Funded and Non-funded PhD Student Positions in Management

Call for PhD students – PhD Program in Management

NEOMA Business School is looking for PhD students to enter our PhD Program starting in Fall 2023.

Eight fully funded, 4-year positions in NEOMA's Areas of Excellence are available.

Our focus

It is a great time to join the PhD Program at NEOMA Business School. Our renewed PhD Program is tightly integrated with four multidisciplinary Areas of Excellence we launched in 2021: The World We Want, The Future of Work, The Complexity Advantage, and AI, Data Science, & Business (for more information on the Areas (see https://neoma-bs.com/faculty-and-research/research/centres-ofexpertise-chairs-institutes). Each new PhD student will be affiliated with one of these Areas and closely cooperate with faculty members who work on research projects focusing on topics in the selected Area. Positions will be fully funded for the entire duration of the Program (four years).

What we are looking for

We are looking for high-potential PhD students who are passionate about research topics related to our Areas of Excellence. PhD students admitted to these positions will receive a competitive monthly salary, health care benefits, and support for research/study-related costs (e.g., courses, visit, and conferences abroad). As an additional strength of our Program, admitted students will be affiliated, from the start, to one of the Areas of Excellence, and to the research community, activities, and projects of such Area. Benefits of affiliation with one of the Areas include supervision by and collaboration with top scholars in the Area, resources the Area makes available to its affiliates, and membership in a thriving community of researchers who are passionate about the Area's topics.

What we offer

As a funded PhD student of NEOMA you will receive:

• Financial support for the full length of the Program (four years) in the form of a competitive monthly salary, healthcare benefits, waiver of tuition fees, and support for research/study-related costs. All support is conditional upon regular progress in the Program
• Intensive training and coaching to develop your research skills
  • Top academic supervisors to individually coach you on how to conduct and publish your research
  • A focused set of core Program courses (providing basic researcher skills), complemented with more focused learning modules at NEOMA as well as partner/network institutions (providing specialized skills needed in your own research)

• Affiliation to and collaboration with other researchers (faculty, post-docs, other PhD students) in one of NEOMA's Areas of Excellence
• All work and supervision in English (knowledge of French is not required)
• A research environment supporting the ambition to publish in top-quality international journals.

In recent years, NEOMA's faculty have published their research in top academic journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Management Science, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Financial Economics, MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, European Journal of Operational Research, and The Accounting Review (for more information, see https://neomabs.com/programmes/phd-in-management-en/)

• Prospects to get a job in top business schools after graduation, in France and abroad. Recent NEOMA PhD graduates have obtained jobs at top institutions worldwide, such as the University of Minnesota, National Economics University (Vietnam), University of Balamand (Lebanon), Skema Business School (France), Grenoble Ecole de Management (France), IESEG School of Management (France), and EM Normandie (France)
• Opportunity to work in a truly global environment, allowing you to network with the international scientific community
  • 66% of NEOMA faculty are international (i.e., not French nationals) and have an extensive international network of researchers whom you might access through them
  • More than 90% of NEOMA PhD students are international (i.e., not French nationals)

What we expect

If selected as a funded PhD student, your tasks will include:

• PhD coursework
  • Completing a number of intensive core courses, focused on theories and methodologies of management and business research (Year 1 of the Program)
  • Completing independent study courses at NEOMA or externally, as identified for you jointly with your supervisor (Years 1 and 2 of the Program)
  • Making a scholarly visit (typically one semester) to a business school abroad, as recommended by your supervisor (usually in Year 3 or 4 of the Program). Financial support is available to cover your travel costs

• PhD thesis research
  • Conducting research and authoring research publications independently and in collaboration with your supervisor and other NEOMA faculty members in the Area of Excellence you will be part of
  • Participating in the research community activities of the Area of Excellence you will be part of, as well as of the Department of your own discipline (e.g., research seminars, workshops)

• Research assistance and teaching involvement
  • Providing research assistance (e.g., assistance in data organization/analysis, literature reviews, copy-editing) to the faculty members of the Area of Excellence you will be part of
  • Participating in the teaching activities of the school related to your expertise (one course per year, during Years 3 and 4 of the Program), in order to build pedagogical expertise in view of the academic job market

You are a qualified applicant to apply to NEOMA's PhD Program if you are passionate about research and want to contribute to advancing academic research as well as managerial practices, concerning topics related to one of our four Areas of Excellence. As a background, you need to hold an advanced degree from previous studies (e.g., MA, MSc, or MBA), as well as have proficient written and spoken English skills.

