Centre for Risk and Insurance Studies (CRIS) – (Ph.D.)

Students admitted to the University to study for a Doctorate are normally registered at PhD level. At the end of Year 1, subject to the satisfactory completion of the annual review, a student's PhD status will be confirmed. If progress is unsatisfactory, students may be downgraded to MPhil status. Completion of all doctoral research training modules is a necessary pre-requisite for confirming PhD status.

The annual review requires students to submit a draft Literature Chapter (8,000 words) and make a short presentation about their research to a Review Panel of Assessors, which will include a clear summary of what they have achieved over the previous year and a timeline for the completion of their PhD.

Students will also undergo a similar annual review at the end of year 2 and Year 3. The Year 2 annual review requires students to submit a revised Literature Chapter and a sample Chapter, which is likely to be a Methods or Empirical Chapter and the Year 3 annual review requires students to submit a commentary that details how they have addressed the feedback received from the 2nd year annual review and one or more empirical research chapters. Students are also required to present their work to a Review Panel of Assessors.

PhD Degree Stucture

Below is an overview of the structure of a typical Full-Time Doctoral Timetable:

Year 1

* Semesters 1 & 2: Attend appropriate taught modules both within the Business School and the Graduate School
* Define the nature of the research problem, identify appropriate analytic frameworks, and expect to have completed a first draft of literature review chapters
* June: 1st year Annual review

Year 2

* Expect to complete empirical work. If data collection is likely to be a lengthy process, perhaps because of gaining access to companies or because the study is longitudinal in nature, then the empirical work may start quite early in the student's second year, or even at the end of the first year
* June : 2nd year Annual Review

Year 3

* Commence formal writing-up
* Expect to complete empirical work and produce draft write-up of results
* Submit completed thesis
* June: 3rd year Annual review

Students should note that although a 4th year writing up period is available, the expectation is that they will submit their thesis within 3 years. It is most important that students research is written up on a continual basis during the three years of registration. Continual writing-up means that the students should expect to regularly prepare chapters to be read and commented on by their supervisors on a regular basis. This should help to ensure that when the formal writing-up period begins, they have a first draft of a thesis ready for modification.