Italy : Ph.D. Programme in General Management

The Ph.D. programme in General Management of the University of Bologna aims to train research degree students who are to become leading researchers in the field of management, banking and finance studies and serve as faculty at top-rated universities or leaders in corporate, financial and international organizations worldwide.
The Programme is organized by the Department of Management of the University of Bologna and is created by the integration of two doctoral programs previously offered by the Department: the PhD in Business Administration (Dottorato in Direzione Aziendale) and the PhD in Financial Markets and Intermediaries (Dottorato in Mercati e Intermediari Finanziari). The PhD Programme is part of the Doctoral School in Economics and Statistics of (Scuola di Dottorato in Economia e Statistica) of the University of Bologna.
The Ph.D in General Management is a full-time, 3 year-programme offering its students a broad-based and inter-disciplinary education in the fields of business and finance studies and management research. It provides candidates with strong theoretical foundations in social science disciplines and a deep knowledge of research methods applied to management, banking and finance problems. It offers specializations in two major concentration areas:
Track in Management
Track in Banking and Finance
Doctoral students are expected to have full-time status, to attend core and elective courses, to participate in research projects conducted by management faculties, to present their works at research seminars, international conferences and in international journals. An approved doctoral thesis, a number of successfully completed courses, a mobility program of at least six months spent in other international universities are the formal conditions for awarding the PhD degree in General Management (Dottorato in General Management) by the University of Bologna.

Detailed informations:
Program Overview and Courses
Faculty
Placement
Admissions
Procedures for Enrollment and Access to Selection
Contacts

Program Overview and Courses   
The PhD programme in General Management is structured as a three-year programme (if necessary, the programme can be extened of an additional fourth year for the completion of the thesis).
The first part of the Programme is dedicated to the attendance of three core courses, with the aim to provide a shared background in the theoretical foundations of research in the fields of business and finance (course in "Theory of the Firm") and in statistical methods (course in "Econometrics"). In addition to that, epistemological, professional and ethical issues associated with empirical research in the social sciences will be addresses in the course "Research Methods for Social Science".
After that, the PhD candidates will have the opportunity to specialize according to their interests in one of two different concentration areas offered by the Programme: a track in Management and a track in Banking and Finance -, by selecting at least 7 additional courses from a wide range of options. See the links below for a description of the concentration areas and a list of courses that will be offered in the Programme.
Track in Management
Track in Banking and Finance
In addition to doing their coursework, students will immerse themselves in the culture of the management field by attending seminars, colloquia and dissertation defenses. They are expected to develop their own research interests at and to present their work regularly both inside the school and at professional conferences.
At the end of the training program (at the end of the third semester), each PhD candidate should prepare and present a thesis proposal, representing an outline of the lines of research that he or she intends to undertake in the thesis.
After passing the defence of the doctoral proposal, the PhD student will work on the doctoral thesis under the supervision of 3 faculty professors during the remaining part of the second year and in the third year of the program. This period can also be extended by one or more years given the consent of the Scientific Committee. The dissertation must be first approved by the supervisors and the Scientific Committee of the Programme in order to admit the candidate to the final defence in front of an external Doctoral Thesis Examination Committee.

Mobility period
During the second and third year of the programme, PhD students will be required to spend at least six months as visiting scholar in a foreign university, depending on their research interests. During the mobility period, candidates will have the opportunity to attend courses and seminars offered by the hosting institution in order to specialize in a concentration areas in which the institute excels, to establish stronger links with international faculties within their specialization area and develop research activities related to their dissertation work at a transnational level.
A partial list of institutions having hosted in the past visiting students from the PhD in Business Administration of the University of Bologna includes:
Carnegie Mellon University
City University London
Copenhagen Business School
Ecole des Mines de Paris
HEC Paris,
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore
INSEAD
London Business School,
Kellogg School of Management
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Northwestern University
Stern School of Business, New York University
Texas A&M University
Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
University of California, Berkeley
University of Michigan
Wharton Business School.

