THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2026/2027

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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Jump to: Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4

Year 1 Academic year: 2026/27, Starting in: September

Notes:
PhDs in their first year are required to:
- Complete 180 credits of courses
- Meet regularly with their supervisory team
- Complete the first annual progression review
- Take part in the annual PhD presentations for their research subject group

PhDs are encouraged to:
- Complete relevant training in line with their training needs assessment
- Be active in the School's research culture by attending workshops, seminars and other activities

Compulsory courses

You must take these courses

Course options

Group A

Select exactly 60 credits in this group.

UEBS PGR Methods Courses

Select between 20 and 40 credits of the following courses
Notes:
You are required to take at least one of the research methods courses, and are encouraged to take both.

- CMSE11312 Qualitative Research (20 credits, sem 2)
- CMSE11524 Quantitative Methods for Business Scholars (20 credits, sem 2)
AND

UEBS Accounting PGR Option Courses

Select between 0 and 40 credits of the following courses
Notes:
If you are taking one research methods course, you will need to select 20 credits of option courses for semester 1 and 20 credits of option courses for semester 2.

If you are taking both research methods courses, you will need to select 20 credits of option courses for semester 1.

You are strongly encouraged to take one of the following advanced research methods courses:

- CMSE11712 Advanced Quantitative Data Analyses (20 credits, sem 2)
- CMSE11713 Qualitative Data Analyses (20 credits, sem 2)

You can choose your option courses from the suggested list of option courses:

- BUST11231 Supervised reading: Literature review (20 credits, sem 1 or sem 2)
- CMSE11443 Supervised reading: Methods 1 (20 credits, sem 1 or sem 2)
- CMSE11636 Researching as a Team: Co-authored Research Project (20 credits, sem 2)
- CMSE11509 Empirical Asset Pricing (20 credits, sem 2)
- ECNm11043 Econometrics 1
- CMSE11389 Applications of Econometrics (20 credits, sem 2 - Must have taken Econometrics 1 to be eligible)

Or you can choose your option courses from the list of level 11 courses from elsewhere in the University.
AND

Level 11 courses in Schedules A to R, T and W

Select between 0 and 40 credits from Level 11 courses in Schedules A to R, T and W
Notes:
Please note that we must receive permission from the Course Organiser before we can confirm enrolment on one of these other option courses. Your supervisors will need to confirm this option course is relevant to your area of research.
Selected courses must be taken during Full Year

Year 2 Academic year: 2026/27, Starting in: September

Notes:
PhDs in their second year are required to:
- Start the independent research that will form their thesis
- Meet regularly with their supervisory team
- Take part in the annual PhD presentations for their research subject group
- Complete the annual progression review

PhDs are encouraged to:
- Complete relevant training in line with their training needs assessment
- Be active in the School's research culture by attending workshops, seminars and other activities

There are no compulsory courses in this year of this programme.


Year 3 Academic year: 2026/27, Starting in: September

Notes:
PhDs in their third year are required to:
- Undertake the main body of the research, usually with empirical data collection and analysis, or selection and analysis of defined primary theoretical sources
- Meet regularly with their supervisory team
- Take part in the annual PhD presentations for their research subject group
- Complete the annual progression review

PhDs are encouraged to:
- Complete relevant training in line with their training needs assessment
- Be active in the School's research culture by attending workshops, seminars and other activities

There are no compulsory courses in this year of this programme.


Year 4 Academic year: 2026/27, Starting in: September

Notes:
PhDs in their fourth year are required to:
- Undertake the main body of the research, usually with empirical data collection and analysis, or selection and analysis of defined primary theoretical sources
- Meet regularly with their supervisory team
- Take part in the annual PhD presentations for their research subject group
- Complete the annual progression review

PhDs are encouraged to:
- Complete relevant training in line with their training needs assessment
- Be active in the School's research culture by attending workshops, seminars and other activities

This is the final year of the prescribed period of study.


Year 5
PhDs in their writing-up year are required to:
- Complete a Notice of Intention to Submit (approx. two months prior to expected submission)
- Complete and submit thesis for examination
- Prepare for viva examination
A PhD must submit their thesis for assessment to the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences within 12 months of the completion of their prescribed period of study

PhDs are encouraged to:
- Be active in the School's research culture by attending workshops, seminars and other activities

There are no compulsory courses in this year of this programme.


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