Doctorate in Business Administration

Fees and funding

There are many ways to fund postgraduate study for home and international students

Fees

The fees quoted at the top of this page cover registration, tuition, supervision, assessment and examinations as well as:

• library membership with access to printed, multimedia and digital resources
• access to programme-appropriate software
• library and student IT support
• free on-campus wifi via eduroam

Additional costs

Although not all of the following are compulsory/relevant, you should keep in mind the costs of:

• accommodation and living expenditure
• books (should you wish to have your own copies)
• printing, photocopying and stationery
• PC/laptop (should you prefer to purchase your own for independent study and online learning activities)
• mobile phone/tablet (to access online services)
• field trips (travel and activity costs)
• placements (travel expenses and living costs)
• student visas (international students only)
• study abroad opportunities (travel costs, accommodation, visas and immunisations)
• academic conferences (travel costs)
• professional-body membership
• graduation (gown hire etc)

Funding

There are many ways to fund postgraduate study for home and international students. From loans to International Scholarships and subject-specific funding, you’ll find all of the information you need on our specialist postgraduate funding pages.

Please be aware that the UK’s departure from the EU may affect your tuition fees. Learn more about your fee status and which tuition fees are relevant to you.

If you need advice about how to pay your tuition fees, please email LJMU's Student Funding Team.

Tuition fees

All students enrolled on postgraduate taught programmes at LJMU are liable to pay an annual tuition fee. You can opt to pay your tuition fees in full at the start of each academic year or in instalments.

LJMU Alumni Award

If you're a former Liverpool John Moores University student, you could be eligible for a 20% discount on your postgraduate tuition fees. The fee reduction will apply automatically to eligible students. You'll find all of the information you need on our specialist postgraduate funding pages.

Employability

Further your career prospects

LJMU has an excellent employability record with 96% (HESA 2018) of our postgraduates in work or further study six months after graduation. Our applied learning techniques and strong industry connections ensure our students are fully prepared for the workplace on graduation and understand how to apply their knowledge in a real world context.

If you are employed during the course of your DBA, you will probably undertake research which directly links to your employer's area of business. This will be of great benefit to you and your employer, particularly if you are focused on a large-scale project.

Previous students have found that the research undertaken during their DBA has helped them gain valuable and objective feedback which has essentially provided their employers with high levels of focused, internal consultancy.

Teaching

An insight into teaching on your course

Study hours

During years one to three you will attend four residential workshops, each five days long, at Liverpool Business School.

Teaching methods

Our teaching ethos: learning together, and learning apart

The teaching and learning model of the DBA programme at LJMU is based around group activities where you will learn together as a student cohort, whilst having significant periods of independent study where you will learn apart. You will continuously engage with the development of both your practice and knowledge to become autonomous learners. This is a difficult task, so it is crucial that we provide suitable opportunities and support to enable such lifelong learning.

Residential workshops

Our residential workshops take place at our historic campus location in Liverpool City Centre. The experience really is like no other, and something that will stay with you for the rest of your life. You will be taken through an intensive and structured programme that pushes your learning journey forward and equip you will the skills and knowledge needed to successfully achieve your DBA. As well as providing interactive lectures and seminars from an expert academic team, you will have the opportunity to participate in research presentations, research cafes, social events, and high-profile industry guest speakers.

Asynchronous learning material

Through the utilisation of state-of-the-art learning technology, we provide virtual learning material in the form of video lectures, online activities and discussion forums, in an asynchronous format that perfectly complements a blended learning approach to your learning. You will regularly engage with the material in advance of the residential workshops, as well as using it as a valuable learning resource throughout your DBA journey.

 

Applied learning

Virtual Action Learning

Action learning is a key learning strategy on the DBA programme and very much aligns to the attributes of a scholar-practitioner. We adopt a novel action learning approach to enhance your ability to learn together and learn apart through the implementation of social and technical systems on a DBA programme.

