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Admission

Enrolment in the PhD programme at CBS takes place through the doctoral schools, but the enrolment procedure is the same for all schools. Nevertheless, the enrolment procedures are different for the four “schemes” (research fellow, independent PhD student, industrial PhD fellow, and DBA student).The application procedure for an advertised vacant scholarship is described below. For industrial PhD fellows, the procedure is described here , and for DBA students here . Independent PhD students generally follow the procedure described below, after an agreement on funding has been reached.

Application procedure:

Potential applicants are strongly advised to get in touch with the contact person named in the vacancy advertisement well in advance of the application deadline. This person will be able to give advice on how to prepare the application and to suggest possible supervisors.

The application should be submitted as indicated in the vacancy advertisement to the doctoral school/department, and must include the following:

  • Applicationform
  • Copy of diplomas/transcripts
  • Curriculum vitae (CV)
  • List of written works
  • Sample of a written work (e.g. master’s thesis)
  • Brief project description (approximately five pages).

Everything must be submitted in four copies (except the sample of a written work, which only needs to be submitted in one copy). Electronic applications are not accepted.

Together with the diploma/transcripts and CV, the project description is the most important basis for assessing the application. It describes the research project that will form the core of the PhD programme.

The project description may not exceed five pages and should include the following:

  • a brief explanation of the aims of the project
  • an explanation of the issue and the hypotheses that will be worked with
  • a positioning of the project in the research field of the doctoral school
  • a description of the “state-of-the-art" research within the project’s research field
  • an explanation of the theories to be included
  • an explanation of the methods to be used
  • an indication of the project’s potential contribution to scientific development
  • a work plan (brief), which describes the main phases in the project.

The project description should be written in such a way that it would be informative to a researcher in the field, to which the project belongs. It should thus not be written in popular terms. Of course, the project description should not assume that the applicant knows the answers to the questions posed, but precisely reflect the fact that it is about a research project. It should be shown that in all probability it will be possible within the framework of a PhD programme to contribute to a solution or clarification of the research questions. The project must have a clear focus, and this should be reflected in the project description. The project should be written in concise technical language – English may be used – and both its content and form will be taken into consideration in the assessment of the project and the applicant.

The assessment procedure:

The applications are checked to ensure that all formalities are in order. The applicants are then assessed by a committee consisting of two associate professors who prepare a written assessment. This assessment is sent to the applicants for their information. On the basis of the committee’s assessment, the Dean of Research decides who should be offered the advertised vacant PhD scholarship.

The assessment criteria:

The assessment committee will assess, whether the project has research quality and whether the applicant seems capable of carrying out the project. In connection with this, the CV and diploma/transcripts will be examined, and applicants who have achieved a grade of nine or more on a 13-point grading scale (or the equivalent) on their master’s thesis will be given preference.

It should be noted that this procedure is not followed, if a named person has been granted a scholarship from a research council. This person is not assessed again before enrolment.


Last updated by Afrodita Jeftic 09/02/2010