This doctoral program aims at educating and developing young scholars in the fields of tourism management, and enabling them to conduct highly qualified scientific research that advances the knowledge of tourism management in both China and the rest of the world. The program is designed for candidates with outstanding intellectual abilities and a strong commitment to research, who are passionate to become excellent researchers and faculty members, especially within top management institutions. The specific objectives of this program are:
· To develop academic faculty for leading business schools both in and outside China;
· To enrich the intellectual environment of School of Economics and Commerce.;
· To enhance the quality of scholarly tourism management research.
Program Outline
Program length. The program requires three to five years of study for applicants who are bachelor degree holders and four years for applicants with master degrees.
Coursework. In the first two years of the program, students are required to take a minimum of 35 credits, including 30 credits of compulsory courses for four-year students; and 45 credits, including 35 credits of compulsory courses for five-year students. All doctoral students are also required to attend research seminars in their respective areas. Doctoral students who are enrolled in these three concentrations - organizational behavior and human resources management, marketing, and strategic management are mainly taught in English (IPHD Program), while students in other majors are taught in Chinese.
Comprehensive examination. All doctoral students must take a comprehensive exam at the end of their second year, which focuses on coursework completed as well as related theoretical knowledge and research methodology in their respective majors of study.
Research papers and publications. All doctoral students are required to complete at least two research papers that get accepted or published in designated Chinese or international journals before their graduation. To encourage research collaboration, these papers can be co-authored with the student’s dissertation supervisors, but the student should be the first author, or the second author if his/her supervisor is the first author.
Dissertations. All doctoral students are expected to present an oral defense of their dissertation proposal to the faculty dissertation committee. Their doctoral dissertation research must be original and significant for related literature. Before a final oral thesis defense, the dissertation must pass an anonymous review process, in which five reviewers will be randomly chosen from the academic reviewer pool. Only when a doctoral student successfully passes his/her final oral thesis defense and meet all requirements by the program, will he/she be considered to completion of the entire doctoral program and entitled to earn a PhD degree from Peking University.
Committee structure. Right after entering the program, each doctoral student will be assigned a mentor, who will provide advice and guidance in course selection as well as opportunities to learn how to do research. Upon mutual agreement, doctoral students may change mentors at the end of each semester. At the end of each academic year, a faculty committee in each major area or concentration of study will evaluate doctoral students’ performance and issue suggestions or warnings based on assessment results. A formal advisor will be assigned to a doctoral student upon successful passage of the comprehensive examination, at which time a dissertation committee will be formed, generally containing five faculty members, one of which must be a professor from outside School of Economics and Commerce.
