PhD student positions in Business Administration

Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) is one of four schools within Jönköping University. We offer an international and team-oriented workplace with competitive education programmes, across Bachelor, Master and Doctoral levels, as well as a thriving research environment and many opportunities for personal development. Our mission is to advance the theory and practice of business, with specific focus on entrepreneurship, ownership and renewal. Our guiding principles are: international at heart, entrepreneurial in mind and responsible in action. These principles cut across our mission and all our activities. They signal the role we wish to play in relation to all our stakeholders. JIBS is triple crown accredited by AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA. Recent assessments of research productivity and impact rank JIBS first in Sweden in business administration and economics and first in Europe and second in the world in entrepreneurship. In the latest Financial Times European Business School ranking, JIBS was ranked among the top 100.

Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) is hiring two PhD students in Business Administration on a full-time basis (100%) with start from January 15, 2026, or according to agreement. As a PhD student you will be enrolled in a highly qualified education within a thriving research environment. For more information about our PhD program, please visit our information page.

You will also get many opportunities for enhancing your teaching skills and for personal development. We offer fully financed positions to our doctoral students who receive competitive salaries for their work as employees of JIBS. Most of your time will be devoted to your doctoral studies (80%) which includes coursework and writing a doctoral thesis. The coursework includes both mandatory and elective courses. The remaining time (20%) is allocated for teaching and administrative tasks. There are also opportunities to take additional courses in pedagogics for higher education.

We seek candidates who have a strong drive to conduct high-quality academic research within one of the focus areas of JIBS: entrepreneurship, ownership, or renewal and who are motivated to pursue an international research career. Research at JIBS is organized within research centers and we expect PhD students to conduct research in relation to these centers, with a particular interest in one of the following areas:

Media, Management and Transformation Centre (MMTC)

• New technologies, media, and its effects on society, industries, and customer interactions. This includes legacy media, platform industries and other stakeholders involved in generation, distribution and consumption of information.
• Entrepreneurship, strategy and organizing for enhanced sustainability, including diversity and inclusion.
• Entrepreneurship, strategy, and organizing in new industries (virtual reality, platforms and artificial intelligence).

Centre for Family Entrepreneurship and Ownership (CeFEO)

• Family ownership and family business, heterogeneity in family ownership and family business. Family business governance, strategy, and organization.
• Meanings and implications of ownership; ownership and organizational goals. Strategy, governance, and accounting across different ownership forms.
• Entrepreneurial life cycle, goals, cognition, emotions, and behaviors of entrepreneurial actors, in relation to family and ownership.

Qualifications

Admission to our doctoral program requires:

• Been (or soon to be) awarded a degree at second-cycle level (Master).
• Achieved at least the equivalent of 240 ECTS credits, of which a minimum of 60 ECTS credits must have been achieved at the second-cycle level.
• Achieved at least 90 ECTS credits in Business Administration.

The main language of research and teaching at JIBS is English. You must be fluent in both written and spoken English to be eligible for our doctoral program.

Application

Please submit the following:

• A letter of intent, answering the following three questions: Why do you want to be a PhD student? Why do you want to be a PhD student at JIBS? Why should we select you for such position?
• A preliminary research proposal (max. 3000 words), describing your present research interest and outlining how you believe your research interest fits to one of our research centers (i.e., CeFEO, MMTC).
• Your CV.
• A letter of intent, answering the following three questions: Why do you want to be a PhD student? What is your motivation to join any of the research centres at JIBS and how would you contribute to CeFEO and/or MMTC? Why should we select you for such position?
• Attested documents on relevant background (academic transcripts, degree diplomas, evidence of prior teaching and/or industry experience).
• A copy of your Master thesis (if not finished at the time of application, please send a current draft or an executive summary of it) and, where applicable, other publications.
• A reference letter from a person who can evaluate your academic potential.
• Contact information (name, phone numbers and email) of two additional references. Please ensure that all relevant documents are in English.

Assessment

Candidates will be assessed based on the following criteria:

• formal qualification requirements for admission into the PhD program.
• Quality of application documents. We value genuine research interest and discourage AI-generated research proposals.
• Excellent academic merits, signaling the potential to pursue excellent research in business administration.
• Personal profile and motivation for further studies.
• Fit with JIBS’ working culture and research areas.
• Fit with one research centre at JIBS (i.e., CeFEO, MMTC).

We welcome your application no later than August 24, 2025. 

Jönköping University is a modern institution, characterised by internationalisation and an entrepreneurial spirit. We attract highly qualified, inventive and enterprising people from all around the world. We develop new knowledge and share our expertise through solid collaborations with industry and business, the public sector and other higher education institutions. We offer an equal and inclusive workplace and we welcome applicants with diverse backgrounds. For more information, visit www.ju.se

1. Mart Ots, manager PhD programme, [email protected]
2. Victoria Resch, PhD student representative, [email protected]

1. Thomas Cyron, Saco-S, +4636-101767
2. Helena Holmström, ST, available from August 7, [email protected]