Working within the general degree requirements, the PhD student and faculty advisor design a program of study to meet the student's research interests. A unique benefit of the PhD Program in Marketing at Vanderbilt is that it can be tailored to the background of each individual student. Marketing PhD students typically select courses and seminars within the functional area of marketing, supplemented with coursework from allied disciplines elsewhere at Vanderbilt University.
Doctoral program coursework requirements include a four-course sequence in a chosen basic discipline (psychology, math/economics, computer science, etc.), a four-course sequence in statistics and research methods ("tools courses" taken from the Vanderbilt Psychology and/or Economics Departments), and basic knowledge of marketing and other functional business disciplines (i.e., information technology, organization studies, and operations).
Students typically will complete the PhD coursework within three years, if they have no transferable credits, and spend approximately one more year conducting original research to complete a dissertation. PhD students will also be involved in other research projects in conjunction with faculty.
Many courses, including those in the basic discipline and in research methodology, are taken outside the Owen Graduate School of Management. Transfer credit from an accredited university may be granted for some coursework at the discretion of area faculty and the director of the PhD Program. The requirement of basic knowledge in other business functions is typically waived for students who have had prior coursework in their areas. Students must be enrolled full time.
