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| Application Deadline: | February 29 | ||
| Location: | Oslo / Norway / View location on map ▾ Hide location on map ▴ | ||
| Duration: | 48 months | ||
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| Credits (ECTS): | 240 | ||
| Languages: | English | ||
Location of BI Norwegian Business School
The PhD specialisation in finance at BI Norwegian Business School provides candidates with an in-depth and intensive training programme at the cutting edge of both theoretical and empirical research in finance.
Through course work, participation in seminars, presentations, and supervised research, the program focuses on developing the candidates’ theoretical and empirical skills to enable them to contribute to the advancement of research within the field of financial economics.
The PhD degree is a 4-year programme and requires completion of a minimum 10 courses (minimum 60 ECTS credit points), a supervised research project, and a doctoral dissertation. candidates must also pass a pre-doc defense in good time prior to submission of the final dissertation. General information about PhD studies at BI is available here.
Course work takes up all of the first year and part of the second year. A list and detailed description of the courses can be found in the menu on the right hand side. The finance and economics departments at BI collaborate closely and offer a joint first-year course programme in core courses (microeconomics, macroeconomics, asset pricing, statistics, and mathematics). Hereafter, candidates take specialized finance courses taught by faculty at BI in their respective areas of research or at other universities. BI is a member of the Nordic Finance Network that offers advanced doctoral courses and workshops.
Submission and a public defense of the dissertation complete the PhD programme. Completion of the dissertation takes three years and candidates work closely with research faculty in the department and, potentially, faculty at other institutions. En route to completion of the dissertation candidates participate actively in weekly research seminars with visiting scholars and present their dissertation work in a departmental workshop at the end of each year. Candidates work in all areas of finance. A link to faculty members’ research areas may be found on the right hand side.
The department has access to a wide range of international databases available for candidates’ research, including CRSP, Compustat and Datastream. In addition, the department has a unique data set of portfolio holdings of all Norwegian investors, ownership structure of all listed and non-listed firms in Norway, and accounting and market information on listed and non-listed companies though the Centre for Corporate Governance Research (CCGR).
The work in the PhD programme is demanding and only highly qualified candidates are accepted into the programme. The candidates join a selective group of candidates from world class institutions around the globe. All PhD candidates receive financial support when accepted onto the programme. Continuation of the support through the four years of the program is dependent on good standing and regular progress towards completing the programme’s requirements.
The department graduates have an excellent placement record at international and Norwegian universities and institutions, including London Business School, University of Melbourne, University Nova de Lisboa, University of Stavanger, Storebrand Capital Management, and the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway.
Contents
The faculty in the department are interested in, and undertake research in, a wide range of subjects, some of which include: theoretical and empirical asset pricing, theoretical and empirical corporate finance, market microstructure, banking, venture capital, fund management, macro-finance, behavioural finance, international finance, corporate governance, macro-finance, real estate finance, and derivatives. Phd candidates who are interested in any area of finance are welcome to apply.
Current Doctoral Projects
Doctoral candidates are currently working in the areas of coporate governance, empirical asset pricing, theoretical asset pricing, behavioural finance, market microstructure, IPOs, investment management, amongst others.
You are normally required to take an English Proficiency Test if you come from a non-English speaking country.
Most European Universities recognise the IELTS test.
More informationRequirements
Applicants must:
- have at least five years of higher education
- hold a two year scientific Master degree (120 ECTS) with B average or better
- hold a Master degree that includes thesis work (15 to 30 ECTS)
- hold a Master degree within the fields of economics and business administration or an area in which BI offers a PhD specialisation
- hold degree(s) from an accredited institution or an institution recognized by NOKUT
In particular cases GMAT or GRE tests and/or TOEFL or IELTS tests may be required. Applicants will be informed if this is needed.
Minimum test scores are:
- GMAT - a score of 600 points
- GRE - a score of 660 points on the quantitative reasoning section and 500 points on the verbal reasoning section.
- TOEFL - a score of 550 points for the written test, or 213 for the computer-based version, or 79 points on the Internet based test.
- IELTS - a score of 6.0.
Additional Requirements
| Minimal degree required: | Master's degree |
| Minimal amount of work experience | Not specified |
Language Proficiency
| IELTS Band: | 6.0 |
| TOEFL Paper-based: | 550 |
| TOEFL Computer-based: | 213 |
| TOEFL Internet-based: | 79 |
Accreditation
EQUIS
BI has had EQUIS accreditation since 1999 and was among the first to obtain this status. Accreditation is given for a maximum period of five years and re-accreditation was bestowed upon BI in 2004/05 and then again in 2010. The requirements that have to be met are raised each time and it is no “walk over” to be reaccredited based on former merits.
