1. Postgraduate Research Programmes
Impacting Business, Public Institutions and Society Through Research

2. Our Programmes
The SMU Experience
SMU PhD programmes develop
world-class researchers. Become
future thought leaders in your
specialised field.
‘The experience moves me away
from textbook to real-world
application.’ PhD students take
their research to the next level.
At a Glance
Singapore
SMU Admissions
A ‘little red dot’ always bustling
with life, Singapore offers an
enriching journey for your PhD
experience.
SMU invites candidates who
possess a good Bachelor’s
degree to join our exciting PhD
programmes.

3. Overview
SMU PhD students:
Produce high-quality research that generates impactful
and real-world relevant outcomes
Learn from eminent faculty members and
internationally-renowned visiting academics
Undertake research assistantships in SMU Institutes,
Centres, Labs & Initiatives (ICLIs)
Undertake teaching assistantships and internships

4. PhD Programmes
Lee Kong Chian School of Business
• PhD in Business
 (Finance / OBHR / Marketing NEW / Strategic Management & Organisation NEW)
School of Economics
• PhD in Economics
School of Information Systems
• PhD in Information Systems
School of Social Sciences
• PhD in Psychology

5. Programme Structure
Coursework
[Years 1 to 2]
Qualifying
Examination
[By Year 2]
Dissertation
• Oral Defence of Proposal [by Term 1 of Year 3]
• Oral Defence & Completion of Dissertation [by end of Year 4]
* Students are encouraged to complete their PhDs in 4 years.

6. Fellowships & Scholarships
Full
Scholarships
Presidential
Doctoral
Fellowships
• Cover tuition and registration fees, and provide
monthly stipends.
• Renewable yearly, up to Year 4, based on good
academic performance.
• Exceptionally qualified PhD students.
• Renewable yearly, up to Year 4, based on good
academic performance.
• Higher monthly stipends.

7. Interdisciplinary Doctoral Programme
(IDP)
Primary
Specialisation
Secondary
Specialisation
(8 Course Units)
(4 Course Units)
Students will:
• have research advisors from both
specialisations.
• undertake research assistantships with the
institutes and centres in the university.
• receive the Presidential Doctoral Fellowship.

8. Interdisciplinary Doctoral Programme
(IDP)
• Analytics for Business, Consumer & Social Insights
Primary Specialisation Secondary Specialisation
Information Systems
Economics, Marketing or Psychology
Marketing
Economics, Information Systems or
Psychology
• Financial Markets & Institutions
Primary Specialisation Secondary Specialisation
Economics
Finance

9. Research@SMU: ICLIs
SMU has over 20 Institutes, Centres, Labs & Initiatives (ICLIs),
most in collaboration with industry partners. These ICLIs:
Conduct world-class
research and influence
industry practice.
Engage students as
research assistants &
postdoctoral fellows
on impactful projects.

10. Research@SMU:
Research Assistantships
Students
are
involved
in
research
assistantships at ICLIs and the Schools.
Full-time/Part-time RA appointments
Cover tuition fees and
provide monthly stipends,
or supplement
scholarship stipends.
Allow students to work in
teams undertaking
targeted and impactful
research.

11. Research@SMU:
Internships
Through internships, SMU students steer
their research towards practical problems.
With leading labs
(such as HPLabs)
Exchanges with
Carnegie Mellon
University (CMU)

12. SMU PhD Students’ Research
Achievements/Contributions
Chee Meng Tey & Payas Gupta
Qiang Yan & Jin Han
Distributed System Security (NDSS)
Symposium 2013
NDSS Symposium 2012
SMU PhD students have received Best / Distinguished
Distinguished Paper Award
Paper Awardsthe Network &
Best Paper Award at for their outstanding research papers. at the
I Can Be You: Questioning the use of Keystroke
as Biometrics
Yen Teik Lee
On Limitations of Designing Leakage-resilient
Password Systems: Attacks, Principles and
Usability
View more examples
of targeted &
impactful research
Fuwei Jiang
Society for Financial Studies Finance
Cavalcade Award for the Best Paper in
Corporate Finance (May 2013)
Best Paper Award in Investment at
The Chinese Finance Association
Annual Conference 2010
Political Connections & Firm Value: Evidence
from the Disgression Discontinuity Design of
Close Gubernatorial Elections
How Predictable is the Chinese Stock Market

