Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) is hiring PhD students in Business Administration

Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) is one of four schools within Jönköping University. We offer an international and team-oriented workplace with competitive education programmes at Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral levels, as well as a thriving research environment and many opportunities for personal development. Our mission is to advance the theory and practice of business, with a specific focus on entrepreneurship, ownership, and renewal. Our guiding principles are: international at heart, entrepreneurial in mind, and responsible in action. These principles cut across our mission and all our activities. They signal the role we wish to play in relation to all our stakeholders. JIBS is triple crown accredited by AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA. Recent assessments of research productivity and impact rank JIBS first in Sweden in business administration and economics and first in Europe and second in the world in entrepreneurship. In the latest Financial Times European Business School ranking, JIBS was ranked among the top 100.

About the position

Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) is hiring four PhD students in Business Administration on a full-time basis (100%).

The starting date is September 1st, 2026, or according to agreement. As a PhD student, you will be enrolled in a highly qualified education within a thriving research environment. You will also get many opportunities for enhancing your teaching skills and for personal development. For more information about our PhD program, please visit our information page.

We offer fully financed positions to our doctoral students who receive competitive salaries for their work as employees of JIBS. Most of your time will be devoted to your doctoral studies (80%) including coursework and writing a doctoral thesis. The coursework consists of both mandatory and elective PhD courses. The remaining time (20%) is allocated for teaching and administrative tasks.

We seek candidates motivated to pursue an international research career and with a strong drive to conduct high-quality academic research within a domain of business administration. Research at JIBS gravitates around our focus areas entrepreneurship, ownership, or renewal and we expect your research interests to resonate with at least one of our interdisciplinary research centres: Media, Management and Transformation Centre (MMTC), Centre for Family Entrepreneurship and Ownership (CeFEO), and Centre for Entrepreneurship and Spatial Economics (CEnSE). More information about centre research can be found on respective web pages. Topics include (but are not limited to):

• New technologies, media, and its effects on society, industries, and customer interactions.
• Entrepreneurship, strategy, and organizing for enhanced sustainability, including diversity and inclusion.
• Entrepreneurship, strategy, and organizing in new industries.
• Family ownership and family business, heterogeneity in family ownership and family business. Family business governance, strategy, and organization.
• Meanings and implications of ownership; ownership and organizational goals. Strategy, governance, and accounting across different ownership forms.
• Entrepreneurial life cycle, goals, cognition, emotions, and behaviors of entrepreneurial actors, in relation to family and ownership.

Qualifications

Admission to our doctoral program requires:

• Been (or soon to be) awarded a degree at second-cycle level (Master).
• Achieved at least the equivalent of 240 ECTS credits, of which a minimum of 60 ECTS credits must have been achieved at the second-cycle level.
• Achieved at least 90 ECTS credits in Business Administration.

The main language of research and teaching at JIBS is English. You must be fluent in both written and spoken English to be eligible for our doctoral program.

Application

Please submit the following (incomplete applications will be disregarded):

• A letter of intent, answering the following three questions: Why do you want to be a PhD student? Why do you want to be a PhD student at JIBS? Why should we select you for such position?
• A preliminary research proposal (max. 3000 words), describing your present research interest and outlining how you believe your research interest fits with one or more of our research centers.
• Your CV.
• Attested documents on relevant background (academic transcripts, degree diplomas, evidence of prior teaching and/or industry experience).
• A copy of your Master thesis (if not finished at the time of application, please send a current draft or an executive summary of it) and, where applicable, other publications.
• A reference letter from a person who can evaluate your academic potential.
• Contact information (name, phone numbers, and email) of two additional references. Please ensure that all relevant documents are in English.

Assessment

Candidates will be assessed based on the following criteria:

• Formal qualification requirements for admission into the PhD program.
• Quality of application documents. We value genuine research interests and discourage AI-generated research proposals.
• Excellent academic merits, signaling the potential to pursue excellent research in business administration.
• Personal profile and motivation for further studies.
• Fit with JIBS’ working culture and research areas.
• Fit with at least one research centre at JIBS.

Applications for the PhD position should be submitted no later than May 15, 2026.

Jönköping University is a modern institution characterized by its internationalization and entrepreneurial spirit. Here, you will find qualified, inventive, and enterprising staff from all over the world. We develop new knowledge and share expertise through sustainable collaborations with industry, the public sector, and other academic institutions. We offer an equal and inclusive workplace and welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds. Read more about us at https://ju.se/ (https://ju.se/)