Job Description
As a PhD student you will primarily work on the development, implementation and publication of research projects. The PhD position will be based in the Accountancy Department Research Group of TISEM, a high-quality and high-impact research group of TiSEM with 15 active researchers at the assistant, associate or full professor level and currently with 8 PhD students. Faculty cover a wide range of research topics and methods and belong to the top 5 research groups in Europe. You will be able to benefit from the department’s strong research focus and its numerous resources (e.g., databases, research seminars, brown bags and reading groups, career planning, skills-enhancement workshops, international conferences, contacts with practitioners, etc.).

You will be enrolled as a PhD candidate in the world-class PhD program of CentER Graduate School of Business, where you will receive extensive training in theory and methods by taking several PhD-level courses (about 36 European credits). There is also a travel budget for attending PhD level courses outside of CentER, work visits and conferences. The training can be adapted to the previous educational achievements of the PhD candidate by mutual agreement with the supervisors. 

80% of the position’s time will be dedicated to the completion of your PhD research, and 20% to the acquisition of academic skills through teaching courses and supervising master/bachelor theses within the department.

A PhD dissertation at CentER requires the design and execution of 3 studies. The execution of the research work itself typically involves the conceptualization of the research questions and ideas, data collection, qualitative and/or quantitative analysis of the data, and writing and presenting of academic papers. The aim is to publish about those projects in high-quality academic journals. Two advisors will be assigned for supervising your PhD research. Upon successful completion of your courses and your research work, as demonstrated by a submitted and approved PhD dissertation and the subsequent defense, you will be awarded a doctoral degree by Tilburg University. 

Requirements
1)    An academic Master’s or MPhil/Research Master’s degree in business. The candidate should have an interest in Accounting, Finance and Sustainability and preferably possess already good quantitative skills.
2)    Completed the previous degree with an excellent GPA (top 20% of class as guideline)
3)    Excellent command of English both written and spoken
4)    Ambition to perform top-level research and occasionally teach, ability to work autonomously and within a team, and interest in interacting and delivering within a group in an international environment.
5)    A genuine interest in accounting measurement and reporting implications of sustainability topics, with special attention to the context and implications of the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. 
6)    For candidates with a Master degree from a university outside Europe: a recent GRE or GMAT test score of at most two years old. A GRE or GMAT is also strongly recommended for candidates that have completed a Master’s degree in Europe that is not research-oriented, as this will strengthen a candidate’s credibility.
7)    If you have any of the following additional skills or evidence of skills, please include them specifically in your application, as they can be of value in the selection process:
       a.    Knowledge of Python / R programming and/or other evidence of data science skills 
       b.    Evidence of prior research work, exemplified by a master’s thesis, or academic papers.
       c.    Excellent academic writing skills (a writing sample of a thesis or paper can serve as evidence)

Terms of employment and conditions
Tilburg University is rated among the top Dutch employers and has excellent terms of employment. The appointment will be for the total of 48 months. The selected candidate will initially be appointed for 16 months, with an extension for the following 32 months based on a positive evaluation. The evaluation will take place after about 12 months.

The appointed PhD candidate will be an employee of Tilburg University.  The starting gross salary is 
€ 2,770 per month (for a full-time appointment) in the first year, up to € 3,539 in the final year. In addition, there is a holiday allowance (8% of the annual salary, in May), and end-of-year bonus (8.3% of the annual salary, in December). 

All university employees are covered by the so-called civil servants pension fund (ABP). Researchers from outside the Netherlands may qualify for a tax-free allowance equal to 30% of their taxable salary. The university will apply for such an allowance on their behalf. The university offers very good fringe benefits (it is one of the best non-profit employers in the Netherlands), such as an options model for terms and conditions of employment and excellent reimbursement of moving expenses.

Tilburg University

Tilburg University is one of Europe’s leading universities in the fields of business and economics, ranking #5 in Europe in the field of Business Research (UT Dallas World Ranking) and #27 in Economics & Business Worldwide (US News Ranking 2023), #1 in Accounting & Finance (Netherlands) and #29 (worldwide) in the Shanghai Global Ranking.  The School of Economics and Management has 7,600 students (21% international) and 410 academic staff (54% international).  The campus provides a green, academically centered environment with modern facilities and convenient local transportation.  Tilburg’s central position in the Benelux offers excellent regional and international access.  Major airports nearby include Amsterdam (Netherlands), Brussels (Belgium) and Düsseldorf (Germany).  English is the working language of the university.