School of Finance and Accounting

The School of Finance and Accounting (SFA) comprises about 40 full-time staff who undertake research in all key areas of finance and accounting.

The School provides a conducive research environment and nurtures early career and talented researchers. We possess state-of-the-art technology such as the Financial Markets Suite and the upcoming FinTech lab. In addition to the comprehensive research training and development workshops, a doctoral candidate would also benefit from participating in seminars delivered by leading figures from the field of finance and accounting. You will have the opportunity to meet and network with thriving and international faculty; thus, fostering a collaborative and engaging approach to research.

How to apply

For all enquiries, please contact our PhD Coordinator Dr Alireza Nazarian via email at [email protected].

You can find more information about study options on our Mode of study page.

PhD via MPhil 

The majority of students will apply via the PhD via MPhil route. You can read more about the application process and entry requirements on our How to apply page. 

PhD by published work

If you intend to apply for a PhD by Published Work please refer to the information on our PhD by published work page as the application process differs from the normal MPhil/PhD. Before applying, you should first make contact with the relevant academic for an informal discussion of your publications. You should only submit a formal application at this stage.

Apply now

Apply for the following subjects

• Accounting    
• Finance

Apply to our research degrees using the links below. 

You'll be able to select your subject area in the 'Supporting Information' section of the application form. 

September 2024 start 

January 2025 start 

Subjects in which PhDs are offered

Globalization, liberalization of the global financial markets and information technology have contributed to increased information flow and investments across global markets. Hence our research covers all the core areas of Capital Markets, FinTech and Strategic Accounting and broadly classified as follows:

• Capital Markets, Corporate Finance and Banking.
• FinTech and Digital Finance
• Market-based Accounting, Financial Reporting and Corporate Governance

The School welcomes applicants who would like to focus their thesis in the following disciplines:

• Capital Markets: market microstructure (exploring the impact of the entire process of markets on the asset prices, liquidity, order books, trading behaviour); behavioural finance; Emerging Markets;
• Corporate Finance: IPOs; M&A; Debt Financing; VC and PE performance.
• Banking: performance of banks and financial institutions, banking risk and stability; Basel III; capital adequacy requirements, risk management, default risk, systemic risk.
• FinTech and Digital Finance: High-frequency trading; Risk Management; ICOs; cryptocurrencies.
• Strategic Accounting: Market-based accounting research (accounting information and stock returns) Accounting History; Ethics in Accounting; Financial Reporting; Corporate Governance; Corporate Social responsibility; Shareholder activism and Auditing

Studentships

The Graduate School and each of the academic schools at the University of Westminster are committed to doctoral programmes which encourage and make possible excellent research. As part of this, we are committed to offering a range of studentships.

Find out about current studentships being offered across the university on our Studentships page.

Current PhD profiles 

Aya Khalifa 

Title of Thesis: A Longitudinal Study of Risk Disclosure by European Pension Funds
Start Date: January 2018
Completion Date: Jan 2022
Scholarship/Funding: Self-Funding 
Supervisory Team: Dr. Tantaway Moussa (DoS), Dr. Neeta Shah
Conferences: NA

Claire J. Lee

Title of Thesis: Corporate social responsibility
Start Date: 09/2018
Completion Date: Sept 2022
Scholarship/Funding: Self-Funding
Supervisory Team: Dr Abdelhafid Benamraoui(DoS), Dr Sudha Mathew and Dr Neeta Shah.
Conferences: NA