44 INSEAD PhD in Management

Europe Campus
PhD Office
Boulevard de Constance
77305 Fontainebleau Cedex, France
Tel: +33 (0)1 60 72 42 93
Fax: +33 (0)1 60 74 55 93 / 00
E-mail: phd.info@insead.edu

Asia Campus
PhD Office
1 Ayer Rajah Avenue
138676 Singapore
Tel: +65 6799 5139
Fax: +65 6799 5365
E-mail: phd.info@insead.edu

Abu Dhabi Campus

Muroor Road Street N4
P.O. Box 48049
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Tel: +971 2 651 5200
Fax: +971 2 443 9461

www.insead.edu
 INSEAD PhD in Management 45

PhD in Management 2015 - 2017

A life of intellectual leadership

and influential scholarship.
46 INSEAD PhD in Management

David F. Drake (USA), Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, USA
PhD in Technology and Operations Management, INSEAD (2011)
Background: BS Psychology and Human & Organizational Development, and MBA, Vanderbilt University, USA
 INSEAD PhD in Management 01

Your passport
to a prestigious
academic career
Imagine a highly respected, international career a life of intellectual stimulation,
creativity and freedom. It involves working with the leading business thinkers, the best
practitioners and the brightest high-potentials. Combining academic research and
teaching with real-world business impact, it truly is a dream job that represents the best
of both worlds.

Next, imagine that the doctoral degree you need to launch this career is available in
a unique two-continent format. Take a group of incredibly intelligent and motivated
students from all over the world, bring them to Europe and Asia then, get the leading
experts in their fields to mentor them. Add a full scholarship for tuition fees, a generous
living allowance, a formidable placement record and it really does sound too good to
be true.

Now, stop imagining. The INSEAD PhD in Management is a reality. It is proven to be one of
the most effective ways to launch a career as a management professor.
02 INSEAD PhD in Management
 INSEAD PhD in Management 03

Contents
Overview
04 Message from the Dean

07 Message from the Dean of Faculty & Research

08 Message from the Academic Director

11 A career in business academia

12 The INSEAD PhD advantage

15 INSEAD The Business School for the World

16 Structured for success

19 Who should apply?

Practical Information
20 Alumni network

25 Diversity and excellence

26 Areas of specialisation

32 Programme structure

36 Campus exchanges

38 Research support

39 Admissions

42 Financial information

42 Donors and corporate sponsors

04 INSEAD PhD in Management

Creating knowledge
for a better world
Academic excellence is at the heart of what makes INSEAD great. For more than 50 years,
knowledge creation and dissemination have remained integral to our mission as a premier
global management school.

Even more important, our faculty and graduates have put these ideas into action. INSEAD
scholarship is alive out in the world, making a difference every day for countless people,
organisations, and communities.

Across all business disciplines, INSEAD is dramatically shaping both theoretical discourse
and practical application in ways that generate innovation and solve important challenges
to make life better. With campuses in Fontainebleau, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, as well
as strategic alliances in the USA and China, INSEAD offers a unique, truly global
management education to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. Our faculty
and students are exceptionally diverse. Our commitment to transcultural insights,
entrepreneurship, and creative problem solving differentiates INSEAD in the marketplace.
Indeed, these strengths enable our extraordinary global community to manage complexity,
reduce uncertainty, and lead innovation anywhere in the world.

In our doctoral programme, we are preparing the next generation of exemplary educators
people who will transform the possibilities of what management can and should be in
a world with fewer borders but greater challenges. At INSEAD, you will learn alongside
the worlds best business minds. Even more, you will gain a profound appreciation for how
to put that knowledge to work in ways that matter most.Each year, over 1,300+ degree
candidates (MBA, EMBA, MFin, EMCC, TIEMBA and PhD) and 12,000+ executives from top
companies trust INSEAD to provide them with the education to thrive in todays challenging
global environment.

We invite you to join them and over 48,000 alumni distributed across 171 countries with 157
nationalities, to see for yourself why INSEAD is truly The Business School for the World.

Ilian Mihov
Dean
Professor of Economics
Novartis Chaired Professor of
Management and Environment
INSEAD PhD in Management 05
06 INSEAD PhD in Management

Thought leadership
Influential scholarship
INSEADs unusual 50-year history is
distinguished by its entrepreneurial nature
and its international diversity. It was founded
by faculty from different parts of the world
who wanted to do something different - they
took a US style academic model and infused it
with international faculty and students, giving
all programmes a uniquely global focus not
connected to one particular nationality or
perspective. An innovative institution that
began as a European business school has now
become The Business School for the World,
largely due to its entrepreneurial DNA. There is
no other business school quite like it.
So today INSEAD trains many of tomorrows
leading entrepreneurs, and this includes our
PhD candidates who go on to academic careers.
They are the brightest and most creative minds
who aspire to become innovative researchers
through INSEAD. For over 25 years, we have
been remarkably successful and remain
committed in launching their academic
careers in top business schools worldwide.
Why become an academic? Being a professor
in a research institution is an exceptionally
entrepreneurial activity. You get an office
and other resources and are told to create
knowledge that will be interesting and have
impactwhatever you like. Every now and
then, your colleagues and other peers check
in to ask: So, what interesting and innovative
things have you done? The answer to this
will determine your success (or failure!)
in the profession.
INSEAD PhD in Management 07
The life of a professor is remarkably social
as well. As a PhD student, you will spend
some solitary time struggling (or making
brilliant progress) in your office or at your
kitchen table alone, as in the stereotype of
the doctoral student. However, few papers are
written without co-authors and the sharing of
ideaswhether in joint projects, in seminars
at universities, in the exchanges that arise in
teaching, in conferences at far-flung places,
or in lunch and corridor conversations with
colleaguesthese are a critical and day-to-day
part of the process for creating knowledge.
At INSEAD, you benefit from our
entrepreneurial intellectualism and from
the interaction with a culturally diverse and
academically distinguished set of faculty, who
do not merely come from different countries but
who have chosen to live their lives as citizens
of the world. The students and professors at
INSEAD that you meet and learn from and share
ideas with will form the core of the intellectual
network you will develop, and that will develop
you in your professional life.
I hope to welcome you to INSEAD and to our
premier doctoral degree, as the start of a
lifetime academic career.
Timothy Van Zandt
Dean of Faculty & Research
Professor of Economics
Shell Fellow of Economic Transformation
08 INSEAD PhD in Management

A life of intellectual stimulation,

creativity and freedom
A life of creating new knowledge
with high impact
Research driven business schools are some of the best places in the world to do high
impact social science because of generous resources and easy access to the laboratory
of real world decision-making. Beyond these strengths, INSEADs PhD Programme
uniquely offers a degree of flexibility that is unparalleled.