Faculty

Placement
The main objective of the PhD programme in General Management is that of training research degree students who are to become leading and serve as faculty at top-rated universities in Italy and other countries in Europe and worldwide. Over the past years, the Programme has gained a significant reputation in both the national and international academic community, and also within the business community. This is witnessed by the placement achieved in the past by the doctoral graduates, who have obtained positions as post-doc researchers or faculty staff in some of the most important universities in Europe and the rest of the world.
For instance, PhD graduates of the PhD in Management (Dottorato in Direzione Aziendale) have been able to obtain post-doc of faculty positions at the following universities (partial list):
Bocconi University
Cass Business School, City University London
Cambridge University
Case Western Reserve University
HEC Paris
Imperial College, London
INSEAD
Lancaster University
LUISS Guido Carli
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano
University of Bologna
University of Bolzano
University of Lugano
University of Trento
University of Maastricht
University of Michigan
Tilburg University
Since the PhD programme in General Management prepares students not only for research and teaching careers at leading academic institutions, but also to managerial and research careers in industry, finance and government, placement opportunities in such settings will be offered by leveraging the existing relationships with business and industry partners. Several alumni in the past have decided to pursue a research or managerial career in industrial firms, consulting companies, banking and financial institutions, international organizations.

Admissions
Key-dates and fellowships
The 2010/2011 edition of the Ph.D. in General Management (26th cycle) will start in October 2010.
In the 2010/11 edition, 10 students will be admitted to the program and 4 fellowships will be offered by the University of Bologna. The Call for Applications (Bando Dottorati XXVI Ciclo) will be published by the University of Bologna on the 20th May 2010 on this website:
http://ping.fm/1BpB1
The deadline to submit the application and the required documents will be: 21th June 2010.
The selection of the candidates will be completed before the 10th September 2010. The exact date of the oral exam will be available on the Call for Application.

Admission requirements
In order to apply for the 2010/2011 edition of the Ph.D in General Management of the University of Bologna, a university degree (laurea specialistica/magistrale) is required or an equivalent degree obtained abroad. The degree must be completed: 1) within the deadline for application specified on the call for applications (21th June 2010); or 2) within the 30th September 2010. In the latter case, candidates (with a degree obtained after the deadline for application) will be admitted to the selection process under condition, and they will be required to communicate as soon as possible to the Doctorate Program Office of the University of Bologna the attainment of the degree.
Foreign candidates should directly deliver or send by first class/registered mail to: ARIC – Ufficio Formazione Scientifica Post Laurea, Università di Bologna, Via Belle Arti 42, Bologna, Italy - before the deadline of the call, the following documents:
- A transcript of the university degree (specifying title, class of degree and final grade) and a list of all the examinations and scores obtained. For all degrees awarded abroad, it is necessary to provide also: 1) an official translation in Italian authenticated by the Italian Embassy/Consulate of the country where the certificate was issued and 2) the related statement of evaluation ("Dichiarazione di valore").
In case it won’t be possible to send the required documents in original, duly authenticated by Italian Embassy/Consulate, before the deadline for application, candidates could send or directly deliver a copy of the documents within the deadline for application. The candidates will be admitted under condition to the selection process. If selected for the Ph.D program, they should deliver the original documents before the deadline for enrollment in the program.
For the only purpose of participating in the selection, the declaration of equivalence to the Italian titles of the degrees awarded abroad will be undertaken by Selection Committee of the Ph.D in Management.
- A detailed curriculum-vitae
- A research statement (see below)
For further information on the admission requirements and to download the call for application please visit the website of the Office for Doctorate Programs of the University of Bologna (Ufficio Dottorati di Ricerca Università di Bologna, email: udottricerca@unibo.it, tel: 0039-0512094620):

