Objectives and competences
The doctoral programme in Business at the University of Barcelona aims to train researchers in the various areas of business management. As part of the programme, students undertake research activities in fields such as accounting, finance, insurance, business strategy, operations, quality, marketing, entrepreneurship, human resources, innovation, the history of companies, game theory and uncertainty in decision-making.
Basic information
| Type | Doctoral program |
|---|---|
| Faculty or school | Faculty of Economics and Business |
| Branch of knowledge |
|
| Number of places available | 15 |
| Language(s) of instruction | Catalan, Spanish, English |
| Coordination | Josep Maria Argilés Bosch |
| business.school@ub.edu | |
| EDUB details | Indicators |
Objectives and competences
Objectives
Competences
a) Systematic understanding of a field of study and mastery of the skills and research methods related to this field.
b) Ability to conceive, design or create, implement and adopt a substantial research or creative process.
c) Ability to contribute to extending the frontiers of knowledge through original research.
d) Ability to carry out critical analysis and evaluation and synthesis of new and complex ideas.
e) Ability to communicate with the academic and scientific community and society in general about their areas of knowledge in the ways and languages commonly used in the international scientific community.
f) Ability to promote, in academic and professional contexts, scientific, technological, social, artistic or cultural progress in a knowledge-based society.
g) Ability to promote Open Science and Citizen Science as a way to contribute to the consideration of scientific knowledge as a common good.
Admission pathways
Access
In general, to access an official doctorate program you must have an official Spanish bachelor's degree, or equivalent, and a university master's degree and have passed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits in all university degree and master's studies. It can also be accessed by anyone who is in any of these cases:- Be in possession of official Spanish university degrees or equivalent Spanish degrees, provided that at least 300 ECTS credits have been passed in the set of these courses, accrediting level 3 of the Spanish Qualification Framework for Higher Education.
- Be in possession of a title obtained in accordance with foreign educational systems belonging to the European Higher Education Area (EEES), without the need for it to be approved, which accredits a level 7 of the European Qualifications Framework, provided that this title is valid for to access doctoral studies in the country of dispatch. This admission does not imply, in any case, the approval of the previous title that the interested party is in possession of or the recognition for other purposes than that of accessing doctoral studies.
- Be in possession of a degree obtained in accordance with foreign educational systems outside the EEES, without the need for it to be approved, after verification by the University of Barcelona that this degree accredits a level of training equivalent to the official Spanish master's degree university and which, in the country of dispatch, entitles you to access doctoral studies. This admission does not imply, in any case, the approval of the previous title that the interested party is in possession of or the recognition for other purposes than that of accessing doctoral studies.
- Be in possession of another doctoral degree.
- Equally, university graduates who, after obtaining a place in training through the corresponding test for access to specialized health training places, have passed with a positive evaluation at least two years of training in a program to obtain the title, can access official of one of the specialties in health sciences.
- The graduates, architects or engineers who were in possession of the diploma of advanced studies obtained in accordance with what was established in Royal Decree 778/1998, of April 30, or who had reached the research sufficiency regulated in Royal Decree 185/ 1985, of January 23.
Admission requirements
The Academic Committee has set the following specific admission requirements for the standard admission pathways:
1. Candidates must hold one of the following qualifications:
a) A university master's degree in Business Research from the UB or a university master's degree in Financial and Actuarial Sciences. In this latter case, the student must have taken the specialization in Advanced Actuarial and Financial Models.
b) A master's degree issued by a higher education institution in the European Higher Education Area, of the same academic level and offering equivalent research training to the master's degrees indicated above, at the discretion of the Academic Committee. Candidates who obtained the advanced studies diploma (Diploma de Estudios Avanzados, DEA) as part of the UB's doctoral programme in Business Studies and the university master's degree in Research in Business, Finance and Insurance, taught at the Faculty of Economics and Business from 2007-2008 to 2011-2012, will receive the same consideration.
c) A qualification issued by an education system outside the European Higher Education Area, which shows that the holder has a level of education equivalent to the university master's degree in Business Research
or the university master's degree in Financial and Actuarial Sciences (specialization in Advanced Actuarial and Financial Models).
2) Knowledge of English. Candidates must provide official certification of English language proficiency (at level B1 CEFR or higher). If this is not possible, a representative designed by the Academic Committee will assess the candidate's English language skills in a personal interview.
Candidate evaluation criteria
The Academic Committee will give priority to applications from candidates who meet the specific requirements and hold one of the university master's degrees listed above: University master's degree in Business Research; Business Research, Finance and Insurance; or Financial and Actuarial Sciences (specialization in Advanced Actuarial and Financial Models).
