applicants are expected to have an outstanding track record of academic achievements and research potential. 

For more information about Scholarships please check the postgraduate research page here.