How to apply
Entry Qualifications
Applicants should have a minimum of an upper second class honours undergraduate degree (or its international equivalent). A good Masters degree would also be advantageous. At least one of these qualifications should be in a relevant discipline.
If English is not your first language, we require you to achieve an IELTS score of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.0 in each component part. We may waive this requirement if you have during the last three years, obtained a degree from a UK university, or from a country where English is used as a first language and you have recent experience of preparing extensive documents in English. If you are unsure if these exemptions apply to you, please contact us for clarification.
What we do
Once the application has been received by the School, it is then passed onto a member of staff with relevant research interests.You will be contacted regarding the status of your application in 4 to 6 weeks.
Preparing a Research Proposal.
As mentioned above, applications for the PhD programme cannot be dealt with unless they contain such a proposal. We have prepared these guidelines to assist you developing and writing your thesis proposal. Although people can, and often do, slightly alter their research topic after registering, a thesis proposal helps us to make sure that:
- the topic is viable;
- we can provide appropriate supervision and resources;
- you have thought through your interest in and commitment to the programme;
- you are suitable for admission.
The proposal should be typed using double-line spacing, be at least 3,000 words long and, preferably, contain the following elements:
- a description of the research issue in which you are interested;
- an explanation as to why this issue merits research;
- a brief description of recent academic research carried out by others (completed or ongoing) in your chosen area;
- an indication of what your research would contribute to the understanding of management theory (PhD) or management practice;
- details of how the research would be conducted, including any special facilities which would be required and any necessary skills which you either have or would need to acquire;
- Suggestions for suitable methods.
You may care to use the above bullet points as headings in your proposal, but please do not feel it necessary to be constrained by them. We strongly encourage you to contact members of staff that you think would be suitable supervisors before you submit the final proposal. In this way, you may be able to engage in a dialogue which will result in you being able to develop a stronger proposal. We also strongly encourage you to tell us why you are interested in studying at Sheffield, and to indicate which members of staff you think might be interested in supervising your work, and why.
References
All applicants are required to provide two references (these should be from people who can comment on your abilities to undertake research), in letter form. Information provided is considered confidential.