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PhD Accounting student testimonials


Meet some of our previous students:

Reach out to PhD students in the programme. Ask us questions, we are an incredible resource! Many students have preconceived notions about what topics fall within the purview of accounting. Our department is incredibly versatile, so draw on this versatility when shaping your focal themes.

Nadine de Gannes, PhD Accounting graduate, 2018

Daphne Hart (2019)

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I feel privileged that I had the opportunity to pursue a PhD at LSE. The faculty and the department were extremely supportive and encouraging. Being part of a world leading institution with a long heritage of intellectual curiosity changed my perception of research and public policy. The training and the advice I received during my studies, as well as the continuous interaction with prolific and inspiring faculty and visitors, informed and improved my research. The unique training at LSE sets the foundations such that students are able to work independently to develop conceptual frameworks and address fundamental questions. I am grateful for being given the freedom to explore different methodologies and research topics. This freedom allowed me to develop my own identity as a researcher and prepared me for an academic career.

 

Rodney Brown (2018)

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Completing a PhD in Accounting at LSE was incredibly challenging but extremely worthwhile. The world-renowned faculty provided tremendous support and encouragement and the Department of Accounting provides considerable resources to ensure the success of PhD students. I was able to undertake world-class courses in financial accounting, econometrics and quantitative methods. The programme also provides opportunity to gain teaching experience. Students gain invaluable training from the weekly research seminars designed to help them come up to speed with the accounting literature, critically examine key papers, and improve presentation skills. PhD students also receive exposure to some of the world’s leading accounting academics through attendance at regular research seminars. Overall, LSE’s Department of Accounting PhD Programme has an international reputation for excellence and prepared me well for an academic career. 

 

 

Nadine De Gannes (2018)

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The PhD journey for me was one of discovery. Personally, I unearthed the depths of my work ethic and perseverance. In focusing intently upon a particular area of study and questioning what was known and puzzling over what remained unknown, I discovered the types of questions I wanted to ask, and how I wanted to go about finding the answers. Both methodology and methods training are central pillars in doctoral research, and the Department of Accounting enabled these in spades. I was never left wanting for opportunities to enhance skills that were critical to the successful completion of my thesis. There was also no shortage of outstanding academics to challenge and inspire critical thinking and discussion. The PhD was not an easy road, but undoubtedly one that I believe was worthwhile.​

 

Hami Amiraslani (2017)

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LSE’s PhD in Accounting program offers an intellectually invigorating environment for learning and sharing ideas and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to be a part of that environment. While the structure of most PhD programs is fairly similar, for me what distinguishes LSE’s program is the high quality of research training and mentoring that students receive. Being part of one of the world’s leading social sciences universities, the curriculum is interdisciplinary in nature, which makes it possible to gain exposure to a broad range of analytical and empirical methods and research ideas in adjacent fields such as finance, economics, and management. At the same time, the program is relatively small, which fosters a highly collaborative atmosphere, both among doctoral students and between students and the faculty. This means that as a research student, you receive a lot of individual attention and support from the faculty as a whole; they not only provide high-quality guidance for your independent dissertation research, but also afford you with the discretion to develop a research agenda that plays to your strengths, allows you to forge your own research identity, and supports a successful career in academia.

 

Robert Charnock (2016) 

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The depth and extent of engagement between doctoral researchers and members of faculty is one of the stand-out characteristics of pursuing a PhD in Accounting at LSE. The research seminars are essential to this, creating spaces that challenge you intellectually and prevent you from becoming isolated within your own projects. Whether this is through external visitors running workshops with doctoral researchers or through the weekly doctoral seminars, there is a genuine engagement from faculty in developing your PhD and your intellectual approach. Combined with the calibre of supervisors that support and challenge you, the programme provides intensive and highly rewarding training. 

The Department of Accounting also commit considerable resources to supporting PhD research. It was because of this that I could engage with the United Nations for two years, working to develop carbon accounting toolkits that integrate climate change considerations into risk assessment models used across the financial sector. This required numerous international trips to develop and maintain networks as well as for fieldwork purposes, which the Department enthusiastically supported. 

From working with the United Nations to engaging with the lively and challenging intellectual debate, the PhD in Accounting guided me through a comprehensive and rigorous training programme that provided the necessary foundations for a range of research-driven careers. Personally, I chose to remain in academia and I find it an incredibly stimulating and rewarding pursuit. For others, being a doctoral researcher in London provided an abundance of opportunities to gain exposure to the world of policy-making, think tanks and research roles in industry, which proved to be the starting point for charting their own career paths.

 

Dorothy Toh (2016)

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Pursuing my PhD at the LSE Department of Accounting was an intensely challenging yet ultimately rewarding experience. Whilst initially drawn to the department’s international reputation for research excellence, the department and programme proved to provide much more to me at a personal level. This included a high level of intellectual support, depth of academic rigour, and even administrative resources which exceeded many other departments and schools. PhD students are also fully integrated into the academic community of the department. The programme definitely prepared me well to pursue an academic career.

  

Florian Gebreiter (2011)

For me, doing a PhD in Accounting at the LSE was a stimulating intellectual journey that allowed me to fundamentally challenge my prior knowledge of accounting and develop a much richer understanding of its roles in modern society. The Department of Accounting provided a huge amount of support for this journey in terms of supervision by world-leading experts, a seminar series with internationally renowned external speakers and funding for conferences as well as other research-related activities. The journey was of course not always an easy one and required lots of hard work and commitment. Overall, I found my PhD journey very rewarding. It inspired me – and also perfectly prepared me – for pursuing a career in academia.

Simon Tan (2010)

I count myself lucky to have done a PhD in Accounting at the Department of Accounting. Doing a PhD there was simply an unforgettable experience in my life, which still remains deeply in my memory and have continued to influence me as a person and as an academic. 

During the highly intellectual journey of doing a PhD, my understanding of accounting and related forms of economic calculation was fundamentally transformed. This DNA-type transformation took place in a place that has been well known for its sociological and institutional approach to accounting research for many decades, i.e., the Department of Accounting at the LSE. I am so proud to have ever been part of it and play a part in extending this research tradition elsewhere. 

The journey of completing my PhD was positively lonely, in the sense that I was given complete freedom to explore my research topic and was in command of my own thesis. However, I was never intellectually or geographically isolated or alone. I was always surrounded by my supervisors, other faculty members, departmental visitors, and fellow PhD students, who were so patient, supportive, collegiate, and generous with their time to guide me, support me, and share ideas with me. I nowadays still feel that I am part of the big LSE accounting family that I often find ways to stay in touch with after completing my PhD.