Sponsored dissertation opens industry doors
The University of St Andrews Business School piloted a sponsored dissertation in Economics with global economic and social development consultancy, SQW.
In her final year before graduating in summer 2025, BSc Economics student Gemma Osborne studied the economic value of start-up and scale-up exits in the UK. Her research explored what constitutes a good exit and established a framework for evaluating whether real-world cases met that definition. It showed that firms recognised as fast-growing and those with strong credit ratings were more likely to achieve a good exit through acquisition. She also found that while a strong credit rating supports acquisitions, it may reduce the likelihood of success when a company seeks to float on the stock market through an initial public offering (IPO). This may be because acquisitions reward financial stability, while IPOs often attract investors looking for high-growth potential and are less suited to businesses seen as lower risk.
Gemma finished the project by presenting her findings to SQW, demonstrating how the skills and methods she learned in her degree could be applied to real-world business challenges. She has since begun her career as an Investment Analyst at Hymans Robertson, one of the UK’s leading independent pensions and financial services consultancies.
Gemma said:
“Undertaking a sponsored dissertation provided extra support and input from those with valuable industry insights and background knowledge, which I found to be especially helpful when finding usable data sources and discussing the wider implications of my findings. I also found it rewarding to work on a topic that interests those at the forefront of economic research; however, it can be challenging due to the originality of such research topics. The responsibility to keep the sponsor informed of the dissertation progress and the opportunity to present my dissertation outside of the typical academic setting were also beneficial for building adaptable communication skills.”
Dr Yulia Moiseeva, Gemma’s supervisor and Economics Director of Teaching, said:
“It has been a pleasure working with Gemma and SQW on the sponsored dissertation project. I found it particularly valuable to have industry experts on the team who clearly understood what they were looking for.
“It was also fascinating to gain insight into the types of research questions that interest the private sector and to demonstrate how to apply the Economic methods we teach our students to address them. From a supervisor’s perspective, the collaboration was very smooth. SQW provided support on broader queries, while I focused on the more technical aspects. A highlight was seeing Gemma present her final results to the entire company, with SQW showing genuine engagement and asking insightful questions. It was a great experience all around.”
Sergei Plekhanov, Associate Director at SQW, said:
“At SQW, we aspire to provide thought leadership that will help us achieve higher levels of prosperity in the UK. A recent dissertation project with the University of St Andrews Business School was a great example of successful collaboration that took us one step closer to that brighter future. “Gemma helped us understand what constitutes a ‘good exit’ for a “up from the perspective of the broader economy, not just the business owners. Her research laid the foundation for further work that will hopefully identify how we can support SMEs to achieve good exits and boost the UK’s economy. We are looking forward to working with the Business School and their students on similar projects in the future.”
The Business School invites organisations to discuss future sponsored dissertation opportunities that address live questions of strategic importance.