About studies at NHH

Admission requirements

The NHH PhD programme is designed for candidates with proven academic capabilities, motivation, and the potential for advanced analytical research. Previous academic work, standardised graduate examination performance (GMAT or GRE), and the personal assessment of instructors and professional supervisors are taken into consideration in assessing each applicant's qualifications. Candidates apply for admission to one of the specialisation fields.

1. Application form

An online application process is used for the PhD programme at NHH. The application is not considerd complete until all the relevant fields have been completed and all required imformation has been attached and received by NHH. Incomplete applications forms will not be considered.

2. Statement of purpose

Applicants must provide a statement of purpose, outlining their reasons for applying, choice of field of study (see list of departments), background relevant for the chosen field of study, future career plans, and other information which may aid in the evaluation of their aptitude and motivation for PhD work.

3. Research proposal

Applicants are required to submit a tentative research proposal with the application. The purpose of this is is to see in which direction the applicant is aiming to take his/her research, and it does not need to be too detailed. The research proposal should include the following:

1. A description of the proposed research topic or issue to be examined
2. A suggested formulation for the research question(s) to be addressed
3. A tentative project description
4. A provisional training plan for the taught element of the programme
5. A statement of motivation for pursuing the proposed research topic

Applicants should acquaint themselves with the courses offered at the PhD level to enable them to put together a provisional training plan for the taught element of the programme. Details of the requirements for the taught element of the PhD programme are available here, and information on the courses offered is available here,

Applicants may contact a faculty members from the department relevant to their research topic in order to discuss the research proposal, and/or to see if it the topic is something that may be of interest for the department concerned. More information on the reserch interests of individual faculty members is available by clicking on the links below:

• Department of Accounting, Auditing and Law
• Department of Economics
• Department of Finance and Management Science
• Department of Strategy and Management

In total the research proposal should be in the region of five to ten pages in length.

4. Certified copies of relevant transcripts and diplomas

Admission is based on a Master of Science degree or its equivalent with good grades. Applicants should have at least one and a half years of previous study in business administration and economics (this includes subjects like statistics, mathematics, accounting, finance, computing, management, and marketing).

Official transcripts from each college, university, or other institution of higher learning attended, as well as secondary/high school (gymnasium) grades. Students with academic records from schools outside of Norway must provide a thorough explanation of the programmes' degree requirements and grading system.

Students who are completing their master degree during the current semester, with the intention of starting the PhD programme in the autumn semester, are also invited to apply. The qualifying education must be completed before enrolment in the PhD programme.

5. GMAT or GRE

Applicants with a qualifying master degree from a non-Nordic insitution are required to take the GMAT or GRE. In character with the high academic standards at NHH, we require good GMAT or GRE scores from applicants. The minimum test scores to be considered for admission are:

• GMAT - a total score of 550 points
• GRE - 660 points on the Quantative reasoning section and 500 points on the Verbal reasoning section

GMAT and GRE scores must be from within the last five years. More information is available on the GMAT here, and on the GRE here. The NHH PhD programme school code number for GMAT is 7KZ-ZK-29 and for GRE is 0686.

6. TOEFL or IELTS

Students are required to have a good command of the English language. The following applicants will be considered to fit with this profile:

• Applicants whose native language is English
• Applicants with a qualifying master degree from a Nordic insitution
• Applicants with a qualifying master degree where the language of tuition was English

All other applicants must take either TOEFL or IELTS. The minimum standard for test scores that NHH accepts are:

• TOEFL - a total score of 550 points for the written test or 213 for the computer-based version or 79 points on the internet based test
• IELTS- a score of 6.0

TOEFL / IETLS scores must be from within the last two years. More information is available on the TOEFL here, and on the IELTS here. The NHH code number for TOEFL is 0686.

7. Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Applicants must submit an up-to-date academic CV, complete with a list of published and unpublished papers if relevant.

8. Letters of recommendation

Two or three letters of recommendation evaluating the applicant's academic potential are required. These should be from professors that know the applicant well.

9. Documentation of funding

Applicants must be able to document funding for the three year duration of the PhD programme. Applicants successfully awarded Research Scholarships will be deemed to have satisfied this requirement.

More details on the online applications process can be found here.

Last updated: 2007-11-01. Contact: Studieadministrasjonen