AACSB
BI was given membership in AACSB in 2008 and is well underway in its preparations for AACSB accreditation. The process differs from EQUIS in that the school must document that it meets the quality standard before it can enter the final stage of the process. This opens up for a fairly lengthy process that may last up to seven years. BI´s goal is to complete the process in 2013/14.
AMBA
AMBA accredits the institutions portfolio of MBA/DBA programmes (full time/part time). BI has undertaken to restructure and further develop its executive MBA programmes. In line with this development BI considers to enter an application for AMBA accreditation.
RANKING
Ranking differs from accreditation in that the institution is measured against the other participant schools based on a sett of criteria. These criteria are related to characteristics of the alumni, the programme and the institution. BI participates in two of the most renowned rankings for business education, the Financial Times Ranking and the Eduniversals Top Business Schools Worldwide.
Financial Times Ranking
The Financial Times ranking consists of five partial rankings, addressing specific programmes (customised programmes, master of science programmes, executive MBAs etc.), and a final school ranking. The most influential criteria pertain to alumni salary levels and carreer development, two factors that BI at best can influence indirectly. During the last two years, BI has been placed among the 60-65 best schools world wide, a result that we are moderately satisfied with. However, it is BI´s long term goal to climb in these rankings.
Eduniversal Top Business School Worldwide
Eduniversal allows a thousand participants annually. The ranking is based on the individual participants standing among the others. During the two recent years BI has been placed among the top twenty schools in Europe, along with such well renowned schools as London Business School, INSEAD and HEC School of Management.
Funding details
There are four different ways of funding your PhD at BI.
1. Open scholarship (funded by BI)
These scholarships are announced once a year, usually in the time from January to April. The scholarships are open which means that your PhD will not be linked to a specific project but must fit it under one of the six specialisations offered by BI. A member of the academic faculty must share you research interests to be able to supervise you. A supervisor will be appointed for you if you are admitted to the programme.
PhD candidates will have their daily workplace and shared office at BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo, Norway.
2. Scholarship linked to a research project
These scholarships are announced from time to time. Your PhD research and dissertation will have to be closely linked to the research project. You are usually not required to find a supervisor before applying. You are encouraged to contact the faculty involved in the project if you are interested in applying. Each project will belong to one of the six specialisations at BI. In some cases the project can be linked to more than one specialisation.
PhD candidates will have their place of work at BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo, Norway.
3. Externally funded PhD
Should you already have obtained funding as a PhD candidate you may apply at any time, using this application form. Please note that your research project must fit in with one of BI's six specialisations. You are advised to contact a potential supervisor and department prior to applying. This person must also have the capacity and be willing to supervise you. Please contact the associate dean for the specialisation you're interested in, in order to find a supervisor within your field of research. Please note that the doctoral administration will not be able to help you find a supervisor.
PhD candidates will have their place of work at BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo, Norway.
Kindly note the requirement to send proof of funding along with the application to the programme. See the PhD Regulations for further information.
4. Industrial PhD
An industrial PhD is a doctoral degree that is carried out in cooperation between BI and business and industry. If you are considering this kind of PhD and have funding and confirmation from your employer please contact Dóra Sigurdardóttir for further information. Industrial PhD has the same requirements for educational background for admission and is also considered a full time programme. BI and the employer enter into an agreement regarding time spent at BI and time spent at the employer in addition to financial issues.
Please note that if you do not follow the application guidelines given in each announcement your application will not be valid and will not be assessed.
Faculty
The department currently has about twenty faculty members. The department recruits faculty internationally from some of the world’s best schools (University of Chicago, University of Southern California, Berkeley, UCLA, Brown University, among others). Based on the number of publications in top-tier academic finance journals, the department was ranked in the top five in Europe and number 78 in the world (University of Dallas UTD ranking, 1996-2007).
Faculty publishes their research regularly in the top journals of finance as well as in top field journals, such as the Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, Journal Financial Economics, and Journal of Political Economy. Faculty actively participates in international scientific conferences and invited seminars at universities around the world.
The department runs an active research seminar series where academics from the worlds’ top schools are invited each week to present their research giving faculty and PhD candidates an opportunity to discuss their ideas and current research with speakers and visitors.
The department is host to the Centre for Corporate Governance Research (CCGR) which undertakes research in many areas of corporate governance and corporate finance, both for listed and non-listed firms.
Contact
Contact BI Norwegian Business School
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