PhD in Business Administration

Faculty of Business and Economics

The IPhD program combines the advantages of contact-based and distance-based education and aims at professionals in business or public administration with several years of experience.

Head of program: prof. Dr. Gábor Rappai


Degree
PhD in Business Administration
Duration of Training
4 semester educational period + the research period

Language
English
Intake
Fall

Deadline of Application

Next Starting Date
Fees
Tuition fee: 1. semester: 4 000 EUR
2-4. semester: 3 000 EUR/semester
5-8. semester: 1 500 EUR/semester
Complex examination: 1000 EUR
Application fee: 100 EUR
Registration fee: -
  • Description of the program
  • Application procedure
  • Application requirements
  • More information

The International PhD Program is aimed at professionals in business or public administration with several years of experience in their field, but not necessarily in research or education. The program combines the advantages of contact-based and distance-based education, drawing on the contribution of recognized national and international experts. In its design, the program combines two major international traditions in doctoral education such as the American tradition (where several years of formal education is needed to get the PhD) and the European tradition (with a usually limited number of classes and a strong emphasis on independent dissertation research).

Program Structure
The program consists of two (preferably overlapping) parts:

  • the period of organized study (4 semesters) and
  • independent research phase

The study period provides the students with the opportunity to divide their studies into two parts: intensive study period spent at the Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE), UP and extensive home study. This approach combines the advantages of the contact-based and distance-based methods.
In each of the four semesters, students spend approximately 10 days on the premises of the FBE UP and follow lectures, attend seminars, have dissertation consultations with their dissertation advisors and may also do research in the Faculty Library.
Individual work is supported by the guidance of an experienced Faculty consultant (dissertation advisor). At the end of the sessions, students return home and continue their studies and research using the written study materials (books and scientific papers) provided or recommended by the instructors/dissertation advisor. Lecture materials are available on the Faculty and/or Program Intranet that students can access from home.
Instructors of the various modules and dissertation advisors are available via electronic mail, should the students need advise or help during the home study period.
Should the students need advice or help during the home study period, instructors of the various modules and dissertation advisors are available via electronic mail. Evaluation is based on class papers (homework assignments or in-class exams) in each module; topics are designated by the individual instructors.

 

Graduation Requirements
In order to receive the PhD degree, students must accomplish the following: receive grades in all modules, pass the Doctoral Examination (Comprehensive Exam); have at least 30+ credits of publication that cover the area of dissertation research; prepare the PhD Dissertation; defend the PhD Dissertation.

Suggested research topics:  https://ktk.pte.hu/en/students/studies/phd-programs/iphd-program-busine…;

 
Discipline
Business and Management
Academic Level/Type
PhD

Step 1: Submit your online application 

Please create your application profile, and choose the desired programme on the apply.pte.hu online surface and upload all the required documents. 

The research areas are available for the PhD Business Administration here and for the PhD Regional Development here. You must submit the research proposal based on these areas. As there is a limited number of supervisors available, we cannot guarantee admission based only on the research proposal. 

Step 2: Application fee payment 

After submitting the application, the online application system automatically issues the invoice for the €100 application fee payment. You can pay it directly in the system with your bank card. If you pay via bank transfer, you need to consider that a bank transfer could take up to 10-14 days until it is visible on our bank account. 

Bank account details: 

Name of the bank 

OTP Baranya m. Belfoldiek Devizai 

Address 

7621 Pécs, Rákóczi út. 44. 

Account number 

11763316-50141889 

Swift code 

OTPVHUHB 

IBAN code 

HU41117633165014188900000000 

Name of the receiver 

University of Pécs 

EU VAT Number 

HU 17783941 

Comment field 

Please put here your name and the number of your notification, that you can find in the up-left corner in the format of #XX-00000000 

If you pay with a bank transfer, please e-mail to international@pte.hu your proof of payment document to speed up the confirmation process of your payment. 

It is essential to highlight that the application fee is non-refundable regardless of the outcome of the application. 

Step 3: Evaluation 

We do not continuously evaluate the applications, we wait until the application deadline and start the evaluation of all applicants who paid the application fee  at the same time. The document evaluation is based on a point system; please see the details here. You must fulfil all the mentioned criteria and be selected by the Heads of the Doctoral Schools/PhD Programme Managers to participate in the admission interview. If you do not meet one of the requirements, or you are not selected for interview the application must be rejected, your status will be Failed in the online system. The decision shall be without appeal. 

