Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales

PhD and research programmes

Usefulness of research in the professional life of an MBA

Advanced Manufacturing and Production, Big Data, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, Customer Relationship Management, Digital Economies, Climate Change, Social Responsibility, New Leadership, Globalization ... and, of course, COVID-19, are just some of the concepts around which will shape the business and organizational reality in the coming years.

MBA-UAM students who acquire specialized research training (with the subjects “Research Methods in Business Organization” and “Introduction to the Final Master's Project, TFM”) will be better placed to face these emerging business challenges by being able to generate the applied knowledge that will be necessary in each organization. This training consists of a series of updated knowledge, skills and competences in Business Management and Organization. The way to assimilate them, from the perspective of learning by doing, consists of the guided and permanently supervised realization of a research project (such as the TFM), in a workshop combined with an advanced seminar.

Access to the doctorate

The current Spanish legislation (Royal Decree 99/2011, of January 28, which regulates official doctoral studies) determines in its article 6 (“Requirements for access to a doctorate”) the level of previous studies necessary to access a Doctorate Program. In general, to access an official doctorate program, it will be necessary to be in possession of the official Spanish Bachelor's degrees, or equivalent, and a Master's degree (such as the MBA), or equivalent, provided they have passed at least 300 ECTS credits in the set of these two teachings.

The doctoral programmes at the School

The aforementioned subjects of the MBA (Research Methods in Business Organization and Introduction to the Final Master's Project, TFM), which make up the Research Profile of the MBA, provide suitable training and education to study in any of the doctoral programs that are currently being developed at the Faculty (Doctorate in Economics and Business, and Doctorate in Economics and Innovation Management).

Research experience of the MBA professors and possibilities of financing the studies: FPU and FPI contracts.

The professors attached to the MBA have an extensive and outstanding research career that supports the training they offer in this program, as can be seen on this website.

Given the extensive research activity of the MBA professors, there is the possibility of collaborating in their research projects. Such collaboration may allow access to FPI-type contracts (training of research personnel, for pre-doctoral students) with a usual duration of four years (twelve monthly payments plus two annual extraordinary payments). Since the 2016-17 academic year, there has been an MBA student enjoying one of these contracts. More information at http://www.uam.es/UAM/FPI-UAM/1446777163357.htm

The Ministry of Universities finances and carries out the FPU (University Teacher Training) program, which could also be accessed by MBA students. More information at http://www.educacionyfp.gob.es/servicios-al-ciudadano/catalogo/general/99/998758/ficha/998758-informacion-comun.html.

European University CIVIS

European Civic University is already a reality. The institutions that make up CIVIS celebrate the launch of this alliance formed by eight leading universities in the Mediterranean and Baltic seas: the University of Aix-Marseille, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Free University of Brussels, the University of Bucharest, the Autonomous University of Madrid, La Sapienza University of Rome, Stockholm University and Eberhard-Karls University of Tübingen.

CIVIS is a pioneer in the initiative of the European University devised by the European Commission (EC), a collaborative teaching and research space in which innovative cultural exchanges take place and where responsible citizen action is exercised within Europe and its institutions.

More information at https://civis.uam.es/