Process and Content
The SSE PhD in Business Administration aims to be one of the top PhD programs in Europe. The program has a history of over 50 years, and today over 10 PhD degrees are awarded each year in Business Administration.
The overall purpose of the SSE PhD is to give the doctoral student a deepened and broadened theoretical and methodological knowledge, alongside the experience of having completed a substantial piece of original scientific work. The conferral of the PhD in Business Administration signifies that the candidate has attained expert competence in a major field of study.
The SSE PhD in Business Administration offers the following areas of specialization:
| Areas of specialization: |
| Accounting and Managerial Finance |
-Accounting
-Managerial finance |
| Management |
-Management
-Leadership
-Public administration
-Entrepreneurship
-Operations management |
| Marketing, Strategy and International Business |
-Marketing
-Consumer behaviour
-Economic psychology
-International marketing
-Purchasing
-Media and business
-Strategy
-International business |
For the Doctor’s Degree (Curriculum 2007)
the requirements are:
- 160 credit points (240 ECTS)
Composed of:
- 60 (90 ECTS) credit points from the course component and
- 100 (150 ECTS) credit points from the dissertation.
The course component of
60 credit points (
90 ECTS) is composed of a mandatory curriculum of four courses (
20 credit points/
30 ECTS) and specialized courses (
40 credit points/
60 ECTS).
For the Licentiate Degree the requirements are:
- a total of 80 credit points (120 ECTS),
- 40 credit points (60 ECTS) from the course component and
- 40 credit points (60 ECTS) from the dissertation
The Doctor’s Degree should normally be conferred after approximately
four to five years, and a Licentiate Degree after
two to three years.
Residence is required for greater part of the full-time academic program.
Students entering the PhD program with a 2-year Master´s Degree ("Bologna Master") can apply for accreditation totalling one year of full-time studies. The accreditation decision is taken by the Admissions Board for the PhD Program in Business Administration.
The typical process of the program (2007 Curriculum) involves the steps in the following table.
| Steps: |
| Application (February) and admission (May) |
| Entry into program around September 1 (SSE Primary Supervisor and Department/Institute) |
| Mandatory fall semester (30 ECTS) |
| Elective courses over two years (60 ECTS), and in parallel dissertation work |
| Dissertation proposal after two full years (Supervision Committee of 3-4 professors) |
| Continued disseration work (total of 150 ECTS) |
| Internal defense seminar |
| Acceptance by Board of Professors in Business Administration and by the SSE Board of Professors |
| Dissertation printing, Assessment Committee of three professors, Faculty opponent |
| Public defense of monograph or consolidated dissertation, i.e. a collection of 3-5 publishable articles (+ summary) |
| Award ceremony (diploma, hat and ring) |