Fully funded PhD positions in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM)

Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM) is the joint research institute of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE). Each year, ERIM initiates new and internationally oriented PhD research projects focusing on pioneering and innovative research in the fields of management and business research. For more information about ERIM please visit www.erim.eur.nl.

Contribute scientifically to strategy and entrepreneurship  
The PhD programme in Strategy and Entrepreneurship focuses on strategic renewal and firm performance and how the drivers of both can bring about purposeful change within organisations. The four research themes of the Strategy and Entrepreneurship programme are: corporate governance and competitiveness, entrepreneurship, global strategy, and new managerial roles & organisational forms. Although each draws on its own methodological traditions, faculty members necessarily apply a wide range of methods and frequently rely on meta-analysis, event history modelling, fs/QCA, and ethnographic observations.

RSM currently offers the following PhD project within its S&E research programme at ERIM:

o   PhD in Strategic Management or Entrepreneurship, deadline 30 April!

More information about the Full-time PhD in Business and Management programme can be found on the RSM website

Admission requirements

To be considered for a PhD position in Business and Management, you are expected to:

• hold an MSc, MA or MPhil degree in business or economics, or from related fields such as psychology, sociology, engineering, or mathematics (depending on PhD project)
• have excellent results in your first degree or graduate study
• show explicit interest in and motivation for scientific research
• ideally have a GMAT or GRE test result that places you in or above the 85th percentile of the test takers. It is possible to apply without GMAT/GRE scores, but we will look for additional evidence of excellence. (The test results should not be more than five years old.). Please note that if you have taken a GMAT test in 2026, your GMAT total score should be at least 650 to meet ERIM requirements.
• have TOEFL or IELTS test results. For an internet-based TOEFL test, ERIM requires a total score of at least 100 and all section scores (writing, speaking, reading, and listening) should be at least 23. A minimum score of 600 is required on paper-based TOEFL test. For IELTS, the minimum overall band score is 7.5 and all section scores (writing, speaking, reading, and listening) should be at least 6.5. (The language test results should not be more than two years old.). Please note that if you have taken a TOEFL test in 2026 (1-6 scale), all of your TOEFL iBt section scores should be at least 5 to meet ERIM requirements.

In addition to these formal requirements, candidates for the programme are selected on the basis of their CVs, academic references, and interviews with the potential supervisors.

Conditions of employment

Our PhD projects are fully funded and salaried positions, meaning that appointed PhD candidates are employees (promovendi) of Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR). Salary and benefits are in accordance with the collective labour agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU). EUR has attractive employment conditions, which include a holiday allowance of 8 per cent, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3 per cent, and a generous number of vacation days.

Successful candidates are appointed on a full-time basis for a duration up to four years with a possible extension.

PhD candidates also benefit from the state-of-the-art research facilities and financial support programme through the ERIM Support Programme (ESP), that ERIM set up for a wide range of research-related activities such as conference participation, international job markets, external courses, scientific and educational literature, visits to international supervisors, and international research studies.