Four year fully funded Graduate Teaching Fellowships for Management PhD students

Overview

Kickstart your academic career with full financial support for your Management PhD and gain expert skills in research and teaching with our Graduate Teaching Fellowships (GTF).

About this opportunity

Are you planning to start a Management PhD in October 2026? Don’t miss the opportunity to apply for one of the University of Liverpool Management School’s 4-year GTFs.

A GTF is a studentship for full-time PhD students which provides substantial financial support and an opportunity to gain experience as a higher education (HE) teacher.

This means that as well as pursuing your PhD research, you’ll also be involved in a fixed number of teaching hours during your time with us.

In year one, alongside your specific PhD research modules, you’ll complete a short teacher training programme by the University of Liverpool.

As well as gaining a formal HE teaching qualification, you’ll learn key pedagogical skills for the academic job market, primarily through shadowing mentored classroom involvement.

During the remainder of your PhD, you’ll have the opportunity to put your research skills into practice while completing your doctoral research thesis.

Who is this for?

You’ll need a UK master’s degree, or international equivalent, in a business and management discipline, preferably at merit or above.

You’ll also need to submit a strong research proposal in areas including, but not limited to:

Marketing

• B2B marketing
• Consumer behaviour and digital identity
• Consumer culture
• Marketing strategy and analytics
• Vulnerable consumers and responsible marketing.

Operations and Supply Chain Management (OSCM)

• Transport and logistics
• Agri-food supply chains
• Sustainable operations and supply chain management
• Agile operations
• Supply chain technologies, analytics and risk.

Strategy, International Business and Entrepreneurship (SIBE)

• Sustainable strategy and its governance
• International business and management of people, knowledge and technology across borders
• Innovation, collaboration and emerging digital technologies
• Strategic intellectual property management across global innovation contexts
• Entrepreneurship and social inclusion.

Work, Organisation and Management (WOM)

• Work, health and wellbeing
• Leadership
• Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)
• Identity
• Grand challenges in work, organisation and management.

To discuss the entry requirements for this programme please contact the Management School’s Postgraduate Research Team.

How to apply

1. Contact supervisors

You should suggest potential supervisors in your application. Please, choose the subject area that best aligns with your intended research project for further details about potential supervisors:

• Find Marketing supervisors
• Find Operations and Supply Chain Management supervisors
• Find Strategy, International Business and Entrepreneurship supervisors
• Find Work Organisation and Management supervisors.

If you need advice on appropriate supervisors, you’re welcome to contact:

• Management PhD Director of Studies, Dr Leighann Spencer
• Marketing Group Director of Research, Professor Lynn Sudbury-Riley
• Operations and Supply Chain Management Group Director of Research, Professor Hugo Lam
• Strategy, International Business and Entrepreneurship Group Director of Research, Professor Nikolaos Papageorgiadis
• Work Organisation and Management Group Director of Research, Professor Dennis Jancsary.

1. Prepare your application documents

Prepare your application documents

You may need the following documents to complete your online application:

• A research proposal (this should cover the research you’d like to undertake)
• University transcripts and degree certificates to date
• Passport details (international applicants only)
• English language certificates (international applicants only)
• A personal statement (include ‘ULMS-GTF-2026 studentship’ in your title)
• A curriculum vitae (CV)
• Contact details for two proposed supervisors
• Names and contact details of two referees.

1. Apply

Finally, register and apply online. You'll receive an email acknowledgment once you've submitted your application. We'll be in touch with further details about what happens next.

You can apply for our GTFs in one of the two funding calls available this academic year.

Online applications for round one are now open. Submit your application before Friday 2 January 2026 at 5pm UK time, following the steps below:

• Select the ‘Management Studies – Doctor in Philosophy (PhD)’ option as your programme of study
• In the ‘Finance’ section, select funding source ‘Sponsor’ and insert ‘ULMS-GTF-2026’ in the box below
• Also include ‘ULMS-GTF-2026’ as the first line of your personal statement.

When we evaluate your application, we’ll consider how your research idea fits with our current themes and our academics’ areas of specialisation, as well as your teaching potential.

We’ll then let you know whether we’d like you to progress on to the next stage of the application process, in which case we’ll invite you for an interview.

You’ll be informed of our final decision before the second funding call starts in the springtime.

Funding your PhD

Receiving one of our GTFs gives you the funds to launch your academic career, while you gain valuable teaching training and experience to become a rounded scholar:

• £20,780 annual maintenance grant*
• Full coverage of PhD programme fees
• HE teacher training and practice.

GTFs are compatible with external bursaries, as well as other funds for postgraduate research students offered by the Management School, including a £700 per year GTF allowance (available from Year 2) and the Conference Support Scheme.

Please, be aware our GTFs aren’t compatible with other studentships, such as those offered by the North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership and the China Scholarship Council.

*Stipend amount of £20,780 for 2025/26 is for guidance purposes only and is subject to change.

Contact us

Have a question about this research opportunity or studying a PhD with us? Please get in touch with us, using the contact details below, and we’ll be happy to assist you.

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