PhD candidate in Accounting

As a PhD candidate in accounting, you will have the opportunity to make an impact by researching fundamental and societally relevant questions in the field of accounting. You will be part of the Department of Accounting Research Group at TiSEM, which is a high-quality and high-impact research group with 15 active researchers at the assistant, associate, and full professor levels, as well as 10 PhD and post-doc students. Our faculty members conduct and publish research on a wide range of topics, such as financial reporting, management accounting, and sustainability, using state-of-the-art experimental, analytical, and archival methods. Our research group is highly ranked, has a strong international network, and has a successful track record of PhD placements at top institutions in- and outside of Europe. 

Your position
You will be enrolled as a PhD candidate in the renowned PhD program of the CentER Graduate School of Business. At the start of the program, you will mainly receive extensive graduate-level training in theory and methods by taking several PhD-level courses. The course load amounts to 36 ECTS credits, which is the equivalent of 6 full courses. The course program is composed by your (intended) supervisors and Graduate Program Coordinator and will be tailored to your research interests and background. This PhD training phase will provide you with a broad array of theoretical and econometric tools that are necessary to successfully develop original and pioneering scholarly research in accounting. All courses are taught in English.

Next to your training, you will start conducting your dissertation research. A PhD dissertation at CentER requires the design and execution of three 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. You will often conduct this research in collaboration with faculty members and/or other PhD students. The aim is to publish your projects in high-quality academic journals. 

You will be guided by faculty in conducting your research. Based on your research interests and preferences, and supervisor availability, you will be assigned two advisors from the Accounting Research Group. More broadly, you will collaborate extensively with the members of the Accounting Research Group. You will be able to benefit from the department’s strong research focus and its numerous resources (e.g., databases, research seminars with external speakers, brown-bag presentation of faculty and students’ research, an active PhD reading group, career planning, skills-enhancement workshops, international conferences, contacts with practitioners, etc.).

As part of the CentER’s graduate school, you will also benefit from the excellent research and work environment that TISEM offers, with a large community of graduate students from many countries, access to a wide array of research databases, excellent facilities to conduct experiments, state-of-the-art library, a programming group, and support for grant applications. There is also a travel budget for attending PhD level courses outside of CentER, research visits, and conferences.

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.

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.

Your profile

Please review the formal admission requirements here. In short, we are looking for the following:

1. An academic Master’s or MPhil/Research master’s degree in business and/or economics. You should have affinity or clear interest in accounting and a solid quantitative background.
2. Completed the previous degree with an excellent GPA (top 10% of class as a guideline).
3. Excellent command of spoken and written English.
4. Strong motivation to perform top-level research and teaching, ability to work autonomously and within a team, interest in interacting and delivering within a group in an international environment, and ambition to pursue an (international) academic career.
5. For candidates with a master’s degree from a university outside Europe: a recent GRE or GMAT test score of at most two years old.
6. In addition to the formal requirements: if you have evidence of any of the following additional skills, please include them specifically in your application, as they can be of value in the selection process:
   1. Knowledge of Python / R programming and/or other evidence of data science skills.
   2. Evidence of prior research work, exemplified by a master’s thesis, or academic papers.
   3. Excellent academic writing skills (a writing sample of a thesis or paper can serve as evidence).

Tilburg University offers excellent benefits in a pleasant working environment:

• Employment of 1 FTE
• Salary between €3059 (year 1) and € 3881 (year 4) gross per month for full-time employment (UFO-profile Promovendus, salary scale P).
• This is a vacancy for a PhD in accordance with Article 2.3 paragraph 8 sub b CLA DU. You will initially be given a temporary contract for the duration of 18 months. The evaluation will take place after about 14 months. Upon a positive evaluation, this contract will be followed by a new fixed-term contract of 30 months. (N.B. program is 4 years, full-time).
• Vacation pay of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.
• Over 8 weeks of vacation leave.
• Hybrid working with home working allowance (€2 p/day) and internet allowance (€25 p/month).
• Reimbursement sustainable commuting: walking, cycling, and public transport.
• Options model for additional leave, pension, a bicycle or personal training.
• Moving allowance (subject to conditions).
• 30% rule for international employees (if applicable).
• Pension through ABP.
• Ample training offer: personal development, leadership, education, research or language courses.
• Inclusive work culture: everyone welcome, equal opportunities.
• A green, inviting campus that’s easily accessible by public transport.

For more information, please see our website and the CLA Dutch Universities.

Tilburg School of Economics and Management (TiSEM) is the university largest faculty.  TiSEM offers well reputed academic research and education. Its research belongs to the European top. The education programs, of which the majority are offered completely in English, are on the international map with the AACSB accreditation awarded in 2002. Employees and students form an ambitious international community.

Tilburg School of Economics and Management

Want to know more?
Would you like to know more before applying? Feel free to contact Graduate Program Coordinator in Accounting, Professor Edith Leung at p.y.e.leung@tilburguniversity.edu.