Step 4: Admission interview 

An oral interview (online) is scheduled with the selected applicants and carried out by a committee. The qualified applicant receives a guideline e-mail (on the e-mail address provided during the application process) approximately 5-7 days before the date of the admission interview. Shortly after, the applicant gets the actual MS Teams invitation with the link to join the meeting at the given time (be aware of the timezone differences). 

The interview takes approximately 20 minutes, and the committee will ask you about your background, future plans and motivation to choose us and your research topic. 

The committee might ask you additional questions; no previously set list exists. 

Step 5: Admission decision 

The admissions committee proposes, but the decision is made by the Heads of the Doctoral Schools within a maximum of two weeks from the date of the interview, taking into account the applicant's score and the capacity of the training programme applied for. The decision shall be without appeal. 

Step 6: Offers 

If you successfully pass the document evaluation and the admission interview and upload all the required documents, you will receive an "Acceptable" offer. 

If you successfully pass the document evaluation and the admission interview but have some missing documents, you will receive a "Conditionally acceptable" offer. In this case, you will be given a certain amount of time to submit the missing documents. After this is done, you will receive the "Acceptable" offer. 

If you cannot pass the admission interview, you will receive a "Failed" status, which means the application is rejected. The decision shall be without appeal. 

Step 7: Tuition fee payment 

If you receive an "Acceptable" offer, you must accept this offer in the online application system. As soon as you have done that, the system issues the invoice for the tuition fee payment. You must pay the full tuition fee; in the first semester there is no possibility of paying in instalments. If you pay via bank transfer, you need to consider that a bank transfer could take up to 10-14 days until it is visible on our bank account. 

Bank account details: 

Name of the bank 

OTP Baranya m. Belfoldiek Devizai 

Address 

7621 Pécs, Rákóczi út. 44. 

Account number 

11763316-50141889 

Swift code 

OTPVHUHB 

IBAN code 

HU41117633165014188900000000 

Name of the receiver 

University of Pécs 

EU VAT Number 

HU 17783941 

Comment field 

Please put here your name and the number of your notification, that you can find in the up-left corner in the format of #XX-00000000 

If you pay with a bank transfer, please e-mail to international@pte.hu your proof of payment document to speed up the confirmation process of your payment. 

Step 8: Letter of Admission 

Upon receiving the tuition fee payment, the School's coordinator must issue the Letter of Admission. The scanned version of the letter will be sent to your e-mail address you provided during the application. 

Step 9: Arranging visa and arriving in Pécs 

Applying for a visa is entirely your responsibility. As all the immigration-related tasks belong to the National Directorate–General for Aliens Policing, we do not affect the process. 

We suggest you to consider that obtaining a visa could take up to 8 weeks. 

Students are expected to arrive in Pécs by the official semester start (1 September) but no later than the 4th week of September. You will receive information on the tasks to be done; please read it carefully. 

Here, you can read about the CODES AND GUIDELINES OF THE DOCTORAL ADMISSION PROCESS 

(1) This admission procedure applies to all applicants who do not have Hungarian citizenship or Hungarian dual citizenship, regardless of whether they have applied for a scholarship programme or a private placement at the Schools.  

(2)  Documents to be submitted with the application are:  

  • a valid passport;   

  • a MA/MSc certificate and a certified translation into English, which entitles the applicant to enter into a doctoral programme in the applicant's home country;   

  • an official transcript of results of the completed MA/MSc programme and a certified English translation thereof;   

  • a certificate of proficiency in English if no older than two years, and at least a CEFR level B2, obtained at an internationally recognised (accredited) language examination institution. More information about the acceptable certificates here.  

  •  medical certificate (serological test result of the tests taken must be attached)    

  • chest X-ray (doctor's note, not the image, and not older than 1 year)   

  • vaccination card (showing that you are immunised against HEP B and C) OR serology results for Hep B and C   

  •  HIV test result (not older than 3 months)   

  • CV, letter of motivation,   

  • research plan;   

  • list of publications (if the applicant has one),   

  • other certificates   

 

(3) Applications are ranked in a 100-point system according to the following criteria:  

a) Learning outcomes: maximum 25 points  

b) Research plan: maximum 60 points  

c) Motivational interview: maximum 15 points  

d) Extra points: maximum 23 points  

  

Criteria  

Results breakdown  

Max points  

1. Learning outcomes: GPA of the applicant's last two years in the MA/MSc training  

0 point: If applicant's GPA is below 50 %   

10 points: If applicant's GPA is 50 % or above   

20 points: If applicant's GPA is 70 % or above   

25 points: If applicant's GPA is 85 % or above  

25  

2. Quality and content of the research plan: Relevance of topic selection, quality of literature review, well-founded and advanced research hypotheses, relation of expected results with hypotheses and literature, planned structure of research, appropriateness of form, research methodology, linguistic quality, overall review.  

