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Key Facts

DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (DBA)

The Doctor of Business Administration is a professional doctorate awarded on the basis of advanced study, examinations, project work, and research in business administration.

Along with the academíc Ph.D., it represents the highest professional qualification in business administration and besides business and entrepreneurship is also useful to gain employment as a full-time, tenure-track university professor or postdoctoral researcher in the field.

DBA candidates submit a project proposal for a dissertation, consisting of a body of original academic research that is in principle worthy of publication in a peer-reviewed journal. To finish the studies, the candidates must defend this work before a panel of expert examiners.

Course of Study

Our DBA program focuses primarily on research related to business or finance sphere. Its most important part is writig a disertation thesis. However, every student needs to complete 5 mandatory courses

Our DBA students are typically experienced managers who have  an idea about their research they want to devote to during the studies. 

A candidate for the degree of DBA must have pursued at the EIASM an online course of study comprising a taught component and a dissertation thesis. Completion of the DBA program takes three years of study in average (while it is possible to complete it earlier as the pace can be adjusted individually). This period can be extended up to 5 years in total. 

Taught component

The taught component requires the completion of 180 credits, completed during the whole course. We require the satisfactory completion of the following courses of either the academics or professional career focused DBA program.

  1. Our DBA program employs the latest academic methodologies, enhancing your versatile learning experience.
  2. Study anytime your time allows makes it ideal for full-time professionals.
  3. Designed for experienced managers, our academically rigorous course addresses career challenges and advancement goals.

Pro-Career DBA

You will study seven courses:

  • Research Methodology
  • Financial Analysis*
  • Quantitative Analysis*
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Project Management*
  • Negotiations or Vocational training
Do a business simulations course in which you will play a real-world economic-engine-powered online game.
Since the DBA is research-based, the core of the study is to write a dissertation of at least 25,000 words.
Some students prefer to have vocational training on their diplomas as their local job market expects that. Therefore, such students may opt for vocational training instead of taking a Negotiations course.
Students choose only two of the three *star marked courses.

Business simulations

The SimCompanies online game featuring a real-world economic engine is used to test your business planning and skills. 

It cannot be played constantly for several days to meet the limits to pass the course. Students need to play the game for some period of time. It can be played for 10 minutes a day for several weeks to pass  the course while:

  • Students may take a break for an extensive period of time if they are busy and cannot play (unless they issued bonds and need to log in to make repayments)
  • Students will write a brief review paper on strategy and report company documents at the end. Also, students will discuss the strategy of a group-managed game over a Discord account with other students.

A Dissertation thesis

The core of our DBA program is the writing of a research-based dissertation. 

  • The minimum length of the dissertation is 25,000 words, although in exceptional cases, it may be at least 20,000 words. The dissertation cannot be merely descriptive; it must present new research.
  • Students can find their own advisor (a supervisor) and even an opponent, as we know some topics are too business—or regionally-specific. 
  • We need a one-page review from each. A third advisor from the EIASM can act as a formal consultant to provide guidance on academic or research writing skills, structure, citations, library resources we can help with, and layout. 

The thesis can be defended if the supervisor, opponent, and the EIASM advisor give positive recommendations.

Admission Criteria

  • Completion of a Master or MBA degree or your CV showing five years of work experience in a managerial or finance position
  • Evidence of spoken and written English language: IELTS 6 / TOEFL 75 or evidence of having worked/studied in an English-speaking environment for 2 years

DOCUMENTS

  • Application processing fee of €50
  • Scanned copy of your passport/national ID (with your date of birth, photo and name readable in latin script)
  • Resume/CV
  • Scanned copies of your academic diplomas/certificates/transcripts