There are four key elements to the approach to action learning; developing collaborative questioning between students, enhancing technology utilisation, fostering an environment of research-based inquiry and framing knowledge and skills through critical reflection. At the core is the development of collaborative questioning which enables you to come together as a cohort and develop questioning insight that will allow you to better investigate your work-based scenario.

Supervision

The supervision during doctoral studies is a key element of the experience. Our DBA candidates are supervised only by full-time academics employed at Liverpool Business School who are research active themselves and have a track record of publications and conference presentations.

The supervisory team is usually made up of two supervisors. If the circumstances require it a third supervisor can be added to the team. All our supervisors attend regular supervisor training workshops and are familiar with the most recent developments in supervising professional doctorate candidates.

If a DBA is undertaken within an organisation, an industrial advisor can be added to the supervisory team to represent the interests from practice. This is usually a manager or senior professional who is already an expert in the field of research.

Assessment

How learning is monitored on your programme

To cater for the wide-ranging content of our courses and the varied learning preferences of our students, we offer a range of assessment methods on each programme.

Assessment techniques vary from module to module to reflect relevant assessment approaches and the key learning points of each topic.

There are various assessments throughout the programme.

During the first year students are required to submit the research proposal (approx. 5K words), learning agreement (approx. 3K words) and LJMU Ethical approval form. Year 2 and year 3, students will complete a series of modules that will culminate in a written thesis (approx. 80K words), complete a reflective portfolio and publish papers. The thesis can be submitted at the earliest after completion of year 3.

The assessment of the thesis takes place in form of an oral examination undertaken by two examiners, who are experts in your field. One examiner is from LJMU and one is external to the University.

Entry requirements

You will need:

Qualification requirements

Postgraduate degree (required for research programmes)

• A master's degree in the area of business and/or management

Additional requirements

• Relevant work experience
  • At least two years of managerial or five years of other working experience

International requirements

• IELTS
  • In addition to the outlined entry requirements for home applicants, you will be expected to demonstrate a good level of English language competence, for example an IELTS score of 6.5 (with no single component below 6.0) or equivalent.

• Other international requirements
  • LJMU welcomes applications from international candidates. Most of the studying and learning will be undertaken via distance learning in your home country and there are only a small number of residential days in Liverpool required.

Further information

• Extra Requirements

  In order to make an application to the programme you need to provide the following documents via the online application:

  • Curriculum vitae
  • Master's certificate and transcript in the area of business and/or management – these must be official English translations
  • Evidence of at least two years of managerial or five years of other working experience – this can be e.g. a confirmation by your current employer or a reference letter from a former employer
  • An academic reference, which recommends you for the programme – this can be e.g. from your master's institution
  • An industry reference, which recommends you for the programme – this can be e.g. from your employer, from a client and/or professional body
  • Personal statement (max. 2,000 words) – this is not a full research proposal, but should address why you would like to do a DBA, why you think you are suitable for the programme and what you expect from the DBA. You should furthermore provide a brief outline of your research topic and its contribution to theory and practice, including:
    • title of your research
    • introduction of your research
    • literature review of current studies
    • research methods
    • contribution of your research.

  How your application is considered:

  1. The application is screened to ensure the candidate meets the entry requirements and has submitted all their supporting documents.
  2. If the candidate meets the minimum entry requirements and all documents have been received, the application is passed to the appropriate academics within the School for consideration and to identify a suitable supervisory team.
  3. The DBA Team and/or an appropriate academic member of staff will interview the applicant and make a decision following the interview. For applicants in the UK, they are invited to attend the interview in person at Liverpool Business School. For applicants based elsewhere, the interview will normally take place by telephone, Skype or Adobe Connect.

Application and selection

Securing your place at LJMU

To apply for this programme, you are required to complete an LJMU online application form. You will need to provide details of previous qualifications and a personal statement outlining why you wish to study this programme.