0 point: The research plan contains nothing specific, no professional goals are set, the plan is plagiarised;   

10 points: In its structure, the plan is not well elaborated or moderately worded. Conspicuously short research plan, unrelated to choice of subject, most of the selected literature was published more than 5 years ago, or the chosen literature does not fit the subject. The research hypotheses are difficult to interpret, and the relation of the expected results to the hypotheses and the chosen literature is difficult to reveal. The planned structure of the research does not comply with the formal requirements and methodology, and based on the form of the research plan, the applicant's knowledge of the technical language and vocabulary is far below academic expectations.   

20 points: The chosen topic of the research plan is relevant, but the literature review, research hypotheses, and expected results are not sufficiently developed. The structure of the research generally conforms to the formal requirements, and the format of the research plan requires that the applicant's knowledge of the technical language and vocabulary be improved.   

35 points: The chosen topic of the research plan is relevant, and the literature review is based on current studies and research. The hypotheses and the expected results are not well explained yet, the planned structure of the research is in compliance with the formal requirements, and according to the form of the research plan, the applicant's knowledge of the technical language and vocabulary corresponds to the requirements of the field.   

50 points: The chosen topic of the research plan is relevant, and the literature review is based on current and internationally recognised studies and research. The research hypotheses and the expected results are elaborated and substantiated, and the planned structure of the research meets the formal requirements and methodology. Based on the format of the research plan, the applicant's language and technical language 60 skills meet the requirements of scientific research and presentations.   

60 points: The chosen topic of the research plan is a relevant, previously unexplored topic, and the literature review is based on current and internationally recognised studies and research. The research hypotheses and the expected results are well-established and well-founded and can significantly contribute to the recognition of UP FBE and the Doctoral Schools, with an impact at the national or international level. The proposed structure of the research meets the formal requirements; its methodology is particularly novel. Based on the form of the research plan, the applicant's language and technical language skills meet the requirements of scientific research and presentations.  

60  

3. Motivational interview  

0 point: the applicant cannot communicate with the interviewer, not even the most basic communication acts (greeting, identity issues);   

5 points: the interview is lagging, the applicant only communicates in short answers, mostly answers yes or no questions;   

10 points: the applicant is fluent in general topics, his or her professional motivations are not fully elaborated;   

15 points: the applicant is fluent in both general and basic professional topics, has determined professional goals a  

15  

Total  

100  

  

Extra points*  

Certified, relevant professional experience  

0 points: the applicant does not have any professional experience;   

9  

9 points: the applicant has certified professional experience in academics (university lecturer) or in a nonprofit organisation or non-governmental organisation related to the training. (3 points per year up to 9)  

CEFR level C1 language exam certificate in the instruction language  

0 points: the applicant has only a level B2 language exam certificate in the instruction language;  

5  

5 points: the applicant has an internationally recognised CEFR level C1 language exam certificate obtained no earlier than 2 years in the instruction language  

Relevant publications  

0 point: the applicant does not have relevant publications in peer-reviewed papers.   

9  

9 points: the applicant has relevant publications in peer-reviewed papers. (3 points per publication up to 9 points)  

Applicants with fewer opportunities  

0 points: the applicant does not have any disability, or it cannot be creditably certified  

3  

3 points: the applicant has creditably certified his/her disability by attaching the official documents  

* Applicants will be awarded a maximum of 23 extra points in total, according to the criteria listed, but the total number of admission points, including the extra points, must not exceed 100.  

  
(4) Minimum eligibility criteria for admissions    

a) obtains more than zero points for each of the three main criteria [(3) a), b), c)] and  

b) the total score, of at least 40, without extra points.  

 

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Maria LAJOS
International Coordinator
E-mail: lajos.maria@ktk.pte.hu
English website of the Faculty