PhD Studentships in Business & Management

Develop your research expertise and make a meaningful impact through a PhD at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS).

LUMS offers three-year PhD studentships in Business & Management, under the auspices of the ESRC North West Social Sciences Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP).  We also offer LUMS-funded studentships. All applicants to the ESRC competition will also be considered for this internal funding. Fully funded studentships are available for UK, EU and Overseas students. 

Programmes are available in the following areas:

• Management (Entrepreneurship and Strategy)
• Management (Organisation, Work and Technology)
• Management Science
• Marketing 

We are looking for highly-motivated doctoral candidates to join our international community of researchers and students from more than 180 countries.

LUMS is a quadruple-accredited, world-ranked management school, that has a reputation for outstanding research.  In the UK’s latest Research Excellence Framework, REF 2021, we were rated as first for Research Power – recognising the breadth and depth of our work – and joint-first for our research environment, providing the perfect platform for future research talent to develop and flourish.  In REF 2021, 90% of our research was rated world-leading or internationally excellent.  Our commitment to high-quality doctoral research is demonstrated by LUMS PhD graduates obtaining academic, research and consultancy positions in quality institutions around the globe.

Our PhD Business & Management pathway programmes offer advanced research training courses, high-quality supervision by internationally-recognised academics, and participation in the School’s wider research community, making your PhD experience challenging and rewarding.

To join our world-leading research environment, candidates must have an excellent first degree and outstanding Masters level degree performance.  Qualifications should be in a related discipline to your intended PhD studies.

Full-time studentships will commence in October 2027 for research proposals that align with the research interests of the relevant department and that will enhance the research reputation of LUMS.  All studentships pay a generous living allowance and offer a fee waiver for three years.

More details on LUMS PhD programmes can be found at http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/postgraduate/phd-programmes/

Important Deadlines

We recruit candidates on a continuous basis.

We strongly recommend submitting your programme application for a place at Lancaster University no later than Monday 11th January 2027. This is to ensure that your programme application has time to be processed and that you will be in receipt of an offer of a programme place by the time funding is allocated (Application deadline for ESRC scholarships: 22 February 2027).

Application deadline for LUMS scholarships: 15 March 2027

We will be reviewing the applications received after this date as they may still be eligible for funding from a department. However, to maximize your chances of receiving a scholarship, we advise all candidates to submit their application as soon as possible.

Online Information Session

We are inviting you to attend an online information session about LUMS PhD programmes and funding opportunities on Wednesday 11 November 2026 13:00-14:00 (GMT). Prospective students will obtain information about our PhD programme and the application process, funding, our world-leading research, living in Lancaster, and job opportunities after graduation. To attend, please register at LUMS PhD Studentship & Funding information session - Events - Lancaster University  The online information session will be presented by the Directors of LUMS Doctoral Programmes.

Further details about all these awards can be found at: Funding for PhD | Lancaster University

For LUMS PhD queries, contact us at: lums-phd@lancaster.ac.uk

For ESRC queries, contact us at: lu-esrc-studentships@lancaster.ac.uk

To apply, click on the apply button above.

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