What our alumni say about the PhD programme in Management
Our alumni now are active researchers in different universities and institutions around the world, including IE business school, University of Colorado Boulder, Maastricht School of Management, Alliance Manchester Business School, Skema Business School, École hôtelière de Lausanne, among others.
Read their testimonials:
Martina Montauti
PhD in Management 2015, Assistant Professor of Strategy, IE Business School
The PhD programme in Management has provided me with invaluable opportunities to earn the skills and absorb the norms that are relevant to the academic profession, but also offered a bright intellectual environment to find my own voice in both research and teaching. A rare combination of high-profile faculties, engaging coursework, and great colleagues made my doctoral studies in Lugano a true life-changing experience.
Joao Paulo Fontes Duarte
PhD in Management 2021, Assistant Professor, Maastricht School of Management
The training I received at IMO’s PhD programme represents a critical foundation of my development as a researcher. The programme's rich and comprehensive curriculum gave me the tools to study complex organizational phenomena by exposing me to a wide array of theories and methodologies. I was constantly met with stimulating ideas and cutting-edge research from internationally-renowned faculty that kept me up to date with the developing field. The programme also provided me with a wealth of invaluable opportunities to form research collaborations with world-class scholars and to present my work at international scientific events. New PhD students can expect a challenging but rewarding experience that encourages constant intellectual development. IMO cultivates a sense of collegiality and community among PhD students that is critical for their success.
Thorsten Whale
PhD in Management 2019, Assistant Professor, Alliance Manchester Business School
When I started my PhD, a senior faculty member at USI told me that academia would be a hard but also an immensely rewarding career path, and during my PhD I got to experience just that: the sometimes hard-to-bear level of uncertainty but also the rewards of constantly discovering new perspectives and addressing interesting questions. My first two years at USI -spent between a variety of PhD courses and seminars- were among the most intense but also rewarding. Faculty and doctoral students would always be around, discussing new research ideas or methods, and it was this constant motivation and consultable skill that helped me see the PhD through. I take from my time as a PhD student a feeling of community having been given access to a cohort of people that started as PhD students with me and that I now rely on for advice and support, and that I am glad to still call my friends.
Carla Rua-Gomez
PhD in Management 2019, Assistant Professor, Skema Business School
By joining IMO, I got the chance to be part of a great community of fantastic faculty and colleagues. Throughout my PhD journey, I had the opportunity to interact with faculty from the Institute and international faculty that visited us and taught us different courses. I also had the chance to take several courses and summer schools from various renowned universities in Europe. One life chance event was the opportunity to visit Stanford University for a year, which allowed me to expose my research in an international context. Throughout my PhD, professors at the Institute constantly challenged me and pushed me outside my comfort zone. This is something I will always appreciate because this, in the end, helped me to create the set of skills I needed to move forward in my academic career.
