Business Research Project

The Business Research Project is an opportunity for you to carry out a piece of research work , supervised by your Academic Mentor, who is a member of academic staff in the department of your major subject choice. The project can be ‘theory-based’ on a topic of your own choice or alternatively it can be ‘real-world’, where you carry out a project on behalf of a company.

At the start of third year, you choose either Work Placement or a Business Research Project. The Placement or Project is for 6 months, April to September, at the end of third year and is related to your major subject choice.

Find out more by downloading the Business Research Project Student Guide

Each student is assigned an academic supervisor, who is a member of staff from the Department the student is majoring in. The student and supervisor will meet in April to outline the scope of the project and set out a schedule of regular meetings for the remaining 6 months. The academic supervisor will advise the student via regular meetings. In the case of company projects, the student(s) will also meet with the specific company to plan the research work. 

A series of research workshops will be provided to all Research students and these will be organised by the Work Placement Manager, in conjunction with the Board of Studies.

These workshops will involve the following themes:

• Formulation of research questions/hypothesis, research design, developing and presenting an argument/hypothesis;
• Project management;
• Data Sourcing

Data Sourcing includes:

• Qualitative research methods (structured/ narrative interviews, participant observation, documentary analysis)
• Quantitative research methods (sample framing, sampling, data collection, analysis, interpretation)

The research project addresses a business issue relevant to your major area of study. You may work with a particular company or organisation if this option is available and of interest to you. Alternatively the project can be a desk study, based in UCC, using publicly available information. Various types of projects may also be developed in conjunction with individual companies, such as single academic projects and single and joint company projects (unpaid), devised by a specific company, mentored by a person within the company, and supervised by an academic member of faculty. In the case of these projects, students will be invited to apply for them and maybe interviewed by the company involved. In all cases the company will have the final say in selecting students.

Find out more by downloading the Business Research Project Student Guide 

Completing the Business Research Project will help you develop specialist knowledge in an area of particular interest to you and professional skills for a range of business settings and career paths.

The Business Research Project enables you to take your learning and thinking about a particular area of business to a higher level, over and above what is possible through studying the topic is a traditional undergraduate module. The research project is the ideal opportunity to explore topics of interest to you in greater depth, with the support of interested faculty members in the business area.

Research skills are valued by many employers. It is obviously relevant to those aspiring to a career in academic research, business consultancy and teaching, but you will find that the skills you acquire during your research - such as identifying, gathering and organising information, independently planning and implementing a lengthy project, analysing data and presenting results or conclusions both in written form and in oral presentations - will equip you well for many other fields of work and can give you a valuable edge in the employment market.

Find out more by downloading the Business Research Project Student Guide