PhD & research masters
Preparing you for an exciting and rewarding academic career with our fully-funded PhD programme. Join one of our 4 research masters programmes, each an integral part of a route to the PhD.
The Cambridge Judge PhD programme will:
- Prepare you for an exciting and rewarding academic career in a world-leading business school.
- Enable you to research independently and contribute to important ongoing debates.
- Empower you to impact society through your research and deep engagement with business.
Masters + PhD structure
Our PhD programme at Cambridge Judge Business School, starts with one of our 9-month research masters degrees, followed by a PhD degree of 3-4 years.
From the start of your masters degree, you’ll join one of 8 PhD pathways. Each leads you to specialise in a particular discipline of Management Studies.
Hello, I’m Professor Jennifer Howard-Grenville, and I’m the [former] director of our PhD programme here at Cambridge Judge Business School. I’m glad you’re exploring the possibility of a PhD. And we’d like to tell you a little bit about how our programme works. The goal of the PhD is to train students who are aiming to become research oriented faculty members at one of the world’s leading business schools. We also aim to help you develop your own independent research and contribute to lively academic debates in the field of management and business.
Finally, it’s important in our programme that you develop research that has an impact on society through your deep engagement with real world business and organisational problems. It’s really important to know that we operate a little differently from some other programmes, and we do not have direct entry to our PhD programme. This is because the PhD is part of a five-year programme of study, which begins with one of our master’s degrees, either the MPhil or the MRes degree.
On your MPhil or MRes year, you’ll learn essential theories and methods needed to conduct research for PhD. As well, you will have a chance to explore if a PhD in a career as a research academic is the right one for you. When you complete an MPhil or an MRes with us, we also get to know you and you get to know us, meaning that in the first year of your PhD, you hit the ground running conducting research, while you also learn some additional essential methods and research literatures.
We will work closely with you as a PhD student to mentor you and developing your research skills and identity. Our PhD and research master’s students also benefit from the fact that Cambridge Judge Business School is a vibrant place for wider scholarly exchange. In addition to our own leading faculty members who regularly publish with students in top journals in their fields and who hold senior editorial positions with those journals, we also regularly host visitors from around the world who are doing cutting edge research. We hope this helps you consider if you will be a strong fit for our research programmes.
Financial support
All PhD and Master of Research students, as well as some MPhil research students, receive full funding through University or departmental scholarships.
Students in the 4th year of their PhD receive funding conditional on their progress.
We offer scholarships for UK and EU research students, funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Science Research Council (ESRC). The wider University of Cambridge offers additional funding sources for domestic and international students.
Why a CJBS PhD?
Undertaking a PhD is a life defining choice, explore the reasons to choose CJBS for your PhD:
PhD pathways
From the start of your research masters degree, you’ll join one of 8 PhD pathways. Each leads you to specialise in a particular discipline of Management Studies.
Prerequisite masters programme:
- Either MPhil in Finance
- or Master of Research (MRes)
Prerequisite masters programme:
- Either Master of Research (MRes)
- or exceptionally the Cambridge MPhil in Economic Research
Prerequisite masters programme:
- Either MPhil in Finance
- or Master of Research (MRes) (for students with a Cambridge MPhil in Economic Research)
Prerequisite masters programme:
Prerequisite masters programme:
Prerequisite masters programme:
Prerequisite masters programme:
Prerequisite masters programme:
Research masters
Cambridge Judge Business School offers 4 research-oriented masters programmes, each an integral part of a route to the PhD. Each masters programme covers essential pathway coursework.
- The 3 MPhil programmes are for students without a prior research masters degree. Which MPhil you take will depend on your research interests and background.
- The Master of Research (MRes) programme is the foundation year of the PhD for students who have a masters degree which provides a strong grounding for research in a subject relevant for management research, and with evidence that they have the calibre and prior training to undertake a research-focused degree.
- Prepares students for a PhD in Management Studies (Finance) or a research career in finance.
- Prepares students for a PhD in Management Studies.
- Emphasis on qualitative research methodology (involving fieldwork in which the researcher observes and analyses behaviours in organisations).
- Prepares students with prior degree-level quantitative training for a PhD in Management Studies.
- Emphasis on quantitative research methodology (involving the design and analysis of laboratory experiments, the statistical analysis of natural experiments or large archival datasets, or the game-theoretic modelling of managerial decision processes).
- Offers a tailored suite of courses for students who already have significant research training at masters level relevant to their chosen PhD pathway.
- Is intended for students who wish to pursue a PhD at Cambridge Judge Business School.
News and insights from our PhDs
Learn more about our doctoral students' research and activities.
Entrepreneurship and innovation
Cambridge Judge alumna shares her life and entrepreneurship story
Cambridge Judge Business School graduate and successful entrepreneur and author Dr Neri Karra (PhD 2002) reflects on her journey, the impact of education, and the invisible ties that connect us all. Her remarks were made at a dinner at Clare College, University of Cambridge, during a reunion weekend for alumni of the Cambridge Judge Business School Management Studies Tripos, MPhils and PhD programmes hosted at the Business School during CJBS Connects: Worldwide, September 2024.
Cambridge Judge Business School collaborated with the Tony Cowling Foundation to host an event for practitioners and academics to explore a shared interest in market research.
Research at Cambridge Judge builds on previous study on cardiovascular care that involved higher treatment capacity and less-invasive procedures.