INSEADs deep culture of inter-departmental collaboration, multiple campus locations

(France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi) and alliance partners (Wharton, Sorbonne and
Tsinghua) mean that as a PhD student you are in an extraordinarily diverse environment
in terms of the domains from which you can draw on research ideas and advisers, and
even the choice of which continent you need to be on for your research. Our stipend
is generous, automatically covers 5 years, and we provide health insurance coverage
for you and your family. While we do everything we can to make sure students enter
productive research collaborations with faculty as early in their careers as possible, we
want them to do so as equal contributors - your fellowships are exactly that and do not
require you to work as we do not impose research assistance requirements to support
your doctoral studies.

INSEADs PhD Programme has a simple strategy:

Recruit the brightest, most creative minds from around the world. Train them to be
innovative researchers. Place them at the best business schools in the world.

We have been remarkably successful, given our strong placement record and our
graduates research achievements for over 25 years, and we aspire to do even better.
I invite you to join us in this enterprise.

Phanish Puranam
Academic Director, PhD Programme
Professor of Strategy
The Roland Berger Chaired Professor of Strategy
and Organisation Design
10 INSEAD PhD in Management
 INSEAD PhD in Management 11

A career in
business academia

The best job in the world.

This is how faculty members at
INSEAD and other business schools
describe their work.

The academic life faculty are often able to participate directly in

business, too, as consultants, board members or
Our professors talk above all about the variety
even entrepreneurs.
of their work: the fascination of research; the
thrill of orchestrating bright minds in the
Yet, over the years, it has become apparent that
classroom; the creative stimulation of top
there is a long-term shortage of true talent of
international conferences and visits to other
men and women capable of applying academic
institutionsthe challenge of juggling the
rigour to real-world management issues.
complementary, but very different activities of
research and teaching.
What is more, the continued globalisation
of business, coupled with the search for
They also talk about the freedom and flexibility.
alternatives to the traditional American model
Of course, there is hard work and high
of management, has created an even greater
pressure, too. But when you are pursuing your
demand for newly trained business academics
own interests and passion, it is even more
with an international mindset.
worthwhile. Salaries are also highly competitive
with top industry professions.
In other words, if you have a strong
undergraduate record in virtually any
So far, so typical of an academic career at a
discipline, an enquiring and creative mind, and
world-class institution, perhaps. But specialising
a fascination with business, all you need is the
in a business discipline brings added benefits.
right training to start your international career
in business academia. We firmly believe that
All the benefits of business the best training of all is the INSEAD PhD in
Business school research and teaching are Management.
rooted in the real world, so their impact is
significant. As well as developing bright
young minds, management professors attract
top executives into the classroom to expand
the frontiers of business practice. Business
12 INSEAD PhD in Management
The INSEAD
PhD advantage
As globalisation accelerates and old
paradigms fall, business looks to great
minds with the courage, detachment and
rigour, yet close understanding of the
issues to think differently.
And nothing encourages difference
like diversity. Hence, the philosophy of
excellence through diversity on which
the INSEAD PhD in Management is
founded.
The only two-continent programme
The INSEAD PhD in Management is the only
such programme to run across two equal-
status campuses on two continents in France
and Singapore, and the schools exchange
programme with The Wharton School in
America adds the option of a third.
the most culturally diverse in the
world
Sometimes it feels more like studying on five
continents, as the student body is the most
international in the world. A typical intake has
as many nationalities as it has participants, each
bringing a different perspective to the debating
table. The faculty is also one of the most
international at a top business school.
and yet the most intimate.
INSEAD may be one of the largest and most
prestigious postgraduate business schools in
the world, but the PhD Programme remains
small and intimate. With a maximum of eighteen
or so places a year, shared across our two
campuses, the student body is close and
supportive.
Everyone knows everyone else, regardless
of their specialist subject. With partners and
children encouraged on campus, there is a
definite family feel.

Close relationships with world
experts
Perhaps most important of all, the relationships
with our faculty are close too. INSEAD
professors are the world experts in their fields,
yet their strong ethos of support, collaboration
and mentorship is distinctive.
Whether in the first two years of classes, or
the following period of independent research,
the insights and guidance of the worlds best
teachers and researchers are always available
to our PhD students.
...in a stimulating interdisciplinary
environment.
INSEAD is also unusual in taking an
interdisciplinary approach. Professors and
PhD students do not simply work across two
continents. They also collaborate across
academic areas, offering an even greater
breadth of research opportunities and different
perspectives.
INSEAD PhD in Management 13
Business needs
leadership.
This much is
well known.
But it also
needs thought
leadership...
All this and full financial support
As well as moral and intellectual support,
INSEAD offers generous funding. Almost all
PhD students benefit from our scholarships and
living allowances, which come with very few
strings attached except our high expectations
of our students.
followed by outstanding career
potential.
Given all these INSEAD differences, it is hardly
surprising that our graduates go on to obtain
academic positions at the best business schools
and universities worldwide. Our placement
record is truly excellent.
14 INSEAD PhD in Management

Simone Marinesi (Italy), Assistant Professor of Operations and Information Management, The Wharton School, USA
PhD in Technology and Operations Management, INSEAD (2014)
Background: BS and MS Industrial Engineering, Universit di Bologna, Italy
 INSEAD PhD in Management 15

INSEAD The Business

School for the World
When you join the INSEAD PhD in Management, you become part of an extraordinary worldwide
community. As one of the worlds leading and largest graduate business schools, INSEAD
brings together people, cultures and ideas from around the world to change lives and transform
organisations. INSEADs diversity is unparalleled, as demonstrated in its campus locations, faculty,
participants, and strategic alliances with top programmes and business schools. As PhD students,
you will significantly benefit from this.

Participants and locations Faculty

The unique global perspective and
multicultural diversity of INSEAD are
reflected in all aspects of its research and
teaching. The PhD Programme is located
in two comprehensive and fully integrated
campuses in Asia (Singapore) and in Europe
(Fontainebleau). Together with the Abu Dhabi
campus, all three are attended by 1,300+
degree participants and 12,000+ Executive
Education participants annually comprised of
business leaders worldwide.
As a PhD student, you will come into daily
contact with participants who come from all
continents to study alongside you at INSEAD.
But most important of all, you will form close
relationships with outstanding faculty. As
PhD graduates from the worlds top business
schools, they are not only one of the most
diverse business-school faculty in the world
they are also among the very best in their
respective fields.

