On your way to a Ph. D.?
Have you (almost) completed your Master's degree, e.g. in economics, business informatics or business mathematics? And what comes next?
If you enjoy scientific research and like the academic environment, pursuing a PhD at the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics at the University of Würzburg could be just the right option for you. Convince yourself!
First of all, a few terminological clarifications: A PhD is the award of a doctorate in a specific field of study. At the WiWi faculty you can obtain the Dr. rer. pol. (doctor rerum politicarum - doctor of economics). To complete the doctorate, you must submit your doctoral thesis (the dissertation) and defend it orally (the disputation). After receiving the doctoral certificate, you may use the doctoral title, PhD. The PhD proves that you have made a significant and independent contribution to scientific research.
The exact admission requirements and procedures of the doctoral procedure are defined in the faculty's doctoral regulations (see below).
Why do a PhD at all?
Completed PhD-projects at the WiWi faculty per year
But before you deal with the "how" of your doctorate, you should clarify your "why". Your "why" will carry you through the sometimes lengthy and challenging doctoral process. It constantly points out your goal and helps you to align your actions with it.
For example, you could do a PhD to improve your career perspectives:
A Ph. D. is a prerequisite for a professorship at a university or at a university of applied sciences. In recent decades, the PhD has also been a strong signal for the private sector: If you look at the management boards of the major DAX companies, you will find a large number of academics with a PhD. The PhD shows that a doctoral student has spent years working intensively and independently on a topic.
Prof. Dr. Martin Kukuk, holder of the Chair of Econometrics
A doctorate also promotes
- Your problem-solving skills
- Your endurance
- Structured and critical thinking
- Your self-organization and proactiveness
- Your self-confidence
- Your communication skills
- Your teamwork skills through collaboration with other researchers, supervisors and colleagues
Dominik Katzer (M. Sc. in Business Management), doctoral student at the Chair of External Accounting with Professor Dr. Benedikt Franke, explains how he came to do his PhD and what it means to him.
Completed doctorates since 1968 (as at 2024)
Why do a PhD in Würzburg?
The University of Würzburg has a long research tradition (founded in 1402) with renowned personalities in the field of economics such as Prof. Dr. Dr. Günter Wöhe. He is the author of the book " Introduction to General Business Administration", first published in 1960, which is still part of the basic literature of business administration in Germany today.
The Faculty's long research tradition is the basis for its good scientific reputation, and testifies to the quality of doctoral supervision and a well-developed research infrastructure.
Partnerships with other universities & research institutions
& more cultural events in Würzburg every year
& more available journals at the economics department library
You will find here at the WiWi Faculty of the University of Würzburg:
1) a variety of doctoral opportunities & research areas (29 chairs and professorships, as of 2024); see hier (chairs of Information Systems are listed here under "Business Administration Institute")
2) modern research equipment (with a digital library, access to project management and collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams & access to specialized software programs such as SPSS, Adobe, etc.)
3) an extensive research network (including research collaborations with the Bertelsmann Foundation, the Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics and foreign universities)
4) a culturally rich program to balance the activities of a PhD (with more than 20 museums in and around Würzburg, baroque buildings, wine festivals, etc.)
Emily Fuchs (M. Sc. in Business Mathematics), doctoral student at the Chair of Econometrics with Professor Dr. Martin Kukuk, reports on why Würzburg in particular offers good conditions for her doctorate.
Emily, how exactly does your PhD work within the framework of the Cotutelle Agreement (binational agreement)?
My PhD within the framework of a cotutelle agreement is set out in a contract between the University of Würzburg and the University of Twente in the Netherlands. Among other things, it specifies that I must be enrolled at both universities and submit a joint dissertation. This has the great advantage that I not only have a supervisor here at the university, but also one in the Netherlands and contacts there with whom I can network.
The plan is to visit the partner university once or several times a year over a longer period of time. For example, I was in the Netherlands for an extended period in February/March this year. It's great to get so many new impressions and to see how things work at another university.
Distribution of international doctoral students among the research areas (as of 2024)
But you will not only find what you are looking for if you come from Würzburg and want to gain experience abroad during your doctorate with the support of the faculty. The opposite is also true: if you come to the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics in Würzburg from abroad and are looking for ideal doctoral conditions, the faculty here can offer you just that.
