Your Program
Your goal is to be a top-notch research scholar. Our goal is to help you become one.
Our faculty members are committed scholars, leading researchers and award-winning teachers who are recognized for their academic and industry expertise. They are globally connected, conducting research programs all over the world.
You'll work with our faculty in a collaborative fashion, exploring dissertation topics of high academic and social impact. Leverage the resources of a major research university and interact with renowned visiting scholars, gaining exposure to a wide range of research paradigms.
As a doctoral student in any management discipline, you will be prepared with a strong foundation of statistical, quantitative and qualitative research methods. Build rigorous research and analysis skills from the beginning of your program with the following courses:
- MGG 700 Introduction to Research Methods, taken in the first year
- Two doctoral-level statistics courses, minimum
- Two doctoral-level research methodology courses, minimum
Develop research and writing skills early with your first- and second-year required papers and set the pace for publishing your research. Each discipline approaches these papers differently, helping you to build the competence necessary for your academic career.
Doctoral qualifying examinations, called comprehensive exams, test your knowledge within your discipline and advance your research and analysis skills. They are usually taken following completion of your course requirements and include material covered in the courses listed along with the current departmental reading lists.
Your dissertation proposal, research and defense are the culminating activities of your career as a doctoral student in the School of Management, affording you the opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research and collaborate with world-renowned faculty. Dissertation topics are wide-ranging, allowing you the academic freedom to explore challenging problems in business.
Explore your discipline
Honors and Awards
Celebrate with the UB School of Management community as we recognize the research, publications and success of the school’s doctoral students each year at the annual PhD Showcase. Honors and awards include:
Awarded to a senior doctoral student who has demonstrated exceptional research performance. Criteria for consideration include journal publications, conference presentations, research awards and other factors that demonstrate scholarly potential. $2,500 prize to support dissertation work.
Honors exceptional early performance through coursework, engagement with faculty on research and contributions to the intellectual atmosphere of the school. $1,000 prize to support future conference attendance.
Based on the overall presentations and the clarity, strength of design and implications of the research. $1,000 to support future conference attendance.
Recognizes exceptional promise and performance as a teacher within the doctoral program. $500 prize to support future conference attendance.
The University at Buffalo has a firm commitment to providing students with instruction of the highest quality. The instruction delivered by graduate students who serve as teaching or graduate assistants—or as instructors—is a critical element of that institutional commitment.
The Excellence in Teaching Award for graduate teaching assistants recognizes exceptional ability in teaching by UB graduate students. Students are selected based on superb and creative performance in the classroom or laboratory, engagement with mentoring and advisement, and a commitment to high academic standards in teaching.