A broad-based alliance with The Wharton

School in America and a dual-degree Executive
MBA with Tsinghua University in China expand
1,300+ 12,000+
INSEADs horizons, yet further. But in reality, Degree Executive Education
Participants Participants
the INSEAD community extends to the entire
world, with 48,000+ distributed across 171
countries, many of them with active national 48,000+ 170+
alumni associations. Alumni Countries
16 INSEAD PhD in Management

Structured for success

The INSEAD PhD in Management has
been carefully designed to nurture high
achievement.

Once you make it through the rigorous

selection process, there are exciting
challenges ahead. After only four to five
years at INSEAD, you can look forward to
launching an exciting career in academia.

First two years to lay the foundation
As a successful applicant, you are not only
offered a broad choice of specialist areas
in the four to five years full-time programme
(Accounting, Decision Sciences,
Entrepreneurship, Finance, Marketing,
Organisational Behaviour, Strategy, and
Technology and Operations Management).
You can also choose whether to begin the
programme in France or in Singapore. Both
campuses offer almost identical opportunities.
These are the first of many choices to come.
The first two years teach the fundamentals of
business in interdisciplinary classes, with the
addition of specialist courses in your subject
and further specialisation, again according to
choice. You will also receive intensive training
in research methodologies, culminating in the
production of a formal research paper.
During the early years, you are encouraged
to spend one eight-week period on the other
INSEAD campus. You can also decide to switch
campuses permanently. If you decide to stay
put, you will certainly attend some video-
conferenced classes, held simultaneously and
seamlessly on two continents.
Next, two (or three) years to become
one of the leading experts in your field
Upon admission to candidacy, you now work
with your faculty advisor to define your
dissertation topic and pursue truly independent
research. By the end of your third year at
INSEAD, you should have your proposal
approved and be well on course to complete
your dissertation in the next year or two,
if needed.
Added inspiration comes from regular seminars
led by resident and visiting faculty and
attended exclusively by professors, research
staff and PhD students. There is a strong
interdisciplinary tradition at INSEAD, which
stimulates an extra level of research creativity.
By the time you attend the graduation ceremony
in June, you should already have made your
final INSEAD choice, that is, which other
leading institution anywhere in the world is
going to be best for the next phase of your
academic career.
 INSEAD PhD in Management 17

Our research should

result in a better
understanding of
how to do business.
Moqi Xu (Germany)
Lecturer (Assistant Professor) of Finance
London School of Economics, UK
Background: Diploma in Finance,
Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Germany;
MBA in Finance, Tulane University, USA;
Two years in Strategy Consulting;
PhD in Finance, INSEAD (2011)

Academia versus the real world? There is
no versus. Our research should result in a
better understanding of how to do business. I
am looking forward to achieving this through
teaching and research. There is no greater
satisfaction than seeing students successfully
apply the ideas that you taught them, though I
am also hoping that my research on investment
behaviour in CEO election cycles will result in
better governance. In this way, my current work
is not much different from my previous job as a
strategy consultant only that my results apply
in general rather than to the particular firm that
hired me.
Of course, my methods of working changed
along with my career. My research projects are
much more detailed and take years rather than
weeks. My advisor, Theo Vermaelen, invested
an enormous amount of time and effort in my
academic development, much more than my
previous mentors could afford. Nevertheless,
I was the one responsible for my progress
there is no direct, day-to-day supervisor, as
you would find in a more conventional
business career.
At INSEAD, we are well connected to the
finance community. Paris, Singapore, London,
Frankfurt and Zurich host a vast pool of
financial professionals to discuss ideas and
recent deals. The INSEAD PhD in Management
provides financial support for conferences and
other educational pursuits. Many of us visit
other universities I spent a summer at the
University of Chicago with some challenges to
my own view of market efficiency.
18 INSEAD PhD in Management

I have over 70 smart

people from all over
the world and all
backgrounds to talk to
about my research, my
thoughts, and my life. I
could not ask for a better
support network.
Elena Belavina (Russia)
Assistant Professor of Operations Management
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, USA
Background: BSc and MSc in Applied Mathematics and Physics,
specialising in Systems Programming and IT Management,
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia;
PhD in Technology and Operations Management,
INSEAD (2012)

During my masters, I realised how attractive
the academic lifestyle was. It was not just
the freedom to organise my own time that
appealed, but also the freedom to think. It is so
much more rewarding to research ideas that
you have developed yourself.
I admit it was a challenge to change direction.
That first year was crazy! I learnt a huge
amount, but sometimes it is an advantage to be
new to a field and to have no preconceptions.
It also helped to have the mentorship of senior
students who had already been through it all.

Although I loved maths, I was also fascinated
by people. Technology and Operations
Management seemed the perfect way of
combining both interests and INSEAD clearly
had one of the best departments in the world.
It turned out to be even better than I would
imagined once I got here.
There is a real interdisciplinary PhD community
at INSEAD. I could have over 70 smart people
from all over the world and all backgrounds to
talk to about my research, my thoughts and my
life. I could not ask for a better support network.
 INSEAD PhD in Management 19

Who should apply?

Research potential.
Intellectual capacity.
Commitment to academia.
Creativity. Motivation. Drive.

Our standards are high, but extremely broad.
Diversity is what INSEAD is about, after all. But
there is one thing that all successful applicants
have in common - and that is the desire to
pursue a successful career in academia.
Apart from that essential requirement, we
are, first of all, seeking people with a proven
academic record, whatever their subject
background. Second, we are looking for the
creativity and independent thought necessary
to become a great researcher. Third, the ability
to work in the English language is a necessity.
Fourth, we require evidence of motivation and
drive, which are prerequisites for successful
independent research.
What does that mean in practice? You might
be a fresh graduate in a business-related
discipline, or you might have developed an
interest in business research through a masters
or a few years of work experience. However,
some of our best students have come straight
from degrees in mathematics, IT, science or
even the arts, but with a strong interest in
business as a future field of academic study.
If this sounds like a good fit for you, read on
to get more details about the choices on offer,
to find out how to apply for them and, most
importantly, to hear from the people who have
already benefited from this unique INSEAD PhD
in Management.

If it helps to know what we are not looking

for - we do not ask for a degree in business, a
masters, an MBA or work experience (although,
many successful applicants come with an MBA,
an MSc or a successful business career behind
them), nor do we have a preference for any
particular undergraduate area of study.
20 INSEAD PhD in Management

Alumni network
An outstanding placement record. Americas
Unparalleled career trajectory. Wharton, Harvard, Stanford, Kellogg, MIT
From its very beginning, the INSEAD PhD in Sloan, Chicago Booth, U. of California Berkeley,
Management has achieved a very impressive Michigan Ross, NYU Stern, U. of Illinois at
placement record. Today, its graduates can Urbana-Champaign, Carnegie Mellon, Yale,
be found throughout the world, teaching and Boston U., UCLA, Georgia Tech, Emory, McGill
researching at the best business schools and U., U. of Western Ontario, etc.
universities worldwide, and have tremendous
success advancing their academic career.
Over the years, PhD graduates have been
ambassadors for INSEAD and have positively
played a key role in ensuring its reputation
as one of the worlds best graduate business
schools.

