Melbourne Business School:
A Welcome from Associate Professor Anish Nagpal

A Welcome from Associate Professor Anish Nagpal, Assistant Dean (Graduate Research), and Associate Professor of Marketing, Department of Management and Marketing (Faculty of Business and Economics), University of Melbourne, Australia

I am proud and privileged to introduce to you the world-class PhD programs in the Faculty of Business and Economics, Melbourne Business School at the University of Melbourne. Each year, we welcome 20-25 high achieving individuals, who are passionate about research to join our unique 5-year PhD programs in Accounting, Actuarial Studies, Decision Risk and Financial Sciences, Economics, Finance, Management, and Marketing.

I say ‘unique’ because our program is one of its kind in Australia, where students undertake two years of coursework followed by three years of research. This unique model has been especially designed to help our PhD students compete in the international job market and prepare them to have successful careers. We are extremely proud of placing our PhD students in the world’s leading academic institutions, such as Australian National University, Monash University (Australia), Oxford University (UK), Pittsburgh University (USA), Singapore Management University, and University of Bath (UK), and several others.

Other successful PhD graduates have joined prominent private and government organizations such as Goldman Sachs, State Street Boston, and the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance among others.
 

Which PhD programs are offered at MBS?

The Faculty of Business and Economics, Melbourne Business School offers the only 5-year PhD programs available anywhere in Australia. Our students have the best foundations in theoretical and empirical tools to develop globally-significant and innovative contributions to the disciplines in Accounting, Decision, Risk and Financial Sciences, Economics, Finance, Management and Marketing.

International research shows that competition in the job market requires the rigorous preparation and training in these disciplines that only a dedicated coursework-and-research model can deliver. We also offer state-of-the-art PhD programs in Business Administration, Business Analytics and Actuarial Studies.
 

Melbourne Business School offers very generous PhD scholarships. The application process is very competitive. Which advice or tips can you give how to make an application successful?

Generous scholarships (full fee waivers and a stipend of AUD 30,000 appx. per year) are available for high-performing applicants.The first thing an applicant should do is visit the University of Melbourne’s Study web site for their doctoral program of choice. There are tabs for ‘Entry Requirements’ for that discipline and on ‘How to Apply’ which takes you through the steps.
To start the application process applicants should contact Rebecca Fischer of the GOstralia! Research Centre (Phone: 0711 40091040)
 

Here are some of the finer points of an application that can improve your chances of success:

Choosing referees who will speak highly and knowledgeably of your academic achievements can give you a competitive edge, as can a high-scoring GMAT or GRE test result. A publication record is also an advantage, especially if you’ve written anything for a leading journal in your field of research or been a named author on a substantial report written for government or industry. 
A well-written CV that details key research-relevant achievements including work experience will also help Selection Committees identify your strengths more easily.
And finally, if you’ve been short-listed, your performance at the interview with the Selection Committee panel is your best chance to demonstrate exactly why you are right for the program. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate your disciplinary knowledge and your researcher curiosity. Remember too that panels are also considering how you will ‘fit in’ with the cohort of graduate researchers who will be your peers, so making a positive impact on the panel members during the interview is a plus.
Bottom line, if you consider yourself to be an independent thinker, and are highly motivated and passionate about research, we would love for you to join our PhD programs.

I strongly encourage you to contact our graduate research office ([email protected]) or contact Rebecca Fischer.
Looking forward to seeing you in Melbourne!