Find a Supervisor in Bath Business School
Dr Isik Akin
Dr Isik Akin invites applications from prospective PhD candidates seeking to explore contemporary issues in finance, accounting, and business analytics.
His research interests span behavioural finance, financial decision-making, sustainable finance, ESG reporting, digital transformation in accounting, artificial intelligence in finance, blockchain applications, cryptocurrencies, and financial literacy. He is particularly interested in supervising doctoral research that combines academic rigor with practical relevance, addressing real-world challenges faced by organisations, markets, and policymakers.
Dr Akin welcomes both qualitative and quantitative research approaches, including interdisciplinary projects that connect finance with technology, ethics, governance, and innovation. Candidates with strong research ambitions and interests in advancing knowledge in emerging areas of finance and business are encouraged to make contact to discuss potential doctoral projects and collaborative research opportunities.
Contact: Dr Isik Akin
Dr Ben Davies
Dr Ben Davies is a mixed methods researcher working on sustainable business strategy and aspects of the green economy.
He is particularly interested in supervising students working on sustainability transition and circular economy studies in the fields of food, fibre and fashion.
He takes a broadly pragmatic research perspective and has completed a number of research projects for government and third sector organisations in the areas of land use, environmental conservation and rural development.
Contact: Dr Ben Davies
Dr Sevra Guzel
Dr Sevra Guzel's research and supervision sit at the intersection of copyright law, platform regulation, and video games law.
She focuses on how intellectual property frameworks operate within digitally mediated environments, particularly where creative content is produced, distributed, and monetised through online platforms. Her work engages closely with questions of authorship, ownership, and enforcement, with a specific interest in how legal doctrines adapt to technological change.
Dr Guzel welcomes PhD proposals that explore copyright and related rights in platform contexts, including liability, content moderation, and enforcement under frameworks such as the Digital Services Act and the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive.
She is particularly interested in projects that examine video games as complex legal objects, involving layered rights across software, audiovisual works, and performances. This includes emerging issues around AI-generated content, virtual production, and the protection of creative labour in game development.
Contact: Dr Sevra Guzel
Dr Li Li
Dr Li Li welcomes enquiries from home and international PhD applicants. She has particular expertise in supervising theoretically robust and methodologically rigorous doctoral projects, especially those informed by critical realism and addressing societal, organisational, and sector‑level challenges in tourism, hospitality, and business management.
With extensive international academic experience and active engagement in global research networks, she is well placed to support doctoral candidates navigating UK doctoral study, competitive studentships, and international research careers. Her supervision supports applicants in developing strong funding proposals, with clear research questions, coherent philosophical positioning, and demonstrable academic and practical impact.
Projects aligned with contemporary issues in tourism and hospitality management, digital and technological applications, marketing, human resource management, and managerial learning are especially well suited to UKRI‑style interdisciplinary funding schemes, such as SWDTP. Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their research ideas with Dr Li at an early stage, particularly in advance of funding deadlines.
Contact: Dr Li Li
Dr Lu Liu
Dr Lu Liu welcomes PhD applications from candidates interested in knowledge management, leadership, innovation, international expansion, and technology-enhanced management practices.
Her research and supervisory expertise include organisational strategic decision-making, AI-driven management information systems, cross-cultural business practices, SMEs’ international expansion, and the ethical application of AI in higher education teaching and assessment. Dr Liu is particularly interested in supervising interdisciplinary research that addresses contemporary organisational and societal challenges, including digital transformation, responsible AI adoption, organisational learning, and cross-cultural leadership.
Dr Liu values projects that demonstrate practical relevance, methodological rigour, and an international perspective. Intellectually curious and critically engaged researchers seeking to produce impactful work using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods approaches are warmly encouraged to apply.
Dr Liu also particularly welcomes projects employing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to examine lived experiences, decision-making, and meaning-making in organisational or educational contexts.
Contact: Dr Lu Liu
Dr Eda Sahin
Dr Eda Sahin invites enquiries from prospective PhD candidates interested in competition law. She supervises projects that critically engage with the legal frameworks governing markets, focusing on how competition law addresses issues of market power, anti-competitive conduct, and enforcement.
Her approach is primarily doctrinal, with an emphasis on careful analysis of case law and regulatory developments across different jurisdictions. She supports prospective doctoral researchers in shaping research questions and structuring their proposals, with particular attention to clarity, coherence, and legal analysis.
Projects that combine strong conceptual grounding with awareness of practical and regulatory implications are especially welcome. Applicants are encouraged to get in touch at an early stage with a short outline of their proposed research.
Contact: Dr Eda Sahin
Dr Nasir Salari
Dr Nasir Salari's academic expertise lies in marketing, data analytics, consumer behaviour, and innovation adoption. He gained his PhD from the University of Birmingham Business School in 2013 and has published a book with Kogan Page on advanced marketing analytics, focusing on the use of analytical tools to generate meaningful insights from data.
Dr Salari welcomes PhD applications in areas related to marketing analytics, data-driven decision-making, consumer behaviour, innovation adoption, and other marketing-related topics.
Contact: Dr Nasir Salari
Dr Wanru Yao
Dr Wanru Yao’s work sits at the intersection of theory and practice, focusing on how financial systems, policy, and risk frameworks shape decision-making in an increasingly complex and uncertain world.
Her research interests include monetary policy, financial and business risk management, business modelling, and the growing role of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) in corporate and financial strategy.
Dr Yao is particularly interested in projects that combine analytical methods with practical impact. She warmly welcomes prospective PhD students who are motivated to explore innovative and policy-relevant research topics.
Contact: Dr Wanru Yao