160+
PhD alumni
Find out more about our impressive placement record at
http://phd.insead.edu/alumni_and_placements/

Europe
London Business School, London School of
Economics, Oxford University, Imperial College
of London, HEC, ESSEC (France), IE Madrid,
IESE, ESMT Berlin, Universitat Pompeu Fabra,
Rotterdam U., Tilburg U., Ko niversitesi,
etc.
Bart Bronnenberg (The Netherlands)
Marketing
Professor of Marketing
Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Konstantin Korotov (Russia)
Organisational Behaviour
Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour
Director of the Centre for Leadership
Development Research (CLDR), ESMT, Germany
Oleg Chuprinin (Ukraine)
Finance
Associate Professor of Finance
University of New South Wales, Australia
Merih Sevilir (Turkey)
Finance
Associate Professor of Finance
Kelley School of Business,
Indiana University, USA
INSEAD PhD in Management 21
Asia
HKUST, CEIBS, CKGSB, National University of
Singapore, Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore Management University, IIMB
(Bangalore), Seoul National U., Keio U., Kobe U.,
U. of Technology Sydney, U. of New South Wales,
Sydney, Yonsei U., etc.
Tang Wenjie (China)
Decision Sciences
Assistant Professor of Quantitative Methods
IE Business School, Spain
Donal Crilly (United Kingdom)
Strategy
Assistant Professor of Strategy and
Entrepreneurship
London Business School, United Kingdom
Yang Haiyang (Japan)
Marketing
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Johns Hopkins University, USA
Heejung Jung (Republic of Korea)
Organisational Behaviour
Assistant Professor of Innovation &
Entrepreneurship
Imperial College of London, United Kingdom
Christian Terwiesch (Germany)
Production and Operations Management
Andrew M. Heller Professor,
Professor of Operations
and Information Management
The Wharton School,
University of Pennsylvania, USA
22 INSEAD PhD in Management

I heard about how Asia

was the worlds rising
economic power, but I
saw it for myself at the
HarbourFront area in
Singapore.
Hakan Ener (Turkey)
Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship
IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Spain
Background: BA in Economics and MBA,
Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey;
Worked as a Research Associate;
PhD in Strategy, INSEAD (2009)

I had never really been anywhere east of my
home country, Turkey, so the time I spent in
Singapore as part of my INSEAD PhD was an
eye-opening experience. I heard about how
Asia was the worlds rising economic power,
but I saw it for myself at the HarbourFront area
in Singapore, which is a key cargo transit point
for trade between the whole continent and the
rest of the world. The volume of cargo waiting to
be shipped to Europe, America and Africa was
simply mind-boggling.
Half of our world lives in Asia, and I became
familiar with this continent only after INSEAD
made it possible to do part of my doctoral
research there. As I graduate from the PhD
Programme and move on to work as an
Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, I know
I have received the best doctoral education for
developing a global vision as a scholar.
I would encourage all PhD applicants to
consider stepping outside their comfort zone
and to do part of their doctoral work in a
different country: it is very stimulating for the
mind. And, of course, if you choose to study at
INSEAD it is also very easy to achieve!
 INSEAD PhD in Management 23

I am a big believer that

the most innovative
people are those who
have been embedded
in different cultures.
Julie Battilana (France)
Associate Professor of Business Administration,
Marvin Bower Fellow
Harvard Business School, USA
Background: BA in Sociology and Economics,
MA in Political Sociology, and
MSc in Organisational Sociology and Public Policy,
Ecole Normale Suprieure de Cachan, France;
MSc in Management and Economics, HEC Paris, France;
Joint PhD in Organisational Behaviour from INSEAD (2006)
and in Management and Economics from Ecole Normale
Suprieure de Cachan (2006)

Before INSEAD, my trajectory was very French.
I was destined to spend my career in the French
university system, but INSEAD opened the door
to a new world for me. It felt like a wonderful
international bubble but in my own country
and my dissertation was on the British National
Health Service. Quite simply, there is no other
school that is as diverse.
Why is that so important? Well, it is a source
of richness, particularly in the classroom. You
get exposed to so many different approaches,
ideas and perspectives from professors and
colleagues alike. It helps in research, too. I am a
big believer that the most innovative people are
those who have been embedded in different
cultures. That is why I am here in the U.S. today.
You have to practise some of the theories you
teach!
There is no doubt that INSEAD has an amazing
track record in placing its PhD graduates, and
I am collaborating on research with several of
them. If there is one thing that I have recently
come to appreciate about INSEAD, it is the
strong intellectual and social network that the
school has given me.
24 INSEAD PhD in Management
 INSEAD PhD in Management 25

Diversity & excellence

The moment you step on the campus of your Entrepreneurship
choice, as a student, you are integrated in a Decision Finance
Sciences
multicultural and academically diverse global
Accounting
PhD community.
Techology &
The close-knit but growing PhD community Operations
Management Marketing
at INSEAD currently numbers more than 85
members, plus, in many cases, their families.
Although it is INSEADs smallest and most
selective programme, it is still exceptionally
Strategy Organisational
diverse. Behaviour

Our students come from all academic

Accounting 2%
backgrounds, not just business. Entrants range Decision Sciences 7%
from young graduates fresh out of university Entrepreneurship 7%
to professionals with a few years of work Finance 20%
experience behind them. Marketing 12%
Organisational Behaviour 16%
Strategy 20%
Key Figures Technology & 15%
Operations Management

