PhD proposal guidance for business, hospitality, economics or politics programmes

Before applying for a business, hospitality and tourism, politics or economics PhD, please read our guidance on submitting a suitable research proposal.

A crucial element of your PhD application is the research proposal. We recognise that research proposals are likely to evolve and change after registration; this initial proposal is used to:

  • Determine your potential for research at doctoral level
  • Ensure that the proposed topic is suitable for an in-depth study
  • Determine the availability of academics who will supervise the research.

Business, hospitality and tourism, law and politics PhDs

You should write a minimum of 3,500 words (excluding references) and no more than 5,000 words (excluding references), using the following layout.

Suggested layout

Visit the Management and Business PhD, Hospitality, Tourism, Transport and Events PhD, Politics PhD for more information on the programme and entry requirements.

Economics PhD

You should write a maximum of 10,000 characters including spaces to set your proposed research in a context, identify the main problems in the literature and justify the topic of your research. Please make clear what you plan to contribute to the literature and outline the techniques you are going to use. This is a research proposal for a PhD and not for an individual paper so the agenda needs to be sufficiently broad.

Visit the Economics PhD for more information on the programme and entry requirements.