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
EBS Business School will accept new external doctoral candidates in 2025.
If you receive a written confirmation of supervision from a professor at EBS, please send your complete application documents by 27 May 2025, 9 a.m. at: promotion(at)ebs.edu
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.
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
AACSB
AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) is a global not-for-profit organisation that brings together educators, students and businesses to achieve a common goal: to educate the next generation of leaders. Since 1916, AACSB has stood for the highest standards of quality, providing quality assurance, business education information, and learning and development services worldwide.
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.
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.
