Course summary
The Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship comprises a group of academic staff with research interests in two related areas: design innovation and entrepreneurship, spanning both commercial and social sectors. This includes research wholly contained within one of these disciplines or bridging both subjects. The centre has a reputation for a collaborative and participatory approach to teaching and research, ensuring impact for its stakeholders. The profile of our team, most of whom are both practitioners and scholars, helps to ensure continual collaboration between academic and non-academic applied settings. We, therefore, welcome and encourage students from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Students may join directly from university studies or be experienced professionals, for example, established entrepreneurs or designers. Our research areas include: Entrepreneurship
- Strategy
- Entrepreneurial behaviours
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Entrepreneurship education
- Social justice
- Innovation leadership and culture
- Enterprise education
- Design thinking
- Service design
- Wicked problems
- Social innovation
- Interdisciplinary partnerships
- Drivers of company performance
- Design for sustainability
- Design
- Consumer behaviour
- Design for policy
- Feminist design
- Futures and scenarios
- Human-centred design / prototyping
- UX/interface design / human-computer interaction
- Ethics, governance, and regulation of emerging technologies and AI
- Design for social innovation
- Advertising
- Nature-centred design
Assessment method
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/media/postgraduate/admissions-statements/2025/phd-innovation-and-entrepreneurship.pdf
How to apply
International applicants
The University of Bristol welcomes applications from international students and accepts a wide range of qualifications for postgraduate study. If you study or have studied at a university outside the UK, please select the relevant page for further information on qualifications, scholarships and education representatives in your country/region: bristol.ac.uk/international/countries
Entry requirements
PhD: A master's qualification, or be working towards a master's qualification, or international equivalent. Applicants without a master's qualification may be considered on an exceptional basis, provided they hold a first-class undergraduate degree (or international equivalent). Applicants with a non-traditional background may be considered provided they can demonstrate substantial equivalent and relevant experience that has prepared them to undertake their proposed course of study. See international equivalent qualifications on the International Office website: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/international/countries/
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
| England | £2425 | Year 1 |
| Northern Ireland | £2425 | Year 1 |
| Scotland | £2425 | Year 1 |
| Wales | £2425 | Year 1 |
| Channel Islands | £2425 | Year 1 |
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .
Additional fee information
Fees are subject to an annual review. For programmes that last longer than one year, please budget for up to an 8% increase in fees each year.
For more information, please view the programme page on our website.
Sponsorship information
The University of Bristol is part of the South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership (SWW DTP), which will be offering studentships for September 2025. For information on other funding opportunities, including University-funded studentships, please see the Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences funding pages. Further information on funding for prospective UK and international postgraduate students: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/students/support/finances/
Provider information
University of Bristol
Beacon House
Queen’s Road
Bristol
BS8 1QU