Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA)

Programme Description

Durham Business School has a long tradition of providing high quality and innovative management education, underpinned by rigorous and relevant research. The Durham DBA is an executive doctoral programme for the practitioner-researcher, attracting motivated, high achieving individuals who are looking to develop their research, analytical, conceptual and critical thinking skills to the highest level and become innovators in their chosen fields of expertise.

We offer a vibrant and stimulating environment where you can pursue your research agenda and contribute to your own personal development and that of professional practice. You will be joining a very strong research community that offers you the opportunity to engage in lively debate and learn from academics and managers around the world.

In RAE08, 95% of our research output was judged to be of international quality and above. The Financial Times Executive MBA rankings of October 2008 placed us 3rd in the UK, 9th in Europe and 57th in the world for research, and 6th in the UK, 12th in Europe and 42nd in the world for our doctoral programmes.

The reputation of the School´s research is further enhanced through its international collaboration with leading international universities such as Fudan University, Duke University in North Carolina, USA and the University of Tokyo, Japan.

Distinct from the traditional PhD qualification, the Durham DBA offers you an opportunity to engage in a supervised programme of applied business research that facilitates dissemination of cutting-edge practitioner-oriented research within an industry or sector and knowledge transfer between business and academe. Managers who hold the Durham DBA take back to their organisation increased understanding and knowledge of today's complex business world.

We are highly successful in attracting the research funds we need. Significant research funding has been won from research councils (particularly ESRC and EPSRC); government departments (particularly DTI, ONE and DACC); professional institutions, for example ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) and CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants); and a range of other funding bodies including the Leverhulme Trust and INQUIRE. The University and the School have funding available for postgraduate study and offer opportunities for both UK and overseas students. To find out more, please visit www.dur.ac.uk/postgraduate /finance/funding.

Cutting-edge research and the best teaching are invariably found together. Durham's researchers work hard to ensure that new knowledge swiftly finds its way into the curriculum and into the advice and help which the School gives to its corporate clients, with whom we work closely to ensure that our work remains timely and relevant to its users. Details of the main research areas, our academic staff, their research interests and recent publications can be found at www.dur.ac.uk/dbs/ faculty.

Research is both an individual and a group effort, and many of our research groups and research centres are among the world leaders in their fields. All provide a supportive forum for research students, visiting fellows and academic staff alike to discuss their ongoing work, learn about new research opportunities and to formulate and carry out their research plans.

Our main research groups currently are:

• · Decision Science
• · Economics
• · Entrepreneurship
• · Finance and Accounting
• · HRM and Organisational Behaviour
• · Public Management
• · Strategy and Organisation

In addition to the research groups, we have six interdisciplinary centres of excellence:

• · Economic Growth and Policy
• · Empirical Research in Finance
• · Entrepreneurship
• · Organisational Dynamics and Ecological Studies
• · Organisational Relationships and Employment
• · Public Policy.

Our researchers are in great demand for seminars at other universities, research institutes and international conferences. Our postgraduate students are encouraged to present their findings both at home and abroad.