740 27
Average Age
Gender

40%
Average GMAT Score

164
Average GRE Score
30+
Nationalities 60%
Nationality Chart
17
85+
Total PhD
Students
11
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26 INSEAD PhD in Management
Areas of specialisation
1 Accounting
2 Decision Sciences
3 Entrepreneurship
4 Finance
1 Accounting
The Accounting (AC)
area at INSEAD is highly
distinguished for its
excellence in research and
is one of the few groups
outside North America to
consistently produce articles
in top accounting, finance, and
management journals, such
as The Accounting Review,
The Journal of Accounting
and Economics, Journal of
Accounting Research, Journal
of Finance, The Journal of
Financial Economics, and
Management Science, among
others. Faculty have strong
connections with the academic
accounting community,
serving as associate
editors and editorial board
members of major journals,
and routinely present their
research in workshops and
conferences held by leading
academic institutions and
premier academic journals.
The PhD in AC aims to provide
cutting-edge comprehensive
training in accounting
research, with research topics
typically categorised into
5 Marketing
6 Organisational Behaviour
7 Strategy
8 Technology & Operations Management
two financial accounting
and managerial accounting.
The area equips students with
innovative tools to identify and
understand the market and
institutional forces that affect
the production and use of
information by organisations.
As the programme is
interdisciplinary, AC students
will receive intensive
training in economics and
behavioral science to acquire
fundamental tools necessary
to conduct intensive research
in accounting, and will work
alongside faculty who are at
the forefront of research in
a variety of areas, including
economics, finance, etc.
Like all other areas, the AC
area aims to produce highly
trained individuals who will
conduct first-class research
at top-tiered business
schools. Ideal candidates
have strong academic
backgrounds in economics,
mathematics, statistics, or
related fields. Prior work
experience in accounting,
consulting, banking, or
related areas is helpful but not
required. Although a good
understanding of accounting
rules is expected by the end
of the programme, prior
exposure is not required for a
successful application.
 INSEAD PhD in Management 27

2 Decision Sciences in mathematics, statistics, strategy and social science

economics and psychology. disciplines such as sociology,
Decision Sciences (DS) is
Research interests and economics and psychology. It
an interdisciplinary field
expertise include risk addresses the challenges and
that draws on economics,
management, decision- opportunities of building and
forecasting, statistical
making under uncertainty, developing new business as a
decision theory and
statistics and forecasting, mechanism for value creation.
cognitive psychology. Broadly
operations research, revenue The faculty in the area
speaking, DS addresses three
management, negotiation of Entrepreneurship and
fundamental and inter-related
and auction analysis, and Family Enterprise are
questions:
behavioural decision theory. widely recognised for their
excellence in research, as
First, how should a rational
reflected by their prolific
person make decisions? This
publications in top academic
normative question is at
journals and their leadership
the heart of economics, and
positions in the academic
often serves as a baseline for
community. Our world-
evaluating human decision-
renowned faculty serve as
making.
senior, associate, and guest
editors of top journals in
Second, how do people really
the management fields such
make decisions? Recent
as Administrative Science
research has explored
Quarterly, Organization Science,
the ways in which people
The faculty regularly Academy of Management
are boundedly rational,
publishes in top academic Journal, and Strategic
and utilise rules of thumb
journals in various fields. Management Journal. Some of
and shortcuts to formulate
PhD graduates from the DS the expertise and research
judgments and to choose
area have been placed in top interests of our faculty include:
among alternatives.
programmes such as Carnegie nascent, serial, and social
Mellon, Kellogg Graduate entrepreneurship; innovation
Finally, given what the faculty
School of Management, IESE and entrepreneurship in
know about rational decision
Business School, IE in Madrid, large firms; business model
making and actual behaviour,
HKUST, etc. innovation; private equity,
how can we help people,
venture capital, and corporate
especially managers, improve
venture capital; and family
their decision-making? 3 Entrepreneurship business, among others.
Researchers employ a variety
Entrepreneurship (EFE)
of techniques to improve
research at INSEAD seeks
decision-making, ranging from
to understand creation and
sharpening statistical intuition
growth of new organisations
to quantitative decision
and markets, renewal of
analysis.
existing companies, creation
of new businesses within
The DS area at INSEAD
existing firms, innovation,
includes an intellectually
and family business in a
diverse faculty that tackles
global world. Such research
the above questions
is conducted from the lens
from many perspectives,
of management fields such
bringing together traditions
as organisation theory and
28 INSEAD PhD in Management
Areas of specialisation
Entrepreneurship has
previously been a sub-field
of Organisational Behaviour
and Strategy areas. Given
EFE areas approach to
research, students will receive
training in the foundation
of organisation theory and
strategy, core knowledge
of entrepreneurship and
research methodology, so that
they have the essential tools
to conduct rigorous research.
Candidates can come from
a wide range of academic
background in science and
management, and prior
research experience is helpful.
In addition to receiving
classroom instruction and
discussion, students will work
closely with faculty members
who engage in the frontier
of research in diverse areas.
This will allow students to lay
a solid foundation for their
research and to identify and
build promising research
agendas.
Like all other areas, the EFE
area aims to develop first-
class academics at top-tiered
universities and business
schools.
4 Finance
The Finance (FIN) group
at INSEAD has a strong
reputation as a world leader
in its field. A diverse group
of faculty members offers
expertise in a wide variety
of areas, together with close
supervision.
INSEAD provides an
outstanding environment for
finance scholarship given the
schools traditionally strong
position in management
disciplines and its exceptional
commitment to intellectual
diversity.
Research interests of
applicants could be either
theoretical or empirical, and
include (but are not limited
to) asset pricing, international
finance, asset management,
corporate finance, household
finance, behavioural finance
and corporate governance.
The FIN area has successfully
placed PhD graduates in a
variety of excellent, research-
oriented schools, including:
London School of Economics,
ESSEC (France), HEC Tilburg
University, the University of
Amsterdam in Europe; MIT
Sloan, Chicago Booth, Yale
University, Georgia Institute
of Technology, University of
North Carolina, University of
Southern California, Michigan
Ross and Purdue University
in the US, McGill University
in Canada; and Singapore
Management University and
Nanyang Business School
in Asia. This confirms the
reputation of an innovative
research group with a strong
track record of developing
promising young scholars.
5 Marketing
The Marketing (MKT) group
has an exceptional reputation.
With more than 20 resident
faculty members, the group is
among the most diverse and
dynamic in the world. Looking
at publications in the top
marketing journals (Journal of
Marketing Research, Journal of
Consumer Research, Marketing
Science, Journal of Marketing
and Management Science) over
the last 10 years, INSEAD is
#11 in the world.
INSEAD provides an
outstanding environment
for marketing scholarship
and intellectual diversity.
The highly diverse and
research-active faculty, and
the behavioural lab in Paris
provide the intellectual
environment, support and
synergy, as well as the
infrastructure, necessary to
obtain a PhD and become a
distinguished scholar in the
field.

