The MPhil is a programme of independent, self-directed research reviewing or surveying and collating and evaluating existing knowledge in an approved topic and presenting the findings in a thesis for examination including a viva. Like the PhD, the MPhil develops your research and generic skills and is pursued under the guidance of a team of expert supervisors. It differs from the PhD in that it is a smaller scale of work, conducted over a shorter period of time and does not create new knowledge in the field. The MPhil can be taken as a separate, target award, but most commonly forms the initial stage of study within a linked MPhil/PhD programme, where the registration is upgraded to PhD once it is established that the work has the potential for an original contribution to knowledge.We have a strengthening research culture in WBS with wide-ranging interests in several specialist areas within the general field of business and management. We currently have three Research Centres and two research groups that are developing portfolios of research recognised to be internationally excellent and, in some cases, world leading. Our research attracts funding from leading grant awarding bodies such as the ESRC, the Leverhulme Trust and the Nuffield Foundation. We have also developed strong links to various government departments including HM Revenue and Customs, HM Treasury, the Ministry of Defence, the department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office. Our research seminars draw both external and internal speakers and our research students also benefit from the annual doctoral colloquium where they present their work and receive feedback from senior researchers. We have currently have over 50 doctoral students who have access to their own doctoral facilities in a separate part of the business school. In addition, our doctoral students benefit from extensive doctoral training that is offered at both University and college level. Our doctoral researchers are directly taught by our research Professors who provide key insights at critical stages of the doctoral lifecycle. WBS is a Centre of Excellence for the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, our MBA is accredited by The Association of MBAs (AMBA), and we have strong links with the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Government Economics Service.