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?

The SMU College of Graduate Research Studies (CGRS) provides a holistic and community-based experience in postgraduate research that is based on interdisciplinary programmes, courses, events, networking and cohort-building.

We offer eight 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
• PhD in Law, Commerce and Technology (a new interdisciplinary PhD programme at SMU)
• PhD in PhD in Asian Urbanisms (a new interdisciplinary PhD programme at SMU)

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. A special incentive package, which is additional funding support, will be provided to students in the PhD in Law, Commerce and Technology, and PhD in Asian Urbanisms programmes.

* Also, for this programme the Industry Postgraduate Programme and Part-time Study are available options for 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 Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship (awarded to existing PhD students who have shown exemplary pursuit of research that crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries).

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)

• Bocconi University, Italy
• Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Indian School of Business
• National University of Singapore
• Peking University, China
• Tilburg University, The Netherlands
• Tokyo International University, Japan
• University of Engineering & Technology, Vietnam National University
• Wuhan University, China
• Zhejiang University, China

Industry Organisations (Singapore/International)

• Alibaba Group, China
• A*STAR, Singapore
• Baidu, USA
• Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
• Google, USA
• Grab Singapore
• Huawei, China
• IBM Singapore
• Microsoft USA
• Telkom Indonesia
• Twitter Singapore

Students’/Graduates’ Stories

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

Application Information

* A successful candidate who applies early may be provided with an early offer.

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

Contact Us

Web: graduatestudies.smu.edu.sg/phd
Email: phd@smu.edu.sg