Doctoral
Overview
The Doctoral Program in Business Administration is a two to seven-year program offered by the Department of Business Administration (DBA) of the NTUST School of Management that qualifies students for careers in academia or in business internationally. Three main research areas are offered, i.e. Strategic Management, Marketing and Organizational Behavior, and Human Resource Management.
For our doctoral program, a Master's degree in a relevant area is an admission requirement, i.e. Fast-track PhD-programs that allow the admission of Bachelor Degree holders ("Direct Pursuit of the PhD") are currently not offered by the DBA. Our doctoral program requires coursework (24 credits), and a Qualifying Exam has to be passed within the first three years of enrollment in the program. Although courses need to be attended, our PhD education can be characterized as an individual doctorate, i.e. research and the writing of a dissertation under the supervision of one professor.
The DBA encourages all PhD students to attend domestic and international academic conferences to become familiar with the academic career environment at an early stage. Students are required to publish at least one paper in a relevant scientific journal during their PhD studies.
DBA doctoral students will have access to the resources offered by the NTU Triangle Alliance universities National Taiwan University and National Taiwan Normal University. International students can apply for financial support through scholarships (full or partial) from various sources, prior to their arrival in Taiwan or after.
Graduation requirements
|
Doctoral Program in Business Administration |
||
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| Research Methodology I, II | 6 | 6 |
| Academic Research Ethics | 0 | |
| Electives | ||
|
2 Courses from DBA |
6 | 18 |
| Free electives | 12 | |
| Total | 24 | |
The Doctoral Program in Business Administration requires 24 credits towards graduation:
1) 12 credits must be earned from four courses offered by the DBA, including two courses (6 redits) on Research Methodology
2) 12 credits must be earned from electives, with 6 credits from courses offered by the DBA, and 12 credits from free electives.
Further requirements for graduation
a) Doctoral dissertation (0 credits)
b) Seminar (3 hours) on Academic Research Ethics within the first year of the program
c) Passing of the Qualifying Exam for the Advancement to PhD candidacy (or exemption)
d) At least one publication in an indexed scientific journal (for details, see below)
At the School of Management, each course is normally worth 3 credits and meets 3 hours per week over 18 weeks (one semester).
Program Structure
The program requires 24 credits of course work. It is recommended to complete the course work within the first two years of the doctoral program to lie a solid foundation for the work on your dissertation. Also, by taking courses, you will get to know instructors who could be the future advisors of your PhD thesis.
12 credits have to be gained through courses which are offered by the DBA (i.e. with a "BA"- course code ), including two courses (6 credits)
► Research Methodology I
► Research Methodology II
that are obligatory for all students of the DBA-program. Students are free to choose the remaining two DBA courses from the list below, with no requirements on the modules (i.e. the courses can be taken from same or from differentl modules).
Another 12 credits can be earned through free electives, i.e. graduate-level courses from other SOM departments, business schools of the NTU alliance, or even courses from non-business departments/institutes.
Please note that not all courses are offered every semester or academic year, some might only be taught every two years.The courses which are regularly offered in English are marked in red. However, as more and more English-taught courses are added to our course portfolio, you should check the current NTUST course catalogue to verify the language of instruction.
| Modul | Courses (Each course bears 3 credits ; Red = taught in English) | |
| Business Policy |
► Leaership, Strategy and Corporate Government |
► Competition Strategy |
| Human Resource Management |
► Organizational Change Management |
► Case Studies in Managerial Psychology |
| Marketing Management |
► Marketing Research |
► Intellectual Property Law and Marketing Strategies
|
| Quantitative, Computing and Other |
► Linear Models |
► Business Research Methods |
Academic Research Ethics Seminar
As a requirement by the Taiwan Ministry of Education, all graduate students enrolled at universities in Taiwan have to complete seminars in Academic Research Ethics (ARE) which usually consist of three teaching units, where the first two units are lectures, while the last unit is a test. All Taiwan Tech PhD-students are required to attend at least one research ethics seminar before the end of the first year of studies, and to pass the ARE-exam.
ARE seminars are not credit-bearing, but will appear in academic transcripts as PASSED with a passing grade of 70%. A successfully completed ARE seminar is a requirement for taking the degree examination of the MBA program.
Every semester, the Taiwan Tech Centre of General Education offers eight or more ARE seminars which are taught by different instructors and focus on different aspects. The schedule and topics of ARE seminars will be announced here.
Advisors
Students are recommended to choose their advisor at an early stage of the doctoral program. Advisors are responsible for monitoring the performance and progress of their students throughout their doctoral studies, they will guide their research work, and supervise the thesis-writing process. The latest point to make a decisison on the advisor, is the advancement to PhD candidacy, i.e.after passing the Doctoral Candidate Qualification Exam (DCQE). As long as students have not yet selected their advisors, the Department Chair and the Curriculum Committee will be responsible for the supervision and guidance of DBA doctoral students.
After passing the DCQE, doctoral students have to inform the department office about their choice of advisor. The following deadlies apply:
| DCQE | Deadline |
| in Fall semester ► | 1 March of the following term |
| in Spring semester ► | 1 September of the following term |
Only full-time members of the DBA faculty (assistant professor level or above) can be advisors for PhD students. If required by their field of research, students may choose a co-advisor from the DBA (full-time or part-time faculty), or from another Taiwan Tech department (full-time faculty only), or from another institution (i.e. another university in Taiwan or abroad, or a research institution like Academia Sinica).
