The 14 students of the new cohort of the Doctoral School began their academic year in mid-October. They join the PhD in Management, with aim of accessing posts as professors and researchers or joining the research centres of large companies.

The new NEOMA PhD students will work on their research project over a period of three years. This experience aims to prepare them to identify, analyse and resolve major managerial matters within organisations. They will be supported throughout their course by several experienced professors with high-level research profiles.

Personalised monitoring of specialist research work

In the first year, the students take several intensive courses in English covering fundamental theories and research methods. Research professors are in charge of their training as well as the supervision of the research projects they will work on over the three years of the programme. The start of the year is an opportunity to meet and discuss face-to-face. “The relationship between the doctoral students and their supervisors is based on reciprocity, independence and true proximity. Opportunities to meet are therefore indispensable in creating close links with our students,” said Vincent Lacoste, Professor in the Finance Department and joint supervisor.

An internationally recognised qualification

By virtue of its international aspect, NEOMA attracts large numbers of international students to its PhD programme. This training, so popular throughout the world and especially in America, is one of the highest qualifications offered by the Grandes Ecoles. This year there are 14 students with a variety of profiles and from different countries, and this is the largest cohort since the programme began in 2016, despite the world health crisis. “They come from Chile, China, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Lebanon and Pakistan and they chose NEOMA specifically in order to be able to prepare their research project with one of our professors. We wish them an excellent start to the year and a great welcome to the three intensive and fulfilling years awaiting them,” commented Gaël Bonnin, Director for Research at NEOMA.

A partnership with the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA)

In 2018, NEOMA signed a partnership agreement with URCA with the aim of bringing together the skills and expertise of both institutions, which was particularly useful in allowing the doctoral students of NEOMA Business School to gain European recognition. They can now join the programme of the doctoral School in Human and Social Sciences (SHS) at URCA, and are then awarded a double degree: the PhD in Management from NEOMA and the State Doctorate from URCA.

What is a PhD?

The Ph. D. or PhD comes from the term Philosophiæ doctor (or doctor philosophiæ) literally meaning ‘doctor in philosophy’. This training at Bac+8 level is generally done over three years. The first year is devoted to teaching the fundamentals. The second year sees the beginning of the research project. The students learn to formulate research questions, design research plans and trial their ideas. The third year is devoted to preparing the thesis. The Doctoral School at NEOMA, created in 2016, includes two programmes: the DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration), a programme specifically intended for senior managers from China, and the PhD in Management, combining high-level training and supervised research and aimed at the professors and researchers of tomorrow.