In your application, you should select and apply to at least one of the research areas listed below, under one of our four Areas of Excellence:

• The World We Want
  • Inclusion, equality, and diversity in business and management
  • Business ethics, ethical decision-making, social responsibility
  • Social entrepreneurship
  • Sustainable finance
  • Sustainable production and/or sustainable consumption practices

• The Future of Work
  • Frontline transformations (e.g., in hospitality, retail)
  • Market transformations (e.g., in social networks)
  • Leadership, virtual leadership
  • Digitalization of work, the impact of digitalization on working conditions
  • Gender identity at work
  • Working conditions
  • Transformation of knowledge and education, new forms of organizational and individual learning

• The Complexity Advantage
  • Social, organizational, & institutional complexity, complex adaptive systems, networks, institutions and institutional work
  • Complexity of economic decision-making, cognitive biases, nudges
  • Open innovation, crowdsourcing
  • Management of complex supply and value chains, product and supply chain proliferation
  • Multi-sided markets, platform business models, sharing economy, C2C/C2B/P2P, data privacy

• Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Science, & Business
  • Predictive data science, topic modeling, machine learning
  • Ethics of AI, unintended consequences of AI
  • Users' relationships with and experience of AI-based products or services
  • Industry 4.0, competitive advantage & AI, AI-based business models

How to apply

Please submit your application in English online (please click Apply) by February 12th, 2023. In addition to answering the questions in the application form (including background questions and motivation to apply), you need to provide the following:

• CV
• Copy of diploma and transcripts for an advanced degree – e.g., MA, MSc, or MBA – in business administration, management, economics, psychology, sociology, or any other relevant field linked to your selected research topic. Evidence of a degree that will be completed by Sept 2023 will also be accepted. Admission with an undergraduate degree can be considered for exceptional candidates
• Copy of English language test certificate (with a minimum score – TOEFL: 83, IELTS: 6.0, TOEIC: 800, PTE: 62, or Cambridge: 175) or evidence that your previous degree's official study language was English 
• Evidence of strong motivation to enroll in our PhD Program and strong interest in a career in academia. Relatedly, the application form includes questions about scientific research, special interests and background knowledge about the specific research topic you are applying for, intention to study full-time for four years, and potential motivation to pursue an academic career 
• Short, preliminary research proposal or idea (max three pages), which outlines and provides background justifications for:
  • A specific research question(s) that you would preliminarily like to study, within your selected research theme (i.e., the topic you selected from the above list). Please also list references to literature that has studied this or related question(s)
  • Potential methods and or data you could use to study the above research question(s). If you already have access to data about this research topic (e.g., company database, commercially available database, or publicly available data), please indicate it here
  • Which of the following management and business disciplines do your research question(s) mostly relate to accounting, economics, strategy, entrepreneurship, finance, organization studies, organizational behavior, organization theory, information systems, international business, marketing/consumer research, operations research, or supply chain management

• Sample of academic writing (e.g., a Master thesis, research report, working paper, or published research article)
• Copy of a GMAT/GRE test certificate. While you can apply without a GMAT/GRE test score, it is recommended to take the test. In the absence of it, please provide evidence of high-grade point average scores (GPA) in your previous degrees 
• Two letters of recommendation
• Any additional document or piece of evidence you might have to support your application

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a Zoom interview with representatives of the Area of Excellence and its sub-area(s) they have selected, and potentially with other faculty members.

We will start reviewing applications as we receive them/on a rolling basis and expect to announce admission results by the end of March 2023. All applications received by the deadline will receive full consideration. High-potential applicants may receive an early admission decision.

About the school

NEOMA Business School is a French top-tier business school and one of the few elite business schools in the world holding the triple accreditation (AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA). Our ambition is to be a global and innovative business school, making an impact through high-quality teaching and research, and fostering a creative, responsible, ethical, and agile mindset. We educate students, executives, and entrepreneurs – and, in the PhD Program, future professors – and generate knowledge and research to shape the future of business and society for a sustainable, digital, connected world. More than two-thirds of our faculty are international, which provides a diverse, multicultural environment that is the optimal context for your research and pedagogy to thrive. With our three campuses in France – in Reims (Champagne-Ardenne), Rouen (Normandy), and Paris – we offer the ideal balance between the French savoir-vivre and ready access to the heart of business and science in Central Europe.

For further information

For general information about NEOMA PhD Program, please see the Program website (https://neomabs.com/programmes/phd-in-management-en/).

For general questions about the Program and the application, please contact the admission team: admissions.phd@neoma-bs.fr.

For questions about the Areas of Excellence and their research topics, please contact the Director of the Area or the coordinator of a relevant sub-area, as identified on the Area website (https://neomabs.com/faculty-and-research/research/centres-of-expertise-chairs-institutes/). Please note, however, that you don't need to be in contact with leaders or professors of the Area in advance. That is, a prior contact will not be considered either as an advantage (nor a disadvantage) to your application.

If you want to apply to NEOMA PhD Program but do not need financial support/funding from NEOMA, please indicate this on the application form. In this case, you need to provide additional evidence confirming that:

• You would be a full-time student at NEOMA (i.e., you will not be employed, or studying, elsewhere for more than 30% of your weekly time)
• You have funding for the full duration of your studies (e.g., a grant from a company, private foundation, government fund, and/or own personal funds)

Please note that in case of admission to a non-funded position, you will be responsible for yearly tuition fees.

We look forward to receiving your application!

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