Potential research interests
of applicants include (but
are not limited to) marketing
strategy, marketing in virtual
worlds, marketing and health,
consumer behavior, consumer
learning, and consumer
decision-making. The group
as a whole is interested in
exploring important questions
using a range of theoretical
lenses, such as economics,
psychology and behavioural
decision theory.
Over the years, PhD graduates
from the MKT area have
moved to leading schools
all around the world. Alumni
moved to top schools in North
America (e.g. Harvard; Boston
University; Carnegie Mellon;
Johns Hopkins; University of
Carlifornia, Berkely; UCLA;
Emory; University of Texas,
Austin), in Europe (e.g.
LBS, Erasmus University,
Tilburg University, HEC, IE
Business School) and in Asia
(e.g. HKUST, Cheung Kong
Graduate School of Business).
This diaspora confirms our
globally strong and leading
reputation in the MKT area.
Organisational
6
Behaviour
The Organisational Behaviour
(OB) area is at the forefront
of research in the field of
Organisational Behaviour.
The OB area has world-class
faculty and a commitment to
excellence in research and
teaching.
Potential areas of research
study includes topics that
span the study of individuals,
groups and organisations,
including: leadership, group
and team dynamics, personal
and professional identity,
gender and group diversity,
negotiations, power and
influence, virtual
communication, decision-
making, cross-cultural
management, creativity,
networks, organisational
ecology, institutions and
organisations, and careers.
PhD graduates from the OB
area have been successfully
placed in leading academic
institutions around the
world including Harvard,
Kellogg Graduate School of
Management, LBS, Imperial
College of London, Brown
University, McGill Rice
INSEAD PhD in Management 29
University, ESSEC, ESMT
Berlin, Singapore Management
University, and Seoul National
University, etc
7 Strategy
The Strategy (STR) group at
INSEAD has an unparalleled
reputation as one of the best
in the field. With over 28
resident faculty, the group
is highly diverse and has
correspondingly eclectic
interests and influences.
Potential research interests
of applicants could include
(but are not limited to)
competitive strategy, mergers
and acquisitions, alliances,
international management,
innovation and knowledge
management, organisational
structure, strategy formulation
and execution, and corporate
governance.
The group is open to research
in both strategy content and
strategy process, using a
wide range of theoretical
lenses, including economics,
sociology, psychology and
organisation theory.
30 INSEAD PhD in Management

Areas of specialisation
Over the years, top research- Interdisciplinary research is
oriented schools worldwide also encouraged and there
have welcomed PhD graduates are frequent joint research
from STR area, namely: projects with other areas,
Wharton, NYU Stern, LBS, including Marketing, Decision
HEC Paris, and IESE Business Sciences, Strategy, Finance,
School, among others. and Organisational Behaviour.
The group is strong in multiple
8 Technology and research methods, including
Operations mathematical modeling,
Management econometrics and surveys,
multiple case studies, and
The Technology and
experiments with human
Operations Management
subjects.
(TOM) group at INSEAD has
a very strong reputation
worldwide, and its PhD
Programme boasts 100%
academic placement over its
entire history. With 20 resident
faculty across France and
Singapore, the group is at the
forefront in innovation, supply
chain management, healthcare
and socially responsible
operations management. The
group includes editors at
The TOM area has a
leading academic journals
formidable record over
including Management
the years in placing PhD
Science, Operations Research,
graduates at a variety of
M&SOM and POMS, and it
top schools, including
is consistently at the top of
Wharton, London Business
the research productivity
School, Chicago Booth,
rankings.
Kellogg Graduate School
of Management, Carnegie
Potential research interests
Mellon, UCLA, Georgia
of applicants include (but are
Institute of Technology, Purdue
not limited to) supply chain
University, University of
management, innovation,
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
behavioural operations,
Vanderbilt University, HEC,
disaster and humanitarian
HKUST, National University
logistics, health care
of Singapore, and Singapore
operations, product take-back
Management University,
and sustainable production,
among others.
and service operations.
INSEAD PhD in Management 31
32 INSEAD PhD in Management

Programme structure
We will not deny that it is very hard work indeed, but the INSEAD PhD in Management could
represent four or five of the most fulfilling years of your life.

Years 1 and 2 Years 3 and 4 (sometimes 5)

Area exploration Dissertation and research
Becoming an expert Award of PhD degree
Coursework PhD candidacy
Field comprehensive examination Research and dissertation proposal
Research paper Submission and defense of dissertation
Job market review and search
Graduation

Throughout the programme

Teaching practicum
Teaching and soft skills training
Participation in conferences
Annual performance reviews

Years 1 and 2
Coursework
The first two years consist primarily of course
work, distinguished by an inter-disciplinary
approach and an early emphasis on in-depth
training in the basic disciplines underlying
management (such as economics, behavioural
sciences, research methodology,etc.).
Many classes are video-conferenced between
campuses for a unique two-continent
educational experience. Some courses assign
projects or assignments to be completed
during the course, others conclude with an
examination or project work.
The year is divided into five teaching periods of
eight weeks (7.5 weeks of course work followed
by an examination period), allowing ample time
for reading and reflection. The summer period
is largely devoted to research and study. All
instruction is in English.
The core curriculum is composed of a set of
four required core courses that are common
to all fields of specialisation. In addition to
the core course requirements, each field of
specialisation lists a set of requirements, which
must be met by students to qualify in that field.
Refer to the PhD website for the complete list:
http://phd.insead.edu/programme/
programme_structure/
In very exceptional circumstances, candidates
may be exempt from certain courses in which
they can demonstrate extensive knowledge.
Alternative work is usually proposed in such
cases.
 INSEAD PhD in Management 33

Research Paper Field comprehensive examination

The second year entails a transition to original
research, and a key component is the second-
year research paper. This should be a single-
authored piece of work with the potential for
publication. In the beginning of the year, the
student should settle on a topic and faculty to
work with; by the end of the year, the student
should have a draft, to be completed over the
summer. Close guidance is provided by a
faculty advisor.
The comprehensive exam tests breadth and
depth of knowledge acquired through the first
two years of coursework. The exact format of
the examination varies according to the area of
specialisation, but will generally involve both
written and oral elements.

Each student must also give a presentation of

the research paper to faculty members. The
final paper is read by two INSEAD professors,
who give it a pass or fail grade.