Viet Nguyen (M. Sc. in Data Engineering and Analytics, from Vietnam), a doctoral student at the Chair of Artificial Intelligence in Business with Professor Dr. Gunther Gust, knows this, too:
Viet previously completed his Master's degree at the Technical University of Munich and is now part of the "Data-Driven Decisions" (D3) research and working group at the Faculty of Business and Economics. This research group focuses on how data can be analyzed, processed and interpreted using AI (artificial intelligence) methods from the fields of data analytics, machine learning and optimization in order to make good economic decisions.
Research insights & tips
You can generally pursue a PhD here at the faculty in one of the three scientific fields 1) in business administration, 2) in economics or 3) in business informatics.
Our three doctoral students offer an insight into the research fields of the three areas:
- Dominik (Business Administration) is working on corporate sustainability reporting.
- Emily (Economics) is doing her doctorate on the topic of structural equation models with composites - a thesis that deals with statistical methods as an analysis tool in empirical (economic) research.
- Viet (Department of Information Systems) is investigating the potential applications of artificial intelligence in the energy sector in his dissertation.
Of course, these are just a few of the diverse research topics that are being worked on at the faculty. However, the selection shows that you can also work on future-oriented topics such as sustainability and artificial intelligence as part of a doctorate.
Emily, what would you recommend to someone who is thinking about doing a doctorate?
If someone is thinking about doing a PhD and is just about to start, I would definitely recommend making contacts as soon as the idea that you could go in that direction or that it might be an option somehow comes to mind. Or you really just want to find out more: Make contacts, visit the chairs, maybe approach staff, just ask them, because of course it's always difficult to finance a doctorate. You have to wait and see in terms of timing that a position is then also available. There are also offers from Women@WiWi (see below) here at the faculty. On the one hand, we have an information evening that we organize at regular intervals or a doctoral consultation hour where anyone can go to simply find out more. Would it even be a path you could take or not?
The number of female doctorates is lower than the number of male doctorates.
For various reasons, it is often more difficult for women to do a PhD (e.g. because they are less confident about doing a PhD, see figure). The Women@WiWi support network at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics in Würzburg aims to overcome this deficit. It helps female doctoral students to build professional networks and aims to highlight female role models at the faculty. On the one hand, the network helps on the way to the PhD, e.g. hires research assistants to come into contact with the chair at an early stage, etc. On the other hand, it also helps during the doctorate because it promotes exchange between doctoral students, provides mental support and offers workshops.
You can find more information about the Women@WiWi support network here:
If you have found your way into the PhD through successful networking, among other things, you may have further questions about the PhD process, which Dominik might be able to answer:
Dominik, what does your day-to-day research look like?
Everyday research depends on the status of the research project. That means at the beginning, you read a lot and examine the current state of research in order to work out a research gap. Then you think about how you can close this research gap, what hypotheses you can formulate and how you can answer these hypotheses. For example, do you have the necessary data? Once the project has progressed further, the next step is to carry out proper statistical analyses. To see whether the results are consistent, e.g. with the area of previous empirical research. The final phase of the project is about documenting the results, reviewing them and wrapping up a nice story on paper.
And what challenges have you faced so far during your PhD? What can you recommend for dealing with challenges?
I haven't faced any major challenges during my doctorate yet. I would rather say that you need a high level of resilience sometimes. Because you should know that doing a PhD is a marathon and not a sprint: sometimes you don't progress as quickly as you thought you would. But then it helps to talk to others. Because you realize that other doctoral students are facing the same difficulties. If you run into difficulties, I recommend that you keep reminding yourself of your goal and keep working on achieving it.
Here we go - check the doctoral procedure
The first milestone on the way to your PhD is to check whether you meet the admission requirements of the doctoral regulations.
Completed PhD projects per department (only current chair holders)
Do I have
After you have successfully applied for admission to doctoral studies and enrolled as a doctoral student, further milestones will follow in the coming years of your doctorate in accordance with the doctoral regulations. For an overview see the following diagram.
Milestones of the Ph. D.
During your doctorate you have to fulfill a so-called faculty's own qualification program. The program requires you to complete five examinations in the qualification areas 1) research methods, 2) theory and 3) key qualifications. You must take at least one examination in each area and may take a maximum of two examinations.
The program is designed to give you the necessary tools for a good thesis. Dominik therefore recommends completing the qualification program at the beginning of your PhD project if possible.
You are also obliged to submit progress reports to the Dean's Office every six months during your doctorate.
This is a prerequisite for being admitted to the doctoral examination at the end of the doctorate.
The progress reports are intended to guarantee good doctoral supervision and good progress.
Despite all the regulations: If you are passionate about your research topic, the formalities should not be an obstacle.