PhD Program (part-time)

Conduct research that has significant societal impact

Our part-time PhD program offers you the opportunity to combine your (part-time) job with conducting high-quality academic research that intends to make a significant scientific contribution and has practical and societal impact. Fulfillment of the program and successful completion and defense of your dissertation leads to a PhD degree from Nyenrode Business Universiteit.

Part-time PhD Program overview

Our PhD program consists of three consecutive phases. Here you find an infographic with a brief overview of the program.

Phase 1 (1 year)

During this phase, you will write your PhD research proposal. In order to develop the necessary skills to write this research proposal, you will take the required courses ‘Research Design & Planning’ and ‘Philosophy of Science’ and the required workshop ‘Academic Reading and Writing’ . You will be supervised by a full professor from Nyenrode. 

PhD students who are interested in expanding their knowledge and skill sets could take additional non-mandatory workshops that are relevant in this phase (e.g., conducting a systematic literature review). This phase concludes with making a training- and development plan for the coming phases.

Phase 2 (2 years)

You complete various required courses, workshops and research electives (e.g., Research Data Management, Qualitative Research, Scientific Integrity). All PhD students are welcome to complete any other courses or workshops that are relevant for their PhD but are not part of their training and development plan. In small groups, PhD students can take part in intervision sessions facilitated by an experienced trainer. You will be regularly guided and coached by your supervisory team in your research.

Phase 3 (2 years)

In the last phase, you focus on the writing up of the dissertation. You will be guided and coached by your supervisor or supervisory team. In addition, you will take part in ‘Getting Published’ and conduct your trial PhD defense. If all goes well, you obtain your PhD degree after the defense: a great and honorable achievement. Truly a reward for life!

You can complete the PhD program in five years, but the process may take longer. If you have questions about the program, please contact us via phd@nyenrode.nl

Admission and application

You can submit your application for the part-time PhD program from the 16th of december 2024 until march 17th 2025

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply to our part-time PhD program, you need to meet the following criteria:

• You are highly motivated to conduct rigorous research that aims to bridge the theory-practice divide (as evidenced by a 1-page essay and a reference letter);
• You are willing and able to combine your (part-time) job with a part-time PhD project (as evidenced by a motivation letter);
• You have obtained a Master's degree or international equivalent in the field (or related field) of the proposed PhD topic; 

Selection criteria

Each year, we allow 15 new part-time PhD students into our program. The admission and selection committee selects 15 participants based on the following: 

• Motivation and commitment to a part-time PhD project;
• Curriculum vitae; 
• Potential to conduct high-quality research that can have significant societal impact;
• Idea for a PhD topic;
• Reference(s); 
• Match with a Nyenrode supervisor; 
• A selection interview (selection interviews take place on campus or via Teams in April and May 2025).

To make its decision, the admission and selection committee may ask you to take a GMAT. An indication of the required score is above the 70th percentile (score 650+). If you have taken a GMAT test within the last five years, please upload your GMAT score report as part of the admission process. 

The application process

Would you like to apply for our part-time PhD program? Please click the green button ‘apply online’. After your initial application has been received, we will send you an email outlining what we need to complete your application. You will be asked to upload the following documents:

• Certified copy of your Master's degree or equivalent and a copy of corresponding grade list(s);
• Curriculum vitae;
• Motivation letter;
• 1-to-2-page essay on proposed PhD topic;
• Reference letter(s);
• If available, GMAT score report;
• Photo.

Applicants who have obtained a degree outside of the Netherlands, will be asked for additional information as their degree will be checked by NUFFIC. If you obtained your degree outside of the Netherlands, you will therefore also need to upload:

• Copy of the identification page of your passport;
• Certified copy of your bachelor’s and master’s degree and copy of corresponding grade list;
• If the diplomas (both Bachelor and Master or equivalents) and corresponding grade lists are in a language other than Dutch, English, French, German, Spanish or South African, you will need to include a certified English translation of the diplomas and grade lists (including photo printed + sealed).

After the application deadline of March 17th, 2025, you will be notified in April whether you will be invited for a selection interview. After all selection interviews have taken place, the admission and selection committee will inform applicants by June 30th, 2025 of the outcome of the selection process and whether you are eligible to enroll in our part-time PhD program starting September 2025. 

Do you have any questions about the application process? Please contact us via phd@nyenrode.nl and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Program investment

The total cost for the part-time PhD program, for participants who start during Academic Year 2025-2026, are €30.750 (VAT free).

The fees* differ per phase:

• Phase 1 (1 year) = € 4.250
• Phase 2 (year 1) = € 9.750
• Phase 2 (year 2) = € 9.750
• Phase 3 (year 1) = € 3.500
• Phase 3 (year 2) = € 3.500
• Every additional year € 3.500

* The fee does not cover the costs for books, overnight stays in our campus hotel, and travel expenses. The fees also do not cover visits to (international) academic conferences or PhD consortia (i.e., travel costs, conference fees).