Years 3 and 4 (sometimes 5)

PhD candidacy Under the close supervision of a faculty advisor,
each student prepares a dissertation proposal
The PhD Committee, consisting of INSEAD
for submission to their Dissertation Committee.
faculty (from all areas of specialisation),
The proposal defines both the precise topic and
ultimately determines whether students who
the methodology of research. Approval of the
have met all the requirements for the first
proposal is a requirement for entry to the fourth
two years (coursework, field comprehensive
year, by the end of which some students will
examination, and research paper) as well as
complete their dissertations.
ascertaining the students potential to conduct
scholarly research and complete a dissertation,
In line with many other international
can advance to full PhD candidacy.
institutions, INSEAD now offers discretionary
Research and dissertation proposal fifth-year funding for selected students
who have not been able to complete their
Dissertation research begins immediately on dissertations in four years.
admission to PhD candidacy. Each student
works towards defining a topic, in consultation
with faculty members, and forms a Dissertation
Committee. This consists of at least four faculty
members, three of whom must be INSEAD
resident faculty.
34 INSEAD PhD in Management

Programme structure
Years 3 and 4 (sometimes 5)
Submission and defense of the Committee. If the quality of the dissertation
dissertation is deemed acceptable, the PhD Committee
makes a final recommendation to the Academic
The dissertation is the culmination of doctoral Director to award the degree. It is a necessarily
study. It is intended to represent independent rigorous and demanding process in keeping
and original research work of a publishable with the reputation of the INSEAD PhD in
standard. Students are expected to complete Management.
and submit it during their fourth or fifth year.
Award of the PhD degree
Permission to defend the dissertation must first
Following the recommendation of the PhD
be granted by the Dissertation Committee.
Committee, the Academic Director grants the
Following the oral defense, which is open
degree on behalf of the entire INSEAD faculty.
to all INSEAD faculty and PhD students, the
The degree is awarded by INSEAD, under
Dissertation Committee will meet again to
its own name and responsibility, at an end-of
determine whether any revisions are required.
year ceremony. It is an occasion for successful
Once these have been implemented, the
graduates to celebrate with friends, family,
Dissertation Committee will grant their full
faculty and colleagues, before moving on to an
approval via a written report to the PhD
exciting new career.

Throughout the programme

Teaching practicum
While research training will be central to your
education at INSEAD, teaching as a scholarly
activity is an important component to your
overall education and preparation for your
future career as a professor. You will have the
opportunity to learn effective tools and skills
for disseminating the knowledge you will be
creating during the programme through a
formal teaching practicum conducted during
your doctoral study.
Teaching and soft skills training
PhD students may be offered workshops in
skills such as writing, presenting and applying
for academic jobs. There is also a teaching
practicum requirement, along with other
training sessions, in addition to possible
opportunities to assist on the course or another
pedagogical exercise with INSEAD degree and
executive education programmes and external
institutions, as well.

Performance reviews
Performance reviews are carried out by the PhD
Committee, consisting of INSEAD faculty, at the
end of each year. The purpose is to determine
whether sufficient progress is being made and
to give constructive feedback.
 INSEAD PhD in Management 35

Whenever I
get stuck in my
research, I go
to the forest in
Fontainebleau
to climb, and then
I get unstuck.
Tomasz Obloj (Poland)
Assistant Professor of Strategy
HEC Paris, France
Background: MS Management Studies,
Warsaw School of Economics, Poland
PhD in Strategy, INSEAD (2011)
36 INSEAD PhD in Management
Campus exchanges
Transferring between INSEAD locations
Dual Campuses: Fontainebleau and Singapore
As students progress through the programme,
campus choice is generally guided by the
location of faculty members or research
projects. Both campuses offer exactly the
same opportunities and the programme is
fully integrated across the two sites. It really
is one school, one programme - but with two
campuses. Indeed, most faculty and PhD
students tend to spend time in both places, but
at the beginning, choosing a base is usually a
matter of personal preference.
During the first two years of the programme,
most students will spend some time on the
INSEAD campus that is not their original base.
Although there are set times and restrictions to
campus exchanges, INSEAD feels that exposure
to both campuses is an important component
of learning and training. Once the dissertation
phase is reached, approach to campus choice is
quite flexible. Many students choose to spend
longer or shorter periods of time on the other
campus, depending on the location of key
faculty members or their own personal interests
and commitments. Permanent exchanges are
also possible, subject to the approval by the
Academic Director.
PhD students also have the opportunity to
spend time at Abu Dhabi campus, if there is a
benefit to their research.
Students are expected to spend a
minimum of three years in residence.
Learning how to divide time between
coursework and research is an essential
part of the training. This also means
engaging in full-time study, research, and
participation in conferences.
The INSEAD-Wharton Alliance
INSEADs alliance with The Wharton School
is part of a major strategic partnership
between the two schools. Exchanges and
visits of doctoral students are major pillars of
this long-standing relationship. Each school
offers complementary centres of expertise
and campus locations for a compelling global
network that no other school can offer, whereby
PhD students registered largely benefit from
the collaborative relationship and exchange
across two schools. Some financial aid may
be available through the Alliance Centre for
Global Research and Development.
Exchanges with and visits to other
institutions
INSEAD may enter exchange programmes with
other academic institutions, allowing students
to attend certain courses there or to carry out
research. This is subject to the approval of the
Academic Director. In such cases, tuition fees
and living expenses are generally covered by
the home institution.
Visits to other institutions may also be approved
for specific periods to enable students to
undergo specific training in topics for where
there are relevant experts outside INSEAD.
 INSEAD PhD in Management 37

I am grateful for the

campus exchanges and
the INSEAD-Wharton
Alliance, which have
already enabled me to
spend over six months
each in Fontainebleau,
Singapore and
Philadelphia.
Andrew Hafenbrack (USA)
PhD Candidate in Organisational Behaviour
BS Decision Science, Phi Beta Kappa,
Carnegie Mellon University, USA

