CALL FOR PHD APPLICATIONS – What Drives PhD Success?

CALL FOR PHD APPLICATIONS

Are you interested in doing a PhD on what drives PhD Success? We are searching for one highly motivated and talented candidate for PhD studies at one of Europe’s leading PhD programs.

Together with RESEARCH HUB we now launch a new PhD research project: PhD success factors and how it differs among candidates from emerging and western economies.

PhD education is valuable to academic institutions and society at large as PhD candidates generate a large portion of research output. Typical duration of PhD programs around the worlds are between three to five years. Meanwhile, PhD success rates are rather low as about 30-50% drops out of the program and those who finish they hardly do within the program duration. Moreover, academic/professional success after finishing PhD studies varies greatly. Studies suggest that psychological, institutional, supervisor and project related factors have influence on PhD success. Over the years, the number of students from emerging economies doing pursuing PhD education in emerging economies have been increasing continuously. The aim of this PhD project is to investigate: (1) Whether the motivation in pursuing PhD education differ among candidates from the emerging and western economies?, (2) Do candidates from emerging economies do better or worse than their western peers in terms of success during and after PhD studies?, (3) What factors influence their results?, (4) Do they return to their countries? Are PhD educators contributing to brain gain or brain drainage in emerging economies?

If you need to know more about PhD education success factors, you can start by reading the following studies:

• van Rooij, E., Fokkens-Bruinsma, M., & Jansen, E. (2019). Factors that influence PhD candidates’ success: the importance of PhD project characteristics. Studies in Continuing Education, 1-20.
• Skopek, J., Triventi, M., & Blossfeld, H. P. (2020). How do institutional factors shape PhD completion rates? An analysis of long-term changes in a European doctoral program. Studies in Higher Education, 1-20.
• Kehm, B. M. (2006). Doctoral education in Europe and North America: A comparative analysis. Wenner Gren International Series, 83, 67.

To carry out the research we are searching for one highly motivated and talented person interested in doing a PhD in Norway. All university costs will be waived and the candidate will receive a scholarship of around EURO 1000,- per month to cover living costs. To qualify for this PhD opportunity you need to have a master’s degree (5 years of university education of 300 ECTS) with strong grades in a business school field. The master’s should include a full thesis. Preferably, the education should be from an internationally recognized business school (AACSB accredited). Further, you need to be fluent in English and have good knowledge in Research Methods.

If you possess these qualifications, we would very much like to receive your application.

The application should be e-mailed to roy.mersland@uia.no and should contain the following:

• Educational certificates with grades and transcripts
• Summary of the master’s thesis (max one page)
• Minimum two letters with academic references
• Complete list (not full papers) of scientific publications (if you have published in peer-reviewed journals already)
• Other important documentation like results from tests like GMAT/GRE/TOEFL etc. (if available)
• Motivation/application letter including your knowledge of English (max one page)
• Project description of four to five pages. The outline should follow the pitching research framework by Professor Faff.

The School of Business and Law at the University of Agder is a high-grade AACSB -accredited business school in Norway. Our PhD programme is one of Europe’s leading programmes in the field of International Business. We offer our candidates generous opportunities and equip them with a global mindset and modern research skills. Our graduates find prestigious jobs within and outside academia and they publish in high ranked international journals. The programme includes around 50 candidates from across the globe working closely with their highly motivated supervisors. The PhD process is designed to take three years and we have one of Europe’s best track records when it comes to finishing a PhD on time.

The selected candidate will be supervised by the director of RESEARCH HUB, Associate Professor Ziaul Haque Munim and director of PhD education Professor Roy Mersland. Moreover, the candidate will work closely with a team of researchers from the University of South-Eastern Norway and the University of Agder.

Your application should be sent to roy.mersland@uia.no by the 1st of September, 2021. Thereafter we will carry out a careful selection process. Start-up of the PhD is planned to be in April 2022.

Best wishes,

Professor Roy Mersland

Head of PhD Education

Director of Research Center CERSEM