Application Procedure for Research Degrees

Enquiries

If you have a general enquiry about undertaking a research degree at Bournemouth University please contact askBU.

If you have a specific enquiry about undertaking a research degree in one of Academic Schools, please contact the relevant Research Administrator

Criteria

Candidates must demonstrate outstanding qualities and be motivated to complete a PhD in 3 years. All candidates must satisfy the University's minimum doctoral entry criteria of an honours degree at Upper Second Class (2.1) and/or an appropriate Masters degree. An IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 minimum is essential for candidates for whom English is not their first language. In addition to satisfying basic entry criteria, the BU will look closely at the qualities, skills and background of each candidate.

In considering your application the following will be taken into account:

• Academic qualifications
• The nature and viability of your proposed research
• English language proficiency
• Evidence of access to appropriate resources in order to support your living costs and pay registration fees over the period of your research
• The University capacity to provide you with appropriate supervision throughout your research.

Application process

If you are interested in undertaking a Research Degree at Bournemouth University:

• Please complete all relevant sections of the application form, which can be downloaded here.
• You should contact the relevent Research Administrator for details of additional information that will be required in support of your application, for example a research project proposal (see below for further details).
• Successful applicants will be invited to interview either at the University or by video conference.

Research Proposal

You are also asked to provide a Research Proposal. The purpose of the proposal is to enable the academic reviewers to judge whether the project is of a scale and quality appropriate to a PhD and whether we are able to provide supervision for the topic. We suggest that your research proposal should be approximately 1,500 words and contain the following:

• The title of the proposed research.
• An abstract (150 words) summarising the proposal and stating the research problem, its context and significance.
• An overview of the general area of study and of the discipline of which it is a part.
• A summary of the proposed research, including the aim and objectives.
• A short literature review of key articles and books in the proposed area of research.
• Identification of the research questions you will be seeking to answer and an explanation as to why they are significant.
• A statement of methodology and your understanding of the methods that will be used to conduct the research.
• Timescale, i.e. what you hope to achieve in each year of the research.
• Bibliography, i.e. a short list of the key articles and books mentioned in your application. Details of how you intend to fund the research.
  

Returning your Application Form

The application form should be submitted electronically. Please email it to the relevant Research Administrator in the Academic School to which you are submitting your application. The contact details are listed below:

Studentships at BU

Opportunities are avaialble for PhD students to carry out their subject-based research under the supervision of some of the leading researchers in their fields. Many of our research centres have an international reputation for their outputs, and they also focus on research with potential for commercial exploitation. Details of our BU fully funded studentships and externally funded studentships are avaialbe on our PhD Studentships web page.