Up to 8 PhD Students in Business Studies - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The Department of Business Studies is the largest department within the Faculty of Social Sciences at Uppsala University, with its approximately 130 co-workers and 2000 undergraduate students. We conduct extensive PhD education and have about 35 PhD students. The research schools MIT and FIRE are also connected to the department. The department conducts research and provides PhD education in the following fields: Accounting/Finance, Entrepreneurship, International Business, Marketing and Organization/Management.

The PhD student positions are announced following:

• 2 general PhD student positions in Business Studies. We would like to see applicants in Accounting and Marketing but also in Organisation, Entrepreneurship and International Business. Financed through Faculty funding.
• up to 6 PhD student positions in Business Studies related to the following research projects:

Project 1: Expertise and decision-making (judgments and decisions) in the fund industry

The program will examine expertise and decision-making (judgments and decisions) in the fund industry. Specifically, it will investigate the relationship between IT and human decision-making in fund management and trade. A special emphasis will be on the relationship between financial models and intuitive expertise. The fund industry has undergone a technical revolution with even actively traded funds being run by AI. How is this related to human decision-making in the funds and performance of the funds? How is expertise utilized, and how is the development perceived from the industry but also from the investors? Using both qualitative and quantitative research methods the program aims at adding knowledge about the use of and relationship between expertise and IT, especially within fund management. The program will be part of and add to the existing research on expertise and the use of intuitive expertise in judgments and decisions carried out at the Department. Hence, the doctoral candidates are expected to contribute to the research group consisting of the supervisors, among others. The applicants should clearly state if they are primarily interested (and proven qualified) in performing research doing quantitative and/or qualitative research methods. The successful PhD candidates will have the possibility to develop their project plans together with the supervisors, but a specific focus will be put on expertise and IT issues in the fund industry.

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

Project 2: IT in bankruptcy

We announce a PhD position within the research school MIT (Management and IT) focusing on the effect of bankruptcy on IT systems that integrate customers and suppliers in business networks. The project falls within the field of industrial marketing and purchasing. The empirical setting will be discussed and chosen in collaboration with the successful PhD candidate.

The starting point of the project is the situation where buyers and suppliers in industrial settings becoming more and more integrated through various inter-organizational information systems. We know today that such integrations and adaptations between customers and suppliers can result in considerable increase in efficiency, but what happens with these systems if one of the parties goes bankrupt, and what the more widespread network effects of a bankruptcy are if such systems are used is less known.

The PhD project focuses on IT systems – inter-organizational information systems (IOSs) – linking customers and suppliers in industrial networks. Furthermore, the specific topic is what happens, with the business relationship in the business network, when buyers and suppliers are connected through IOSs and one of the firms is declared bankrupt.

The PhD student will be guided and supervised by researchers who also will participate in the project work.

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

Project 3: Digitalisation of Financial Services from a Process Perspective – Pay with Engagement

Research into financial actors and financial services, including insurance companies, has a long tradition at the department. We are now looking for a PhD student for a research project where the purpose is to investigate whether and how an insurance company can create engaged, satisfied and loyal customers through proactive damage prevention activities using digital processes and AI. The digitization of all parts of society is ongoing and brings revolutionary effects. Application of new technologies that use artificial intelligence (AI) for assessment and decision-making, or machine learning develops new processes in companies' interaction with customers. In the project customer engagement is central. Engagement is a multidimensional concept that can be defined as a manifested behaviour and as a psychological state that arises through interactive experiences that are co-created in the interaction between the consumer and a focal object such as a brand. The project will study insurance customers through both focus groups and experimental methods.

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

Project 4: AI Design Futures

AI impacts humans at the existential level, by influencing how we experience and think about time, vulnerability and finitude, and how we make sense of the world. AI also raises normative questions about the social and political futures we imagine and on how we should design the societal institutions and socio-technical systems in which AI systems are embedded. These simultaneous and multi-layered processes of design are inextricably intertwined.

This research project will address these issues by studying and discussing how algorithms shape our temporal imagination at the existential and political level, and how our images of the future feed back into the design of AI and the institutions in which AI is embedded. The project seeks to conceptualize and bring about existential, political and institutional design futures, by means of engaging both political and existential philosophy, so as to imagine and create new narratives for alternative AI Design Futures.

Project 5: Decisions in Growing Firms

Research on strategic decision-making has to a large extent focused on the firm as a whole rather than on managers in decision-making positions. This is despite the fact that decision-making is based on a manager’s interpretation of and response to internal and external events, which ultimately affects a firm's activities and position in different markets. This project will focus on decision-making in connection to the growing firm with a particular emphasis placed on two key decision dimensions that has implications for its competitiveness: (a) international expansion, and (b) innovation. The project aims to contribute to a micro-level theory of the growth of the firm. For the project, we seek candidates interested in strategic management, particularly in innovation and internationalization processes. As the project will be multidisciplinary and use different methodological approaches, we encourage applicants from different fields within the social sciences. The Ph.D. student will be guided and supervised by experienced researchers who also will participate in the project work.

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

General information

Duties: The duties of a PhD student are primarily focused on his/her own research education, (4 years full-time), 90 academic credits of courses and 150 credits research for the doctoral thesis. To a limited extent (maximum 20 %), the work may also involve other departmental duties, mainly related to teaching undergraduate courses – in which case the position may be extended to maximum five years. General rules about PhD education can be found (in Swedish) in Högskoleförordningen Chapter 5, §§ 1-7, in Uppsala University rules and in the General Study Plan for PhD studies at the Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University.

Requirements: General entry requirement: an advanced level qualification, has satisfied fulfillment of the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits awarded at the advanced level, including at least 15 credits for an individual piece of work, or has acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way.
Specific entry requirement: courses in Business Studies comprising 90 credits.

In order to receive 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.

Note that a master thesis that has not yet been completed and assessed by the application deadline is given respite until May 31, 2023.

Requirements - Language requirement: All applicants need to verify English language proficiency that corresponds to English studies at upper secondary (high school) level in Sweden ("English 6"). This can be done in a number of ways, including through an internationally recognised test such as TOEFL or IELTS, or through previous upper secondary (high school) or university studies.

The minimum test scores are:

• IELTS: an overall mark of 6.5 and no section below 5.5
• TOEFL: Paper-based: Score of 4.5 (scale 1–6) in written test and a total score of 575. Internet-based: Score of 20 (scale 0–30) in written test and a total score of 90
• Cambridge: CAE, CPE

More information about English language requirements

Criteria for assessment of applications: please see the criteria.

The application must include:

1. CV.
2. Certified graduation diploma and transcripts of academic records, and other relevant documents that prove general and specific eligibility.
3. Research proposal in either 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.
4. Motivation letter. In the motivation letter you will have to specify which project position you are interested in.
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, 2023.
6. TOEFL/IELTS-test (or equivalent). 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/IELTS-test. Information about English tests can be found in the link above.
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.  Instructions for recommendation letters.

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 14-18, 2023 to selected candidates. Those who  successfully pass the interviews will have to do a written assignment.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance, chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100%. Starting date 1 September, 2023. Placement: Uppsala.

For further information about the positions, please contact Director of PhD studies Susanne Åberg, ph +46 (0)18 471 1391, susanne.aberg@fek.uu.se or administrator for PhD studies Golondrian Janke, ph +46 (0)18 471 1369, golondrian.janke@fek.uu.se.

You are welcome to submit your application by March 31, 2023, UFV-PA 2023/561. Only complete applications with supporting documents will be reviewed.

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In case of different interpretations of the English and Swedish versions of this announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.