The objectives of the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program in Management are:
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To develop accomplished researchers and intellectual leaders capable of addressing the complex challenges facing businesses in Iran and the global arena.
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To educate distinguished professors who will advance the field through their scholarship, guided by professional ethics and rooted in Islamic and national culture.
The program is specifically designed to produce scholars who possess not only a comprehensive grasp of fundamental management theories but also deep expertise in specialized domains such as:
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Human Resource Management
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Operations and Supply Chain Management
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Strategic Management
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Entrepreneurship
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Marketing
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Operations Research
Graduates will be equipped to expand the theoretical boundaries of the discipline by skillfully employing both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, all within a rigorous framework of research ethics.
The permitted duration of study in the Ph.D. program is a minimum of 6 semesters and a maximum of 8 semesters. Based on the recommendation of the student's supervisor and the approval of the faculty, the University's Graduate Studies Administration may add one additional semester to the student's permitted study period or, if conditions for thesis defense are met, make a decision regarding the minimum duration. An extension for a tenth semester is contingent upon obtaining the necessary approvals from the University's Graduate Studies Administration.
In this program, students complete core courses in Foundations, Critique, and Analysis of Organization and Management Theories, Qualitative Research Methods, and Quantitative Research Methods. Additionally, students take a specialized seminar where, under the guidance of their supervisor(s), they explore their specific field of research.
Students whose academic or research background does not align with the knowledge required for their dissertation must complete a number of compensatory courses. After successfully completing the coursework, the Ph.D. comprehensive examination is held in two formats: written and oral.
The written examination covers the core courses. For the oral examination, the student delivers a critical presentation on the knowledge frontier(s) they have identified through an in-depth analysis of specialized research in their field. The content of this presentation will form the foundation of the student's research path.
The minimum passing grade for any individual course is 14 out of 20, and the minimum acceptable cumulative grade point average (CGPA) for the program is 16 out of 20.
Achieving the required score in one of the foreign language tests approved by the University's Graduate Studies Council is a prerequisite for a student to be eligible to take the comprehensive examination.
At the beginning of the research phase, starting from the second academic semester, the student is required to study a specific topic and prepare their research proposal. Following successful completion of the comprehensive examination and no later than the end of the fourth semester, the student must defend their research proposal before an examination committee.
Formal enrollment for the doctoral dissertation is permitted only after passing the comprehensive examination and receiving approval for the dissertation topic. The student’s dissertation progress, under the supervision of their dissertation advisor, is recorded at the end of each semester as Satisfactory (S) or Unsatisfactory (U) on their academic transcript.
Upon completion of the dissertation, and after its scientific and editorial quality has been verified and approved by the dissertation advisor, and further, after the publication of articles derived from the dissertation in internationally recognized journals with the approval of the Faculty's Graduate Studies Council, the final doctoral dissertation defense takes place before the dissertation examination committee (by the end of the eighth semester).
With the goal of enhancing and promoting a culture of research and its quality at the School of Management and Economics of Sharif University of Technology, and considering the fact that a significant portion of the research burden falls on doctoral students—who are at a stage in their personal and professional lives where earning an income is a primary concern, and given that doctoral studies are a relatively time-consuming process requiring substantial and appropriate mental focus on research activities—a doctoral stipend has been established at this school.
The payment of this stipend at the School of Management and Economics began in 2020 (1399 Solar Hijri) and is contingent upon students meeting specific conditions. Initially, the stipend was awarded to students who passed the doctoral comprehensive exam by their third semester. Subsequently, it was extended to include students from their first semester. Generally, the criterion for receiving this stipend is the student's satisfactory progress and performance throughout the doctoral program. For example, a student who passes the comprehensive exam by the third semester receives the stipend. It continues if the student successfully defends their research proposal by the fifth semester without delay, and according to the current regulations, the stipend payments continue up to the ninth semester. A student who fails to demonstrate this progress will consequently be ineligible to receive the stipend.
Another condition for receiving the stipend is that the student must not hold a full-time position outside the school. If a student receives the doctoral stipend, the school expects them to seriously focus on their doctoral studies and research activities. Furthermore, active participation and presenting in research seminars are also influential factors in determining and confirming this progress, all of which contribute to the decision regarding the stipend.
The application process for the doctoral stipend is as follows: A call for applications is announced by the school in the summer. Interested students who accept the stipend conditions declare their interest and, after completing the relevant forms, submit their research plan. Following reviews and evaluations by the school, each applicant's progress from the previous year is assessed. Based on this assessment and the school's available resources, decisions and prioritization for allocating the doctoral stipend are made. This is necessary because the stipend is entirely funded from the school's internal resources, making prioritization essential.