13. Career Prospects
In companies
which need people
to be Thought
Leaders of their
Businesses.
As eminent and
distinguished
Faculty in
Colleges and
Universities.
Enter partnerships
with business
people looking for
Entrepreneurship
opportunities.
A list of our graduates is found at: http://pgr.smu.edu.sg/phdsmu/graduates1.

14. Teaching@SMU
The Centre for Teaching Excellence equips teaching
assistants with formal teaching experience through
professional skills development workshops.
Graduate Instructors
Forum for Teaching
(GIFT)
Faculty Online Learning Kits
Faculty Teaching Forums
Teaching Portfolio Workshops
(useful for applying for faculty positions)
Brown bag conversations by SMU faculty
on teaching & learning
Collaborative Learning Workshops
Lesson Planning Workshops

15. Singapore

16. Quick Facts
Geography
• 136.8 km north of the equator (tropical
climate)
• Island of 704 square kilometres
• Exotic ‘garden-city’
People
• Population: 5.3 million
• Residents : 3.8 million (74% Chinese, 13%
Malay, 9% Indian, 4% Eurasians & others)
Wealth
• 4th wealthiest country in terms of GDP per
- World Bank, 2011
capita
Languages
• English
• Chinese
• Malay
• Tamil

17. Marina Bay Sands

18. Sentosa

19. About SMU
University Profile
• Established in January 2000
• First publicly-funded autonomous university
in Singapore
• City campus surrounded by museums,
theatres, educational institutions, art
galleries, cafés, restaurants and a range of
retail outlets
Student Profile
• 7,108 full-time undergraduates
• 874 postgraduates
•
36 countries represented
As of 7 September 2012
Faculty Profile
•
Globally diverse faculty pool with
PhDs from leading international
universities
• 300 full-time faculty*
• 61% international faculty*
• 39,273 cumulative citations (as of March 2010)
*As of 31 December 2012

20. Life@SMU
In Singapore
• Located in the heart of the city,
enjoy easy access to real-life
data-sets, and internationallyknown scholars, practitioners,
entrepreneurs & distinguished
educators.
At the
University
• Be part of a vibrant research
environment in a highly-focused
university.
As a PhD
Student
• Pursue research that targets
theoretical advances and/or
practical impact.

21. Admission Requirements
Passion
For the pursuit and creation of
knowledge to benefit society.
At least a good
Bachelor’s degree
A Master’s degree is useful but
not required.
GMAT/GRE
TOEFL/IELTS
SMU, NUS and NTU students are
exempted.
For applicants whose medium of
instruction at the undergraduate level
was not English.
* Please refer to the individual programmes’ website for more details.

22. Application Procedure
When to Apply?
Intake
Opening Date for Application
Closing Date for Application
August
1 November (of prior year)
31 January (of intake year)
January
1 April (of prior year)
30 June (of prior year)
Admission Schedule
Admission
Offers
Matriculation &
Orientation
Start of PhD
Programme
Early-March
Early-August
Mid-August
August Intake
Early-August
End-December
Early-January
January Intake

23. Our Programmes
The SMU Experience
SMU PhD programmes develop
world-class researchers. Become
future thought leaders in your
specialised field.
“The experience moves me away
from textbook to real-world
application.” PhD students take
their research to the next level.
At a Glance
Singapore
SMU Admissions
A “little red dot” always bustling
with life, Singapore offers an
enriching journey for your PhD
experience.
SMU invites candidates who
possess a good Bachelor’s
degree to join our exciting PhD
programmes.