The Committee will also consider the following aspects, which are prioritized according to the weighting shown:
1. Academic record and other academic merits. In particular, it will whether the candidate sufficient training to begin a thesis on a research topic related to business. If the applicant does not hold a master's degree from the UB, admission will depend particularly on the following aspects: a) English-language tuition, and b) quality indicators for the master's degree and the university at which it was taken. Weighting: 50%.
2. Curriculum vitae. Credit will be given for previous knowledge of the topics covered by the doctoral programme. Credit will be given for teaching experience and professional experience in this field. Certified English language skills will be taken into consideration. Weighting: 30%.
3. Statement of interest. The statement of interest must clearly indicate the candidate's reasons for applying to the doctoral programme in Business. Credit will be given to candidates who present research proposals or highlight areas of interest in which they wish to work in the future. Credit will also be given for a particular interest in the research activities carried out by staff assigned to the doctoral programme. To clarify the reasons given in the statement of interest, some candidates may also be asked to attend a personal interview. Weighting: 15%.
4. Letters of recommendation.These may be written by former lecturers or people who have had a professional or academic relationship with the candidate. Letters of recommendation must make reference to the candidate's previous training, analytical skills, and general motivation for learning. Weighting: 5%.
Lines of research and teaching staff
Research lines
- 101202 - Business
The objective of the business line is to offer quality training for specialized research in different areas or sub-lines: strategy and entrepreneurship; technology and operations management; management and organization; marketing; accounting; business history; mathematical methods for business, finance and insurance; decision-making and game theory; risk in finance and insurance; models for dealing with uncertainty in decision-making.
Professorat
- Daniel Luiz De Mattos Nascimento
Research plan and progress reports
You can find all the information at the following links:
- Research Plan
- Activities document
- Annual monitoring report and evaluation and DADDAD
- Guide to good practice in doctoral thesis supervision and tutoring
- Code of good practices of the Doctoral School of the University of Barcelona
Training activities
List of programme-specific training activities
The offered training activities are structured according to three levels:
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Activities organized by the Doctoral School for all UB programmes.
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Activities organized by the Faculty of Economics and Business for all faculty programmes (Economics, Business, Gender Studies, Economic History and Sociology).
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Activities organized by the programme itself.
The programme's academic committee set up a training subcommittee. The specific training offer is defined each academic year and presented at the start of the academic year to all students to facilitate their planning.
Participation in the aforementioned training activities is not compulsory.
Additionally, the academic committee agreed two types of compulsory activities for students:
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Research seminars: attendance of ten (full-time students) or five (part-time students) seminars per academic year.
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Presentation at the PhD in Business Workshop: students must present a chapter of their doctoral thesis in public to a committee appointed by the academic committee. The presentation is done in the third (full-time students) or fourth (part-time students) academic year.
All the activities carried out by programme students are recorded each year in the doctoral student activity report.
Training Activities
Doctoral thesis
Specific criteria for theses as a compendium of publications, approved by the Academic Committee of the Doctorate in Business on June 11, 2024.
Specific criteria:
- The thesis must have a minimum of three articles.
- Of the three articles:
o At least two of them must be published in scientific journals indexed in recognized quality indexes (JCR, Scopus, ABS or similar) with a guaranteed peer review process.
o In the event that only two are published according to the criteria in the first point, the third must be accepted for publication in scientific journals indexed in recognized quality indexes (JCR, Scopus, ABS or similar) with a guaranteed peer review process.
o Only 1 of these articles may be a book chapter in monographs published by prestigious publishers (top SPI index positions, quality seals or similar).
- The doctoral student must be the first signatory in all articles of the thesis.
- Conference proceedings will not be considered as articles.
Theses subject to data protection: The UB's general regulations apply.
Thesis publications: TDX
Thesis
Career opportunities
What can you work on ?
The PhD in Business at the University of Barcelona is specifically aimed at students who want to embark on an international career in research. After successfully completing the programme, new PhDs will be able to work as researchers or lecturers in universities, business schools or research centres. However, the academic field is not the only professional outlet for our students: the PhD in Business also allows them to work in areas such as consultancy.Statistics show that, at present, doctoral studies make it easier for students to enter the labour market. Moreover, PhDs can aspire to a higher salary level. According to data from the Agency for Quality Assurance in the Catalan University System (AQU), 95% of PhDs in the social sciences have entered the labour market within three years of completing their theses, and their unemployment rate is only 3%.