Singapore Management University (SMU) Academic Research PhD Programmes

Do you have at least a Bachelor’s degree?
Are you inclined to think critically & find innovative solutions to problems?
Do you have a passion for doing research?

SMU, situated in the heart of the city of Singapore, runs internationally reputable academic research PhD programmes. Our high-quality PhD curricula provide our students and graduates with the capabilities to conduct leading-edge research in their specialised or multidisciplinary fields. We offer six PhD programmes listed below:

• PhD in Accounting
• PhD in Business (with specialisations in: Finance, Marketing, Operations Management, Organisational Behaviour & Human Resources, and Strategic Management & Organisation
• PhD in Economics
• PhD in Psychology
• PhD in Computer Science
• PhD in Information Systems

SMU’s PhD students are actively engaged in the city’s financial, business, civic & cultural communities, and SMU provides up-to-date infrastructure to support our students in their research.

Fully-funded scholarships are provided

A successful candidate will receive a fully-funded scholarship. The scholarship covers registration and subsidised tuition fees, and provides monthly living stipends. For outstanding students in Computer Science or Information Systems*, we provide a higher monthly stipend rate.

The scholarship is for a maximum duration of four years; it is renewed yearly, conditioned on good academic performance.

In the fifth year, students who have been on the scholarship may receive continued support through research and teaching assistantships or industry grants.

* Also, the Industry Postgraduate Programme is open to Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents.

Social & professional growth opportunities are provided

• Participate in professional training workshops [e.g. teaching, scientific presentation, etc].
• Strengthen research skills as Research Assistants.
• Strengthen teaching skills as Teaching Assistants & Graduate Instructors.
• Collaborate on research with professors & fellow PhD students.
• Participate in, and win best paper awards, at distinguished international conferences – generous conference funding available.
• Participate in competitive internships with prestigious international organisations.
• Win prestigious SMU awards/fellowships:
  • SMU Presidential Doctoral Fellowship
  • SMU Presidential Doctoral Fellowship in Computing (award for outstanding PhD candidates)
  • SMU Multidisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship (awarded to existing PhD students whose research output show the use of techniques from two or more fields of research).

Our academic research PhD graduates have found good academic and industry placements

SMU PhD graduates have been sought after by prestigious academic institutions and industry organisations, including:

Academic Institutions (Singapore/International)

• Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Fudan University, China
• National University of Singapore
• Renmin University
• Tilburg University, The Netherlands
• Tokyo International University, Japan

Industry Organisations (Singapore/International)

• Alibaba Group, China
• A*STAR, Singapore
• Baidu, USA
• Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
• IBM Singapore
• Microsoft USA

Students’/Graduates’ Stories

Read more about our students’ & graduates’ experiences in the SMU Doctoral Blog.

Application Information

Priority for consideration of scholarships will be given to:
* candidates who apply by 31 October.
** candidates who apply by 31 March.

Admission requirements can be found in the individual programme’s websites (links provided above).

Contact Us

Web: https://graduatestudies.smu.edu.sg/phd
Email: [email protected]