Up to 6 PhD students in Business Studies - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Department of Business Studies is the largest department within Faculty of Social Sciences with its appr. 140 co-workers and 2000 undergraduate students. We conduct extensive PhD education and have about 40 PhD students. Research schools MIT and FIRE are also connected to the department. The department conducts research and provides education on the doctoral level in the following fields: Entrepreneurship, International Business, Marketing, Organization/Management, Accounting/Finance.

We are seeking up to 6 PhD students:

• 2 general PhD student positions in Business Studies, financed with doctoral studentships (PhD employment)

• up to 4 PhD student positions in Business Studies related to the following research projects:

Project 1: “Opening indoor hygiene SME’s exports to Middle East construction markets (IHMEC)”

Novel solutions are needed to prevent the global spreading of serious infections. IHMEC-project combines tailored indoor hygiene (IH) solutions, offered by a number of small or middle sized enterprises (SMEs), and export them to the Middle-East (ME) markets (with focus on Iran and Saudi Arabia). IHMEC creates and exports joint IH solution of Central Baltic (CB) area SMEs into Iranian construction markets using indoor hygiene as a competitive edge. The project integrates relevant clusters of SMEs from Sweden, Estonia and Finland into a meta-cluster, designs viable networked business models, market entry strategies & sales operations; as well as involves experts from the host markets for CB companies to enter the markets and close sales. The aim of this project is to target customer segments with which long-term business relationships can be developed. IHMEC novelty highlights: 1) Integrated CB region meta-cluster on indoor hygiene (IH), 2) Novel and tailored IH guidelines and IH solutions that fit the target markets, 3) Tailored market entry process resulting in export sales in ME markets.

Project partners: Uppsala University, University of Turku, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Satakunta University of Applied Sciences, Viljandi County Development Centre, Estonian Woodhouse Association.

Number of positions: 1 Funding: External project funding (PhD employment).

Project 2: “Digitalization and management control in accounting and auditing organizations”

This research project focus on how digitalization contributes to changes in organizations’ business models of and how such change influence the management control of the organization. The aim is to increase the understanding of how digitalization affects strategy, business models and the management control systems within organizations. The research design is planned to consist of case studies composed of accounting and auditing organizations. The empirical material will encompass of a combination of archival and historical material, semi-structured interviews and in-depth interviews.

We seek a PhD candidate within the background of management control that has a keen interest in digitalization and business models, as well as knowledge of qualitative methods and archival research.

The PhD student will be located to Campus Gotland in Visby.

Number of positions: 1

Funding: External funding (PhD employment) alternatively year 1 scholarship (non-employment), thereafter external funding (PhD employment).

Note: This position is subject to availability of external funding.

Project 3: “The Global Game 2.0 (Digitalization, Restructuring and the Swedish Computer Games Miracle)”

Digitalization creates opportunities to quickly scale up operations to global, cross-border level. To understand the effects of digital transformation, we study a business that is largely based on digital technology, the Swedish computer game industry. Observations from our ongoing project "The Global Game" clearly show that, for game companies, product development, distribution channels and markets are fully digitalized, and the first tentative analyzes also show that game companies are rapidly internationalized. Even though most companies are no more than five years old, the export ratio for most companies is over 75%. This up and running project offers an interesting research area with a research design covering aspects of knowledge transfer, absorptive capacity, innovation management, business networks, and internationalization from a born global perspective.

The applicant should be interested in the digitalization phenomenon, familiar with quantitative data analysis and feel comfortable contacting game companies and making interviews.

Number of positions: 1

Funding: Year 1 scholarship (non-employment), thereafter external funding (PhD employment).

Note: This position is subject to availability of external funding.

Project 4: “Management Challenges in the Digitalization of Health Care”

Digital technology permeates literally every aspect of the health care provider – patient relationship. Access to information, treatment, and patient management are radically changing. Combined with aging populations, healthcare is shifting from acute care towards prevention and chronic care. Globally, health care systems are struggling with rising costs. The transition to digitalized health care presents opportunities and challenges, which is the point of departure for this research project. The project sets out to answer the question, how are governance and control changing in the digitalized health care context? This is part of a larger cooperation between the Social Sciences Faculty and Medical Faculty, Uppsala University, in Health Care Management. Data collection and analysis will encompass both qualitative and quantitative approaches with collecting and analyzing primary data.

