As of 1 July 2020 doctoral education at Corvinus has been overhauled. In the new setup, the training of future scientists takes place in four doctoral schools. Doctoral students can expect higher efficiency in operations, increasing opportunities, a more colourful choice, growing international dimensions and other professional-scientific benefits. The transformation of the doctoral schools is occurring in the framework of the Renewal Program of the university and is therefore guided by the pursuit of excellence.
Trainings offered in four doctoral schools
The merger of the former seven doctoral schools led to the creation of four schools. Thus, students are welcome by the following schools:
Doctoral School of Business and Management,
Doctoral School of Economics and Business Informatics,
Doctoral School of Sociology and Communication Science,
Doctoral School of International Relations and Political Science.
Organisational restructuring, professional renewal and quality improvement
As a matter of fact, transformation does not only imply changes of name, but a comprehensive, three-pronged development effort: structural and professional renewal go hand in hand with the improvement of quality. How does this translate into practical terms?
Benefits of the transformation
„From school to workshop – that is how I would sum up the changes. Emphasis is no longer placed on classical teaching-focused training, but rather on workshop activities in order to prepare our students for an academic career. We promote scientific excellence, which is reflected both in the standards of training and in the quality of our PhD graduates”, said Gábor Michalkó Director General of the Corvinus Doctoral Schools.
There will be a shift from instruction to research in the training and the programs will offer even more research opportunities for students.
The training offer has become broader, there will be a wide choice of courses in each doctoral school, allowing synergies between the schools to be exploited efficiently.
In the merged schools doctoral students have the chance to work together with professionals, researchers, supervisors and fellow students who might open new vistas before them and support them during and even after the program.
Compared to previous years, the number of courses has been reduced, with the focus being placed on research methodological and academic career development courses rather than on factual knowledge.
We offer a line-up of globally competitive trainings of lasting value as well as an international environment in which foreign lecturers and foreign fellow students are available for co-operation.
The language of instruction is English and foreign students will receive all documents required for successful graduation in English.
Prospective students
Doctoral trainings are mostly recommended for those who wish to embark on an academic career, to work in higher education or academia. Interested master’s students are encouraged to inquire about the possibilities and to prepare for the entrance exam. We expect not only new MA graduates to apply, but also more mature applicants with a work experience who decide to join a doctoral school (upon a successful entrance exam). Besides students who graduated from Corvinus, the doctoral schools welcome graduates from other higher education institutions, too.
The right time to do a PhD
The first opportunity to apply is upon MA graduation. There are no further age restrictions, more mature and even senior doctoral students are equally welcome, the sole condition being the successful fulfilment of all admission criteria.
Scholarship opportunities
Students can apply for state scholarship or the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship. More than 90% of the current doctoral students benefit from one of these. There are fee-paying places as well, which means that students admitted to these places should fund their own tuition.
Preparing for the admission exam
Students who applied in the spring of 2020 and were admitted will start their doctoral training in the autumn of 2020. The next admissions will be announced in February 2021 by the university. It is worth making use of the time available until the next admission period by starting to prepare as early as possible.
The training offer and the admission criteria are posted on the website of Corvinus.
We suggest prospective students to get geared towards science. That is, they should take part in TDK (Students’ Scientific Association) activities, academic competitions, accessible scholarly conferences or other valuable professional forums, they should join research workshops. Chances of admissions grow if the applicant obtains a certificate in an additional language. These are all ways to maximise points for your application.
The next step is to pick a research topic as one of the entry requirements is to turn in a research essay and a research plan.
A few weeks prior to the Spring 2021 admission period an open day will be held to present each of the programs in detail and to respond to any individual questions.
Finally, applications meeting the requirements should be submitted. The entrance exams will be held in May/June and the list of admitted students will be disclosed in July.
Further information and contact
The website of Corvinus University features continuously updated information about the doctoral trainings.
Queries may also be sent to the mailto:phd.office@uni-corvinus.hu e-mail address.