I wanted to get a PhD at a top school and
I wanted to see the world, so coming to
INSEAD looked like a way to hit two birds
with one stone. I decided to apply right after
undergraduate because I wanted to learn how
to conduct research and become a professor.
I approached the PhD Programme like it was
my first full-time job, although it is more like an
intense and rigorous apprenticeship.
INSEAD has exceeded my expectations. It has
given me the opportunity to do research I am
passionate about with brilliant, supportive and
renowned faculty mentors. I have colleagues
in the PhD Programme from dozens of different
countries who continuously inspire me with
their intelligence, generosity and earnestness.
I also travelled regularly to countries for the
weekend or during breaks, which otherwise
would have been once in a lifetime destinations.
I am particularly grateful for the campus
exchanges and the INSEAD-Wharton Alliance,
which have already enabled me to spend over
six months each in Fontainebleau, Singapore
and Philadelphia. It has also been easy to take
elective classes across departments. If a class
does not exist, which fits our research interests,
it is easy to create a reading and discussion
class with a faculty member for credit. The
school also provides funding to conduct
research and fly around the world to attend
conferences. The programme provides a lot of
flexibility and support to help us achieve our
goals.
38 INSEAD PhD in Management
Research support
Seminars and workshops
Faculty seminars and workshop series are an
integral part of the INSEAD research culture.
These are conducted all throughout a typical
academic year and doctoral students are
expected to take an active part in these
activities at the earliest opportunity.
The INSEAD Social Science Research
Centre in Paris
Behavioural research in management is heavily
empirical, which means conducting studies
in a highly controlled laboratory setting. The
INSEAD Social Science Research Centre in Paris
(ISSRC) offers the ideal environment for this
kind of research.
The state-of-the-art facility in the Latin Quarters
in Paris has received over 65,000 research
participants since its opening in 2002. The
centre welcomes all behavioural researchers
at INSEAD faculty and PhD students across
all academic areas. It has the facilities to
run different kinds of studies, ranging from
survey questionnaires to computer-controlled
behavioural experiments.
http://www.insead.edu/facultyresearch/
centres/issrc/eng/
The ISSRC provides the infrastructure to
do world-class behavioural research in
organisational behaviour, consumer behaviour,
decision sciences, experimental economics,
and behavioural finance. It is a tremendous
resource, which has set a benchmark for other
business schools.
Technology
The programme continuously strives to
integrate students in both campuses, including
the way classes are conducted. Both campuses
provide state of the art video conferencing
facilities for a unique two-continent educational
experience, be it classes or research meetings.
Two sites provide extensive computing facilities
and user support, and are networked
seamlessly together.
Libraries and information service
Both INSEAD campuses have extensive library
facilities. In Fontainebleau, the Georges and
Edna Doriot Library has long been at the
heart of the campus, while the new, high-tech
Tanoto Library in Singapore is rapidly attaining
the same status. As well as comprehensive
collections of books, the two libraries provide
access to over 10,000 printed and electronic
periodicals and 50 database resources on and
off campus, including access to nearby libraries
of major universities and it is supplemented by
a comprehensive inter-library loan service.
Both libraries are open 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week (though with limited services outside
normal office hours). All PhD students receive
library training on arrival at INSEAD, with
additional individual sessions available on
request throughout the year. See
http://www.insead.edu/library/services/PhD_
support.cfm for more details.
 INSEAD PhD in Management 39

Admissions
INSEADs policy is to admit the most promising
candidates, irrespective of nationality, race,
religion, sex or background. Candidates must
hold a university degree from an accredited
academic institution and have a working oral
and written knowledge of English.
Above all, candidates need to possess both the
ability to engage in high-quality research and
the commitment to an academic career at an
international level. Candidates are assessed
on the basis of outstanding intellectual
ability, motivation, faculty recommendations
and personal characteristics required of an
international academic career. Fewer
than 5% of the application pool are admitted
each year.
There is no particular requirement concerning
fields of study at the undergraduate level, but
standard postgraduate entry tests are used
to assess general ability and, if necessary,
the level of English. Candidates with a weak
mathematical background will be encouraged
to undertake remedial studies before entering
the programme.
Test requirements
All applicants are required to take either the
Graduate Record Examination General Test
(GRE), administered by the Educational Testing
Service (ETS); or the Graduate Management
Admission Test (GMAT), administered by
Pearson VUE. Both tests may be taken at various
locations around the world. Applicants are
strongly encouraged to take one of these tests
in the fall, at the latest. It is best to allow ample
time for ETS or Pearson VUE to send test scores
to INSEAD. Applications cannot be considered
without a valid test score.
The INSEAD PhD in Management is
taught exclusively in English and is highly
participatory, requiring well-developed written
and verbal skills. Applicants whose native
language is not English are required to take the
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL),
unless their university degree is from an
institution where the curriculum was exclusively
taught in English. The TOEFL is administered by
ETS and is offered at specified locations around
the world.

Tests Required Centre Codes of INSEAD PhD Validity of scores Can be waived?

GMAT For GMAT, use DL3-S8-08 5 years Cannot be waived

under any circumstances
Or Or
GRE For GRE, use 3244 if applying
for Europe Campus (France)
OR use 7324 for Asia Campus
(Singapore)

TOEFL 3244 2 years Can be waived if degrees were taught

exclusively in English; transcripts and
diploma are required to be submitted as proof
to waive the TOEFL requirement

For further information about the required tests, visit the respective test administrators websites.
40 INSEAD PhD in Management

Admissions
Application procedure
Applications are fully electronic and will open
in early Fall, a year preceding the intake; and
the deadline for submission of applications and
documents is in early December.

The PhD Committee evaluates each application,

and conducts an interview as part of the
selection. Candidates are advised of admissions
decisions by late March or early April of the
following year, and the programme commences
in September. Overall, the admissions process
takes about three to four months, from
submission deadline to final decision, and
it is highly recommended to prepare well in
advance.

A complete application includes:

Online application form (including a statement of purpose and photograph)

available at http://phd.insead.edu/online_application/
Certified true copies of all university diplomas
Official transcripts of grades
GMAT or GRE score report
TOEFL score report
Three letters of recommendation from faculty or scholars on applicants academic ability,
and potential for research and teaching
Application fee (currently, 50)

The application process is fully electronic. During application, all supporting documents are
submitted in electronic format (PDFs, etc). Only upon acceptance that original and official
documents are required for submission prior to the start of the programme.

Key dates to remember for every intake:

Early Fall online application will open
Early December deadline of submission of application and requirements
Late March to early April final admissions decisions will be communicated

For updates on admissions details and deadlines, visit http://phd.insead.edu/admissions/.

 INSEAD PhD in Management 41

Admissions
Start of Admissions
Early Fall

1 Complete file &

application documents
all submitted on time

Submission Deadline
Early December
Admissions Decisions
Late March / Early April
of the following year

2 Initial
6 Final Selection
Decision Approximately
3-4 Months
from submission
deadline to final
decision

5 Admissions
Committee 3 Shortlist

4 Interviews

For updates on admissions details and deadlines, visit http://phd.insead.edu/admissions/.

42 INSEAD PhD in Management

Financial information
In practice, it is rare for students to fund
tuition from their own resources. All successful
applicants are eligible for INSEAD Fellowship
- full tuition fee waiver, generous living
allowance, substantial research support and
health insurance for up to five years. This
means that students do not have to bear the
financial burdens typically associated with
postgraduate study.

INSEAD Fellowshipsare available during the

first five years of studies (for a full twelve
months), renewed annually dependent
on satisfactory progress. Candidates are
encouraged to seek external financial
support where available, and will receive
complementary INSEAD fellowship funding.

For details, please visit our website:

http://phd.insead.edu/financing/

Donors and
corporate sponsors
INSEAD gratefully acknowledges the support of corporate sponsors,
individual donors and external institutions, which have provided fellowships
and endowments for doctoral study at INSEAD over the past 25 years.
Information about giving to INSEAD is available on the schools website -
http://giving.insead.edu/index.cfm

Find out more about the INSEAD PhD in Management online:

http://phd.insead.edu
www.facebook.com/groups/INSEADPhD
 INSEAD PhD in Management 43

Notes
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