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The DUFE PhD Scholarship is available for students who have completed the UU/DUFE programme and commencing postgraduate research at Ulster University in September 2025.

Value

  • £7,770 for each year of the three-year PhD study
  • The scholarship will be applied as discount to the annual tuition fee.

Postgraduate Research

Postgraduate research study at Ulster University Business School provides access to world-class experts and facilities, links to business and industry, and the chance to push the boundaries of your research knowledge to find solutions to real-world issues.

PhD Programme Structure

  • Three years at Ulster University, Northern Ireland
  • Opportunity to carry out research in China.

PhD Entry Requirements

  • Minimum of a 2:1 undergraduate degree in a relevant business area.

Tuition Fee  (£GBP)

  • 2025/26 tuition fee: £18,520

*Fees are subject to an annual increase.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible to apply for the scholarship you must:

  1. Hold a First Class Degree classification from the UU/DUFE Joint Programme in:
    • BSc (Hons) Accounting, or
    • BSc (Hons) Finance
  2. Provide a Personal Statement, which gives details on your motivation to pursue a PhD at Ulster University Business School.
  3. Produce a 2,000-word proposal illustrating your proposed area of PhD study.
  4. Attend a Skype interview

Application Deadline

Applications open: 2 December 2024

Applications close: 16:00 (GMT) on 24 February 2025

Interview period: 18 March – 4 April 2025

Notification of outcome: 5 May 2025

Potential PhD Topics

Accounting Industry and Accounting Education Issues

  • The role of not-for-profit organisations in the finance industry – what can organisations such as credit unions offer customers who are excluded from mainstream financial institutions?
  • Exploring accounting students’ attitudes towards ethical issues and ethical decision making
  • Pedagogical issues in accounting – what subjects should accountants of the future be studying in an age of artificial intelligence?

Outsourcing, Performance Management and Assets Management

  • Understanding government outsourcing and value for money
  • Performance measurement in the public/private sector – understanding effectiveness of methods/frameworks in public and private sector organisations
  • Asset pricing issues – (factor investing, bubble detection, mispricing of stocks during economic uncertainties, financialisation of commodities and precious metals, risk and return)

Financial and Narrative Reporting

  • Understanding effective narrative reporting by listed companies (corporate social responsibility, risk reporting and human capital risk reporting).
  • Understanding how Regtech can streamline reporting and monitoring for financial institutions?

Financial Technology Issues

  • Understanding Financial Technology and how it will impact Banking in the Future
  • How does AI-driven valuation compare to traditional methods?
  • Auditing Distributed Ledgers: Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Financial Audits
  • Exploring empirical analysis of Cryptocurrencies and Stablecoins

Other General and Strategic Management Issues

We would also consider more general strategic management areas linked to:

  • Marketing and Advertising
  • Leadership, Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour.
  • Entrepreneurship and Small business Development
  • Operations and Supply Chain Management,

Find out more

To find out more and how to apply, contact:

Kevin Tian

Ulster Programme Manager