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Doctoral studies in business administration

The structured doctoral programme of EBS Universität, EBS Business School, constitutes an important part of our range of programmes.

Doctoral studies at EBS

Our objective is to provide doctoral students with an inspiring and challenging research environment. The programme complements the supervision by a professor with theoretical and methodical courses as well as research colloquia. Your supervisors will challenge your ideas and inspire your inquisitiveness further in a guided process of semi-annual reviews.

At a glance

  • Degree: Doctor rerum politicarum (Dr. rer. pol.)
  • Study duration: min. 4 | max. 10 semesters
  • Full time
  • Language: English
  • Costs: 
    • Internal doctoral candidates: no fees
    • External doctoral candidates: 2,280 euros per Semester

Good to know

We expect to accept a limited number of external PhD students at Fall Term 2024.

Full details of the process will be available on this website from May 2024.

Your contact

Petra Kaufhold

Doctoral Office Business School

This makes the doctoral programme at EBS something special

  • Mandatory courses conveying a theoretical and methodological background supplemented by specialized electives customized to the different fields of research.
  • Annual proposal defenses with both supervisors and semi-annual talks with your first supervisor guaranteeing regular feedback on your work.
  • Obligatory presentation of a competitive paper at an international scientific conference.

 

The conduct of our community is regulated by our Ethical Guidelines, which are an intrinsical part of the culture and mutual understanding in our research community. Take a moment, to appreciate and consider the values we’d like to share. 

Prof. Dr. Markus Kreutzer

Professor of Strategic and International Management

The programme

Efficient and structured path to a doctorate

The course programme consists of two mandatory courses offered every semester and at least four elective courses during the yearly Doctoral Summer School. The teaching language is English. Courses are usually offered as block seminars at 2,5 days. Mandatory semi-yearly proposal defenses with your supervisors complement the programme to discuss the current state of the doctoral candidate’s research. Besides, at least one presentation has to be given at a worldwide EBS target list conference. Active attendance of three internal research colloquia guarantees the constant exchange with other researchers.


In the first part of this crash course, we will concentrate on general questions from the theory and philosophy of science, e. g. “types of scientific explanation”, “confirmation of hypotheses”, “the nature of scientific theories” or “progress in science”. A minor second part analyses specific questions from current debates in the sciences. In keeping with the general aim of the course, i. e. to investigate universal structures in science and to supply additional educational background, we deliberately choose examples mostly from outside economics. The resulting distance to the usual professional or research topics of the participants serves to illuminate the structural characteristics of the cases discussed.



In this class, we comprehensively discuss issues of scholarly writing, including the writing process, the structure of empirical (deductive) manuscripts, and editing English language sentences. Principles of topic choice for research projects are reviewed in depth. We also examine the journal review process, address issues regarding methodology from a reviewer’s perspective, and go into the publication process based on a recent example. Our focus will be on A-level journals. The course includes discussions, lectures, and exercises. The ultimate goal is to improve your scholarly work because writing is not just a support-level activity as part of research; it is the primary way in which we develop and disseminate knowledge.


Rankings and accreditations

Faculty

Good education needs good people

Success is not just a question of professional excellence. If you want to have an impact in the world, you have to bring more to the table: Competence and personality. We see it as our mission to provide our students not only with academic knowledge, but also with practical know-how and strength of personality.

Our professors and lecturers
Application process

Entry requirements and application

In order to become a doctoral candidate at EBS University, EBS Business School, you must obtain the supervisory approval of a senior professor and then apply via the Doctoral Office. The final decision on the admission of new applicants is made by the PhD Committee.


As a minimum requirement, applicants need to have a master degree (with a cumulated minimum of 300 ECTS in their bachelor and master) or a “Diploma with a GPA of 2.5 or higher. In the case of international degrees, an additional three months processing time may be required.

Accordingly, documents need to be submitted to the Office for Doctoral Studies well in advance. Besides, the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) may be requested by the supervising professor.



The first step in applying for the Doctoral Programme at EBS Business School is to get the promise of supervision by one of our senior professors. This statement together with the following documents must be passed to the Office for Doctoral Studies:

  • Short formless letter in English to the Chairman of the Doctoral Committee, asking for acceptance
  • If required: GMAT
  • Curriculum Vitae in tabular form
  • A-levels certificate (legally certified copy)
  • Degree certificates and transcripts of records (legally certified copies)
  • Honorary Declaration not to have failed doctoral studies at another institution
  • English language certificate (C1 certificate or TOEFL test with 100 points minimum)
  • A (maximum three-page) proposal for the dissertation project in English that demonstrates relevance and fit to the research topics of EBS Business School. The final admission decision is made by a committee that meets twice a year and consists of the members of the PhD Committee, the Dean of the Business School and the Vice Dean Research. For full details on the admission process, see PhD Regulations §4.

Study costs

An investment in your future

Internal Doctoral Students

  • Tuition fees: 0 Euro per semester
  • Registration fee: 0 Euro
  • Examination fee: 450 Euro

 

External Doctoral Students

  • Tuition fees: 2,280 Euro per semester
  • Registration fee: 3,460 Euro
  • Examination fee: 750 Euro

 

The document Scale of Charges and Fees provides you with more information on the study fees for Doctoral Studies at the EBS Business School.

To the application

Do you have questions about the application?

For further details on our doctoral rules and the admission procedure, please feel free to contact us.

Consultation Apply now
Contact

Your requests

Do you have a general request for us?

Do not hesitate to send us a message via the general contact form.


Do you have questions about studying at EBS?

Please use our study counseling form.

 

Do you have questions about our executive education programmes?

Feel free to contact the EBS Executive School team via email or via phone.

Contact to our schools


Rheingaustraße 1
65375 Oestrich-Winkel
Germany
+49 611 7102 00 info@ebs.edu Anfahrt planen


Gustav-Stresemann-Ring 3
65189 Wiesbaden
Germany
+49 611 7102 00 info@ebs.edu Anfahrt planen


Hauptstraße 31
65375 Oestrich-Winkel
Germany
+49611710200 info.es@ebs.edu Anfahrt planen

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