SWDTP Management and Business studentships

Applications close on 9 January 2026 (12:00 noon UK time) and the studentship will start on 1 October 2026

Apply

To apply for the SWDTP Management and Business Pathway please select the 'online application' links below for the PhD programme discussed with your potential supervisor:
Within the Research section of the application form, in the following fields, please add:
  • Proposed project title/studentship title: add your project title
  • Proposed supervisor: add the potential supervisor name
  • Studentship code: add SWDTP 26-10 M&B
When the application asks for a research proposal, please just upload the SWDTP Studentship Application Form 2026 Entry (Annex A)

Application guidance 

It is important that you follow the instructions above or your application for this studentship may be missed and therefore will not be considered.
Before applying, please ensure you have read the Doctoral College’s general information on applying for a research degree . 
For more information on the admissions process, please contact research.degree.admissions@plymouth.ac.uk.
Management and Business
Â鶹´«Ã½ Business School 
Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business
Â鶹´«Ã½ Business School has a research active community producing high quality trans- and interdisciplinary research of local, national, and international importance. We work collaboratively, engaging with individuals, businesses and organisations from the private, public and third sectors to deliver impactful research which is making a difference to societies, economies and cultures around the world, and which is embedded into our overseas and domestic, undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. 
Collaborating with the Â鶹´«Ã½ Business School will connect you with our research and thought leadership – translating, applying and testing ideas, concepts and models into the world of business. You will be working with pioneering academics of global standing who have extensive and active networks in a range of industries, and we are committed to ensuring our students have opportunities to explore the latest developments across a variety of areas.
ESRC-funded studentships can be taken up in any of the specialist areas of research supported by the school including tourism, events and hospitality (and cruise), shipping and logistics, supply chain management, maritime business, maritime transport, marketing, business management, enterprise and entrepreneurship, human resource management, and accounting, economics and finance. More specifically, the following staff welcome contact for research related to the following areas in this SWDTP round:
  • Co-creation of closed-loop value chains in food systems.
  • Social innovation to support food-sharing communities from value chain perspective.
  • Sustainable supply chain management in food sector.
  • Knowledge mobilisation spanning boundaries across different stages of food supply chains.
  • The coastal housing crisis.
  • Economic productivity and regeneration in coastal communities.
  • Developing the talent pipeline amongst children and young people living in peripheral coastal communities.
  • Socio-cultural outcomes (health, education, crime, deprivation, isolation) and resilience of coastal communities.
  • Modelling the growth of social enterprise ecosystems using system dynamics simulation.
  • Preparing undergraduates for the world of work: Using simulation gaming to develop employment competencies.
  • Mechanisms and dynamics of integrating low-carbon transport within urban freight ecosystems through multi-stakeholder collaboration. 
  • Emergent processes for integration of micromobility and public transport as part of urban sustainability transitions.
  • Informal economies and urban sustainability transitions, focusing on how people construct narratives for sustainability path from just transitions perspectives in global south cities.
  • Ongoing activities and practices embedded within indigenous and local knowledge systems in urban sustainability transitions.
  • Examining the role of artificial intelligence in spreading sustainability misinformation on social media.
  • Examining the impact of value co-creation on resource optimisation and sustainability.
  • Examining the impact of value co-creation on resource optimisation and sustainability.
  • The role of CSR and/or sustainability in marketing strategy development and implementation.
  • Evaluating the role of international policies, national action and corporate action in achieving significant GHG reductions for maritime transport. 
  • The impact of maritime security on modern maritime transport trade and geopolitics.
  • Designing a sustainable humanitarian relief logistics model. 
  • Human resource management and impact of digital technologies for maritime sector. 
  • Impact of dividend policy within the optimal control theory framework and corporate governance on CSR decoupling.
  • Evaluating the success of messages by professional English football clubs in changing the desired behaviour of their visitors, match attendees and members. 
Successful applicants will be part of a large, vibrant, highly collaborative community of PhD students with good interdisciplinary links, providing opportunities for research, training and collaboration.

Initial enquiries

If you would like advice on potential supervisors, please contact Dr Lijun Tang .

How to apply

The ESRC SWDTP encourages collaboration across the universities of the partnership and with external organisations.
Closing date: 9 January 2026, 12:00 noon (UK time)
Start date: 1 October 2026 
The studentship is supported for three to four years depending upon the pathway and includes full home tuition fees plus a stipend which is currently £20,780 per annum 2025/26 rate (2026/2027 rate TBC). There are a limited number of places for international students. 

Eligibility 

Information on the eligibility criteria for full awards can be found on the .

Application process

You will need to discuss your proposed research topic with an academic staff member in Â鶹´«Ã½ Business School before submitting your application. More specifically, the staff listed welcome contact for research related to the areas mentioned above in this SWDTP round. You can also explore the member lists of Â鶹´«Ã½'s research groups and centres or search staff profiles using subject-area search terms (e.g. citizenship) or an individual's name. 
You will need to submit the following documentation in order for us to consider your application:
  • Completed Â鶹´«Ã½ online application form for the PhD programme, accessible via the link at the top of the page in the ‘Apply’ box, discussed with your potential supervisor.
  • Completed  
  • Completed
  • Completed SWDTP EDI survey – a link to the online form will be sent to you on submission of your funding application documents.
  • Copies of your academic qualifications (both certificates and transcripts of module/course marks).
  • Please include a CV with your application.
  • If applicable, appropriate proof of English proficiency.
Documents not included in the online application form can be emailed to research.degree.admissions@plymouth.ac.uk by the application deadline.
Your application will only be considered if it contains the above and you have met our . If we need further details or additional documentation, we will contact you.
For full details on the studentship process, please see the South West Doctoral Training Partnership and pages.

SWDTP Equal Opportunities Student Data Form 2026 Entry

Why do you collect data about people’s personal characteristics?
Across UK Higher Education it is generally suspected that access to postgraduate study is neither as open nor as inclusive as it should be and that more needs to be done to widen participation and equality of opportunity. However, the data needed to help make the system be more equitable is not as complete or as reliable as it needs to be to most effectively support change.  
Providing EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) and equal opportunity data helps to better understand issues of selection and under-representation in postgraduate study. Such data are held confidentially and separately from the rest of your application. They are used only in aggregated and anonymised forms for internal monitoring purposes and as part of our required reporting to our funder, the ESRC – for example, as counts or percentages of the numbers in each category. We ask all applicants to complete the monitoring form. A link to the online form will be sent to you on submission of your funding application documents.