An application for co-supervision needs to be signed by both, advisor and co-advisor, and the form has to be submitted to the DBA secretariat.
If thesis advisors want to terminate the supervision of a student, they should inform the DBA secretariat as soon as possible, and the student will be officially notified. Students will have to find a new advisor (application for the new advisor is the same as described above)
Students who wish to change advisors need to register at the DBA secretariat, so that their previous advisor will be informed about their decision. Students have to register their new advsisor at the department subsequently.
Download: Dissertation Advisor Consent Form (NTUST Student Information System)
Download: Application for Thesis Co-Supervision Form (NTUST Student Information System)
Download: Changing Thesis Advisor Form (NTUST Student Information System)
Qualifying Examination
Doctoral students at Taiwan Tech have to pass a written Qualifying Examination (QE) by the end of the 3rd year of the program to advance to PhD candidacy. The QE can be taken two times per academic year, in the spring and in the autumn semester. Doctoral students have to apply with the DBA secretariat for the arrangement of the QE by submitting a QE application form. The QE Committee, whose members are selected from the DBA full-time faculty, will decide on the date and the topic of the exam, as well as on the format and content of the exam questions.
Doctoral students may be exempted from the written QE exam 1) if they have published in recognized scientific journals or 2) if they have passed an oral exam to substitute for the written QE exam. The QE Committee will review and evaluate the application for exemption, and has authority to make the final decision on the student's advancement to PhD candidacy.
Exemption from QE by publication of journal paper(s)
Exemption from the QE is granted if the doctoral student has published one paper viz. two papers in indexed scientific journal within the first three years after enrollment for the doctoral program. The following requirements have to be fulfilled:
a) The student has to be the first author or the second author, and the paper has to be published under NTUST institutional affiliation. If the student is the second author, the first author has to be a full-time faculty member at the DBA.
b) The paper must have been published/accepted after enrollment in the DBA doctoral program.
c) The paper has to be published in a SCIE journal in a certain area (list), or in an SSCI journal, or in a TSSCI journal in the area of management.
journal in the area of management
d) The paper must not be published in a predatory journal, i.e. papers in journals that are included in the Beall's List of Potential Predatory Journals and Publishers will not be accepted.
The QE Committee will review and evaluate the application for exemption. If the student’s publication passes the evaluation, the score of the QE will be 80 (or A).
Please note: The paper(s), that are submitted for the purpose of exemption from the QE, will not be counted as publications needed to meet the graduation requirements.
Download: Doctoral Qualification Examination (DQE) Exemption Form
Request for Withdrawal from the Doctoral Candidate Qualifying Examination Form
Dissertation
Students will usually start working on their thesis in the second year of the program, and have to hand in a first draft of their thesis for the Doctoral Degree Oral Examination ("defense"). Starting from the spring term 2023, graduate students are required to submit a "Postgraduate Thesis and Academic Discipline Conformity Verification" in the early
stages of the writing process, i.e. usually with handing in the proposal for the dissertation. By signing this form, the advisor confirms that the topic and content of the student's dissertation is aligned with the DBA's field of expertise.
After the defense, students will have several weeks to revise their dissertation following the suggestions of the Defense Committee, before it will be finally submitted.
Journal Publication
Before PhD students may apply for the Final Oral Examination, they must have co-published at least one paper with their NTUST-advisors, which has to be related to the content of their dissertation.The student has to be the first author or the second author, and the paper has to be published under NTUST institutional affiliation If the student is the second author, the first author must be the student’s advisor.
Furthermore, one of the requirements 1) - 3) has to be fulfilled.
1) one paper published in a SCI/ SSCI journal in the area of management
2) two papers published (or accepted) in a peer-reviewed, high-reputation international academic journal or two papers in an TSSCI journal in the area of management
3) two papers, one paper published (or accepted) in a peer-reviewed, high-reputation international academic journal and one paper published (or accepted) in TSSCI journal in the area of management.
The decision on which academic journals will be accepted is made by the Department Committee; Any controversy about the paper publication shall be handled by the Departmental Affairs Council.
Defense (Oral Degree Examination) and Publication of the Thesis
The defense is an important exam at the end of the doctoral program the organization of which involves several administrative levels. Thus, preparations of the defense have to start at least four weeks before the planned defense date. The defense can only be held during the term, i.e. during the winter semester (between 1 October to 31 January) or during the spring semester (between 1 April to 31 July).
After a successful defense, students have to revise their dissertation according to the feedback given by the committee members. The deadline for submitting the final version of the dissertation (both paper and digital copies) is in the beginning of the following term/ academic year as marked in the NTUST academic calendar. One printed copy has to be submitted to the NTUST library, and one to the DBA department (to be forwarded to the National Central Library). As a rule, all NTUST postgraduate thesis have to be published. Under special circumstances (such as pending patent applications or publications), the student can apply for a delay of publication (“Embargo of Thesis/Dissertation”) with the NTUST Library. The application, including supporting documents, needs to be approved by the thesis advisor.
Finally, students will have to complete the “School Leaving Procedures” to obtain the doctoral degree certificate. All procedures, from the application for the defense to the school leaving procedures, are explained in detail in the information sheet "Timeline for the Doctoral Degree Oral Exam (“Defense”)". Please read through it carefully. All application forms can be downloaded here.
Download: Timeline DBA Dissertation
Download: DBA Regulations for PhD Program
Last update: 14 July 2022
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