We seek a PhD candidate with experience in or a keen interest for health care management issues, with particular emphasis on the digital (r)evolution taking place within health care.

Merit for both qualitative and quantitative skills.

Number of positions: 1

Funding: External funding (PhD employment).

Note: This position is subject to availability of external funding.

Duties: PhD studies comprise of four years of full-time study and leads to a doctoral degree. The PhD studies consists of a number of courses (90 academic credits) and research for the doctoral thesis (150 academic credits), a total of 240 academic credits. The work may also involve, to a limited extent (maximum 20%) other departmental duties, mainly related to teaching undergraduate courses – in which case the position may be extended to maximum five years. Gereral rules about PhD education can be found (in Swedish) in Högskoleförordningen Chapter 5, 1-7 §§, in Uppsala University rules and in the General Syllabus for PhD studies at Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University.

Requirements: Fulfill the general entry requirements: Awarded a master level, or equivalent, qualification, has satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits awarded at the master level, or has acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

Fulfill the specific entry requirements: Courses in Business Studies comprising 90 credits. Those who have acquired the equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad also meet these specific entry requirements.

In order to get a PhD position, the candidate needs to be admitted to the doctoral programme, and for this, his/her potential ability to pursue the programme is decisive.

A TOEFL-test or equivalent language test is required. However, international applicants with a Master's Degree from an English-speaking University or Programme do not need to provide further proof of their English skills.

Note that a master thesis that has not yet been completed and assessed by the application deadline is given respite until May 31, 2018.

Criteria for assessment of applications: please see Processing of applications

The application must include:

1. CV
2. Certified transcripts of academic records, diplomas and other relevant documents that prove general and specific eligibility.
3. A research proposal in English or Swedish (max. 12,000 characters including spaces). The research proposal should address the main research questions and the relevance of the project, relate the project to relevant previous research in the field, and present issues regarding data and methodology. If you apply for a PhD position related to a specific project, your proposal should be related to the project of your choice.
4. Motivation letter. In the motivation letter you will have to specify whether you apply for a general PhD position or/and one of the specific project positions.
5. Master thesis and books, articles, scripts, etc invoked.

Note that a Master thesis that has not yet been completed and assessed by the application deadline is given respite until May 31, 2018.

    6. TOEFL test (or equivalent tests). However, note that applicants with a master’s degree from an English-speaking university or Programme do not need to prove their English skills by submitting a TOEFL test. Information is found here

    7. Two letters of reference/recommendation (for example, from university teachers or employers). The letters have to include the contact information to the referees (e-mail address and phone number).The recommendation should state in what way the referent has known the applicant. We are particularly interested in an assessment of the applicant in terms of our admissions criteria (see Instructions for recommendation letters). References should email their letters to elisabeth.hallmen@fek.uu.se and give a copy to the applicant who attaches the letters to the application. 

Interview: An evaluation committee assesses the applications and provides a recommendation for which candidates should be called for interviews. Call for interviews will take place April 25-27, 2018 to selected candidates. Those who go further in the selection process after interviews will be given a final written assignment.

Uppsala University strives to be an inclusive workplace that promotes equal opportunities and attracts qualified candidates who can contribute to the University’s excellence and diversity. We welcome applications from all sections of the community and from people of all backgrounds.

Starting: September 1, 2018

Working hours: 100%

Salary: According to local agreement for PhD students.

Information about the positions is given by Director of PhD studies Katarina Blomkvist, katarina.blomkvist@fek.uu.se , or administrator Elisabeth Hallmén, elisabeth.hallmen@fek.uu.se , ph. +46(0)18 471 1369.

 You are welcome to submit your application no later than March 31, 2018, UFV-PA 2018/571. Only complete applications with supporting documents will be reviewed.