Doctor of Philosophy (PhD.)
The PhD is a research degree and the highest degree offered by the
University. All departments and schools offer admission to a program
leading to the Ph.D. Several interdepartmental programs award graduate
certificates. Dual degree programs also are offered in partnership with
certain cooperating professional schools.
We offer a wide range of the professional field for the research student. Some popular fields are:
- Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation
- Productivity Management
- Supply Chain Management
- Healthcare Management
- Project Management
- International Business Management
- Accounting
- Human Resource Management
- Marketing
- Finance
- Management
- Public Administration
- Business Administration
- Business Economics
- Economic Development
- Economic Analysis & Policy
- Information Communication Technology
- Political Sciences
- Architecture and Innovation Design
- Engineering
- Development Studies
- Agriculture
- Public Health
- Nursing Sciences
Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) Program
DVU offers two pathways in its doctoral program, namely:
1. A professional pathway, and
2. A research pathway.
The professional pathway is in the field of business management and has been designed with the specific objective of finding innovative ways of uniting professional practice with academic knowledge.
aimed specifically at mid-career executives (or persons with significant managerial experience at the mid-career level) and is designed to help students apply research-based thinking to business ideas while deepening and broadening their ideas of business practice.
Candidates with this objective in mind are oriented towards the professional pathway in the doctoral program. Successful completion of the professional pathway in the program leads to the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) qualification which is awarded by DVU.
It is a practical and research-based track in the doctoral program designed for mid-career executives who have already completed the MBA (or equivalent qualification) and are looking to further enhance their practical and theoretical knowledge base. As such it can be said to be a specialist qualification which is aimed at professional development in business and industry.
A candidate’s chosen field of thesis research must be compatible with the areas of supervisory capacity at DVU which currently are the following:
- Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation
- Productivity Management
- Supply Chain Management
- Healthcare Management
- Project Management
- International Business Management
- Accounting
- Human Resource Management
- Marketing
- Finance
- Management
- Public Administration
- Business Administration
- Business Economics
- Economic Development
- Economic Analysis & Policy
- Business Strategy
- Global Finance
- ICT Management
- Others …
Program Objectives
The overall objective of this three-year professional doctoral program is to enable candidates to make significant contributions to both theory and practice in their field and to develop a professional practice at the highest level in business administration. It is aimed at developing mid-career executives with managerial and applied research capabilities who will confidently lead their organizations in the dynamic and highly competitive global marketplace. The professional path in the doctoral program is appropriate for candidates whose objective is to pursue professional, industry-based careers and would like to be given the opportunity to reflect on best practices rather than in pursuing an academic/research career. It aims to provide candidates with innovative approaches to integrating academic and professional knowledge. Candidates will be actively encouraged to choose a thesis topic that is related to their area of responsibility in an organization or an area they wish to focus upon in their career development following graduation from the program.
Total duration for completing the program on a full-time basis is three (3) years made up of courses/research seminars and workshops and doctoral thesis research. The course component of the program amounts to 60 credit points.
Apart from the courses/research seminars organized at the institution candidates in the doctoral program are encouraged to actively participate in doctoral courses/research seminars/workshops organized at other higher education institutions in Europe and abroad so as to enable them to gain a wider perspective of their chosen field of research.
DBA Thesis Requirements and Supervision
Details related to the requirements of the thesis at the institution are provided in the “Thesis Handbook: Graduate School”. Students are therefore required to read carefully the Thesis Handbook in order to thoroughly familiarize themselves with the applicable regulations.
As far as supervision of thesis research is concerned it is to be noted that the DBA thesis supervisor generally looks at the scientific work being prepared by the student, supervises it, and is committed to ensuring that the quality standards of the work are being met. A supervisor is a person with the requisite academic qualification and experience in the chosen field of the thesis research. The supervisor has expert knowledge of the field in which the student is carrying out his/her research. The Supervisor’s task is to guide the DBA student from the commencement of the research through the oral presentation and defence of the completed research work (DBA viva) The thesis supervisor has to ensure that the DBA student takes initiative and is creative. The supervisor has the duty to inform the director of the program on all matters related to the supervision of the DBA student. The director, in turn, informs the DBA Program Committee on all matters related to the DBA program.
The thesis supervisor is required to sign the Thesis Approval Form. Additionally, the DBA Academic Coordinator is required to sign the thesis approval form. The signature of the Academic Coordinator is an assertion of the authenticity of the adviser’s signature and of the acceptability of the thesis to the Graduate School. Therefore, this signature must be original. All required signatures must be submitted to the Graduate School on the same form in support of the thesis deposit.
A DBA degree candidate studying full-time is expected to complete all degree requirements within three (3) years of first registering as a degree-seeking student in the DBA program. A DBA degree candidate studying part-time is expected to complete all degree requirements within five (5) years of first registering as a degree-seeking student in the DBA program. Details regarding DBA thesis requirements are provided in the publication “Theses Handbook: Graduate School”.
Master’s Degrees
The University awards the following Master’s degrees:
- Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation
- Productivity Management
- Supply Chain Management
- Healthcare Management
- Project Management
- International Business Management
- Accounting
- Human Resource Management
- Marketing
- Finance
- Management
- Public Administration
- Business Administration
- Business Economics
- Economic Development
- Economic Analysis & Policy
- Information Communication Technology
- Political Sciences
- Architecture and Innovation Design
- Engineering
- Development Studies
- Agriculture
- Public Health
- Nursing Sciences
- Others …