http://ping.fm/BCIYs

Procedures for Enrollment and Access to Selection
First Step
In order to participate to selections all candidates must apply through the University of Bologna on-line service AlmaWelcome (www.almawelcome.unibo.it) and follow this procedure:
Register to the service by entering the personal Italian Fiscal Code, personal data, and information regarding the degree held (foreign students without a "Codice Fiscale" will be assigned an equivalent code by the software at the beginning of the registration procedure). The applicant will receive a username and password that will allow him/her to pay the 10 euro fee for administrative processing.
The applicant shall then pay the 42 euro fee within the deadline specified on the call for applications:
Online (Credit card: VISA, MASTERCARD, DINERS, AMERICAN EXPRESS)
At the agencies of Unicredit Banca using the printed form at the end of the registration process (a list of Unicredit Banca agencies can be found here)
In case of problems with the procedure, it is possible to contact the Help Desk (tel: 0039-051-2099882; email: help.almawelcome@unibo.it) of the University of Bologna. The validity of the first step of the pre-enrollment procedure is confirmed and proven by the payment of the 42 euro fee.
Print out the Application Form ("Scheda Riepilogativa"), Annex 1 (Appendice 1) and payment receipt.
Second step
After having completed the first step, the applicant should directly deliver or send by first class/registered mail to: ARIC – Ufficio Formazione Scientifica Post Laurea, Università di Bologna, Via Belle Arti 42, Bologna, Italy, before the deadline for application specified on the call for applications (no possibility of extension), the following documents:
Copy of the receipt of the 42 euro payment
Copy of the Application Form ("Scheda riepilogativa")
Copy of the Annex 1 (Appendice 1)
For foreign candidates, a transcript of the university degree (specifying title, class of degree and final grade) and a list of all the examinations and scores obtained. For all degrees awarded abroad, it is necessary to provide also: 1) an official translation in Italian authenticated by the Italian Embassy/Consulate of the country where the certificate was issued and 2) the related statement of evaluation ("Dichiarazione di valore"). In case it won’t be possible to send the required documents in original, duly authenticated by Italian Embassy/Consulate, before the deadline for application, candidates could send or directly deliver a copy of the documents within the deadline for application. The candidates will be admitted under condition to the selection process. If selected for the Ph.D program, they should deliver the original documents before the deadline for enrollment in the program.For the only purpose of participating in the selection, the declaration of equivalence to the Italian titles of the degrees awarded abroad will be undertaken by Selection Committee of the Ph.D in Management.
A detailed curriculum vitae (in English or Italian)
A research statement in English or Italian (max. 3 pages)
Photocopy of the passport (all pages)
For non-native speakers of English: transcripts of English proficiency tests (TOEFL, Cambridge, etc.) if available, or any statement proving an equivalent proficiency.
N.B: In the case the required documents are sent by mail, it is necessary to specify on the envelop the following claim: "Dottorato di ricerca XXVI Ciclo – Domanda di partecipazione Dottorato in General Management". In order to participate to the selection, the required documents must be received by the ARIC office of the University of Bologna before the deadline for application.
Additional documents supporting the applications, such as reference letters or GMAT/GRE/TOEFL scores, could be submitted with the abovementioned materials. Although not compulsory for the admission to the selection, they will be taken into consideration in the overall evaluation of the candidates.

Selection
The selection criteria to be admitted to the Ph.D in Business Administration will be based on a pre-selection made on the basis of a detailed CV and a research statement, followed by an oral exam.
The CV must present in detail previous academic and professional background of the candidate, and clearly specify his or her knowledge of English and Italian language. In the research statement (maximum 3 pages), the candidate must illustrate a research proposal that he or she might like to pursue in the doctoral work. Although the research interests of the candidate are likely to change in the course of the doctoral program, he or she should demonstrate the ability to discuss a research problem of sufficient importance for doctoral level work. The research statement should clarify the following points: why is the research question important? Why is it not addressed sufficiently in the literature? How to address it theoretically and empirically in order to obtain significant and useful results?
The oral exam (in English or Italian) will evaluate the candidates’ knowledge, attitudes and motivation to undertake scientific research in the fields of management, banking and finance, their proficiency in the English language, their proficiency or willingness to learn Italian language.
The exact dates for the oral exam will be communicated on the call for application.
The courses of the 2010/11 edition of the Ph.D in General Management of the University of Bologna (XXVI ciclo) will start in October 2010.

Contacts
For further information on the PhD in General Management of the University of Bologna, please contact:

For the track in Management:
Prof. Federico Munari
Department of Management, University of Bologna
email: federico.munari@unibo.it

For the track in Banking and Finance:
Prof. Giuseppe Torluccio
Department of Management, University of Bologna
email: giuseppe.torluccio@unibo.it
Tentative Application Deadline : 21 June 2010