Nottingham Business School is committed to excellent research which combines academic rigour with beneficial impact on social, economic and societal welfare, as well as informing the design and delivery of the School’s degree programmes.
From innovation and knowledge transfer to consumer and organisational behaviour, we collaborate with universities and commercial partners globally to deliver innovative solutions and make a positive impact on communities world-wide.
NBS continues to underpin its strong and positive trajectory in research capacity and performance by further strengthening its infrastructure of support for researchers at all levels. This is a school where researchers can reach their full potential and where the alignment of individual and collective success is fostered and celebrated.
We continue to invest in the recruitment of internationally-recognised scholars and to develop distinctive areas of research excellence as we build beyond the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.
Research Centres
The School has six designated research centres. Working with the University’s Research Office to secure external research funding, Nottingham Business School seeks to build on the success of recent bids, which has seen awards from a range of sources, including Horizon 2020, DfID and the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development.
Responsible and Sustainable Business Lab
Founded in 2015 with the goal of supporting income generation, publication and business impact within the business school and across disciplines at NTU.
Centre for Economics, Policy and Public Management
The centre brings together research on economic and policy issues and public management across the whole public sector at international, national, regional and local scales.
Centre for People, Work and Organizational Practice
The research within the Centre explores the ways in which leadership and HR practices influence employees’ attitudes and behaviours at work.
Centre for International Business Strategy and Decisions
The Centre for IBSD investigates research phenomena of international importance for individuals, groups, organisations, cultures, and nations. Global challenges and opportunities ask for interdisciplinary international collaborations to find solutions regarding global sustainability (from nutrition to microfinance), sustainable cultures (migration, cultural adaptation, decision-making), multinational corporate strategies and transnational entrepreneurship decisions. Our Centre explores new avenues with a diverse set of theories and methods (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed) to identify configurations and reconfigurations in international business, global sustainability and geo-political settings.
Work, Informalisation and Place Research Centre
Providing innovative, interdisciplinary studies focusing on the spatial dimensions of contemporary work and employment in sectors such as hand car washes, nail bars, and small-scale garment manufacturing.
Centre for Behavioural Sciences
Research at this centre employs methods from various disciplines to gain deeper insights into human behaviour and decision making.
Centre for Finance, Technology and Society
The Centre for Finance, Technology and Society offers insights into current and emerging innovations in financial services facilitated by digital technologies, big data and AI, including Open, Decentralised, and Crypto Finance; and related implications for practice, policy and society.
CBIT - Centre for Business and Industry Transformation
Conducting world-leading & high-impact research in business transformation, building ventures to transform industries, empowering disruptive entrepreneurs through personalised education.
Research Groups
Nottingham Business School has three research centres in which colleagues and collaborators are undertaking dedicated academic research.
Accounting and Finance Research Group
The Accounting and Finance Research Group undertakes research across a broad spectrum of accounting and finance related disciplines and across a range of sectors and geographical boundaries.
Marketing and Consumer Studies Research Centre
Marketing and Consumer Studies Research Centre (MACS) includes academics with a wide range of interests and expertise across consumer behaviour, branding and brand identity, services research, and tourism experiences, amongst others.
Innovation, Digitization, Entrepreneurship and Operations Research Group
The Innovation, Digitization, Entrepreneurship and Operations Research Groups aim is to promote international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary research and collaboration, bringing together academia and practice in the areas of digital innovation; innovation, organization and strategy; operations and supply chain management; and entrepreneurship and small business management.
Research Projects
Nottingham Business School's research community work with universities and organisations globally to find innovative solutions to some of the most significant global challenges facing societies around the world. Search the full list of our Research Projects here.
COVID-19 and VCSE organisations responses
Find out more about the new project from the Centre for People, Work and Organisational Practice at Nottingham Business School. It focuses on the impact of COVID-19 on voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations.
Smart-BEEjS | Human-Centric Energy Districts
Smart-BEEjS aims to boost knowledge sharing across stakeholders, exploiting a human-centric and systemic approach to designing Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) for sustainable living for all.
Emergency Services
This project has two overlapping groups and communities of interest. The Police and Criminal Justice team under the direction of Professor Harry Barton and the Fire and Rescue Services team led by Peter Murphy.
Research Degrees
We offer opportunities to read for an MPhil, PhD degree by research and Doctor of Business Administration (DBA).
We have a range of PhD opportunities currently available in the School. Our projects have been prepared by academics in areas closely related to their research interests to provide additional guidance when choosing your own PhD research area or topic.
We are proud to have one of the longest established DBA programmes in the UK, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2018 with over 100 completions. Offering a unique balance of industry and academic practice, the NBS DBA is designed for senior professionals to leverage their careers and/or make the transition into the highest levels of academia.
Our Research Community
Alistair Bruce
Associate Dean for Research
Nottingham Business School
Mollie Painter
Professor
Nottingham Business School
Thorsten Chmura
Professor
Nottingham Business School
Robert Ackrill
Professor
Nottingham Business School
Ursula F. Ott
Professor
Nottingham Business School
Ian Clark
Professor
Nottingham Business School
Peter Murphy
Professor
Nottingham Business School
Research Reimagined
To us, research is about more than writing papers and proposing new ideas. By daring to think differently, we’re disrupting the research landscape and finding the answers to the questions that really matter. From ethics, innovation and entrepreneurship to behavioural science, we’re inspiring the brightest minds to rise up and find solutions to some of the most significant global challenges facing society.
Find out more: ntu.ac.uk/research