Doctoral Programme in Business Studies

In the doctoral programme, doctoral students work on research projects that follows the research profile specified for both campuses and aim at the degree of Licentiate of Science (Economics and Business Administration) or Doctor of Science (Economics and Business Administration).

The fields of research and contact persons in the doctoral programme are:

• International Business and Sales Management: Director of the doctoral programme, Professor Mika Gabrielsson
• Service Management: Professor Anu Puusa
• Business and Law: Professor Pasi Syrjä
• Tourism Marketing and Management: Professor Raija Komppula
• Innovation Management: Professor Päivi Eriksson
• Accounting and Finance: Professor Mervi Niskanen

The eligibility criteria for doctoral degree studies in UEF Business School are:

1. Applicants with a Finnish Master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration who have mainly achieved the grade very good (cum laude approbatur) or higher for their pro gradu thesis and the grade very good or higher for their major subject studies.
2. Applicants with a Finnish Master’s degree in any field who have achieved mainly the grade very good (cum laude approbatur) or higher for their pro gradu thesis and the grade very good or higher for their major subject studies. The applicant’s research project must be related to one of the thematic areas of the doctoral programme, and the applicant must have the competencies required in this thematic area.
3. Applicants who have acquired abroad a relevant degree which, in the country in question, provides eligibility for further university studies and for pursuing a doctorate. Applicants who have obtained their qualifications abroad must demonstrate their competence to pursue a research project by detailing their major studies (that include a Master’s thesis or other similar study project that corresponds to a pro gradu thesis) for which mainly the grade very good or higher has been awarded and which have been completed before applying to the doctoral programme. If the Master’s thesis or other study project has been written in a language other than Finnish, Swedish or English, an English summary must be attached to the application. The applicant’s research project must be related to one of the thematic areas of the doctoral programme, and the applicant must have the competencies required in this thematic area.
4. Applicants who have completed an internationally accredited (AMBA, AACSB) Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, if they are able to demonstrate before applying to the doctoral programme that after completing the required supplementary studies, their major subject studies correspond to the level of the major subject studies of a Finnish Master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration (including a study project that corresponds to a pro gradu thesis). The applicant must attach to the application a proposal for major subject studies or studies in the thematic area. If the Master’s thesis or other study project has been written in a language other than Finnish, Swedish or English, an English summary must be attached to the application. The grade mainly very good or higher must have been awarded for both the MBA degree and the supplementary studies.
5. Applicants with a Master’s degree completed in a Finnish or foreign University of Applied Sciences who have completed a Master’s thesis or other study project that corresponds to a pro gradu thesis as part of their degree. Both the major subject studies and the study project must have been completed and awarded mainly the grade very good or higher before applying to the doctoral programme. Applicants with a Master’s degree from a University of Applied Sciences should take into account that the director of the doctoral programme verifies the skills provided by the earlier education, and the professor responsible for the thematic area concerned may require that supplementary studies are to be completed.
6. Applicants with a licentiate degree in business and administration from a Finnish or a foreign university.
7. Applicants with a licentiate or a doctoral degree in a field other than business and administration from a Finnish or a foreign university. The applicant’s research project must be related to one of the thematic areas of the doctoral programme, and the applicant must have the competencies required in this thematic area. If necessary, the professor responsible for the thematic area concerned may require that supplementary studies are to be completed.
8. Two supervisors have to be appointed to the doctoral applicant.
9. Quality of research plan. The research subject has to be scientifically and empirically relevant and applicable to research of Business School. Research plan has to be with good quality and consist e.g. following: innovativeness of the research idea, realistic, clear and implementable research plan, noticing of the research ethics. The prior research of the doctoral applicant is taken into consideration.
10. Proficiency in English.

If the applicant fulfils at least one of the following requirements, a separate language test is not required but the applicant is to prove his/her English proficiency with the applicable degree certificate and the transcript of his/her academic record:

• English as foreign language included in at least a Bachelor-level degree conducted in Nordic country (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) or in an EU/EEA country.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree conducted in English language in a Nordic country (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) or in an EU/EEA country.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree conducted in English language in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States.

The applicants are to prove their language skills in English as follows (English language test):

• TOEFL paper-based: Total score 600 and Writing 4.0
• TOEFL Internet-based: Total Score 100 and Writing 22
• IELTS (Academic): Overall Score 6.5 and Writing 5.5
• PTE (Pearson Test of English), min. 59 points

Applicants must discuss their doctoral degree studies and the supervision of their doctoral dissertation with their prospective supervisor PRIOR to applying for the right to pursue studies. Only after having received the consent from the supervisor, the applicant can submit the application.

For each doctoral candidate at least two supervisors are appointed. One of the supervisors must be a professor or docent at the University of Eastern Finland. Alternatively, a person who has equivalent scientific competence to a professor or a docent and is a member of the staff at the faculty can be appointed as a supervisor.

Application attachments:

• copy of the basic university degree certificate, and other documents which may affect the granting of a study right,
• a transcript of earlier academic records,
• a research plan and
• the consent from the supervisors
   

Admission procedure and research plan

When applying to the Doctoral Programme in Business, the research plan should, in principle, be prepared in English, as the language of the doctoral programme is English. The research topic should be chosen so that it is possible to write and publish articles on the topic in English. The research topic should be related to the focus areas of the research conducted in the Business School. The deadlines for applications are at autumn semester and spring semester. The online application form is available on studyinfo.fi portal. 

The research plan should contain the following:

• starting points and theoretical basis of the research, previous research,
• aims of the research, research tasks and questions, ethical issues,
• research methods and data, administration of data,
• working plan, working plan for part of the tasks,
• schedule and funding plan,
• publication plan, and
• evaluation of opportunities to exploit the results of the research, societal significance of the research results.

The extent of the plan is about 10 pages.

The right to pursue doctoral studies does not include funding or a contract of employment or teaching tasks at the University. However, full-time doctoral students need funding to cover their costs of living and potential research costs (travel costs, research material etc.). Funding options should be discussed with the supervisor already when planning to apply for a doctoral study right and creating a research plan.

Doctoral studies can be funded for example by a scholarship, by working as a researcher in a research project, by working as a doctoral candidate at the University of Eastern Finland (doctoral student position), or by studying part-time while at work. Doctoral students apply for funding themselves.

Read more about funding options of doctoral studies on Kamu Student handbook.