Job Description & Qualification
SKEMA Business School welcomes applications to the Finance and Accounting track of its Ph.D. program. The PhD in Management at SKEMA is a selective, five-year, full-time program with six specializations, including Finance & Accounting. The program is designed to provide doctoral students with a solid education in areas needed to carry out cutting-edge theoretical and empirical research. All courses and seminars take place in English. The program is structured as two years of coursework followed by the three years of research activity during which students are expected to develop three high quality publishable scientific articles. The first year of coursework is common across all six tracks. This year builds the foundations for track-specific advanced courses in the second year of the program. At the end of the second year, students must successfully pass comprehensive examinations to be eligible to continue in the program. Successful graduates receive a Ph.D. degree from SKEMA Business School and a French state doctoral degree from the Université Côte d'Azur (UniCA).

SKEMA is committed to very close supervision of PhD students throughout the program. Each supervisor handles only a few PhD students which guarantees attention to and care for the work of every student. Our faculty members are renowned scholars in the international research community and regularly publish in top-tier academic journals. Our seminar program is extensive and enables students to meet other top researchers from around the world. This lively research environment prepares students for the academic job market by providing them with the skills necessary to teach in top business schools and publish in leading academic journals.

The program selects highly qualified applicants with strong research potential. Candidates should hold a master’s degree (or be close to completion). All selected candidates are supported by a scholarship. Financial support is sufficient to cover living expenses. Tuition fees are waived. SKEMA also provides financial support for conferences, access to proprietary data, running experiments and visiting stays at other research institutions. The first two years of the program take place in Sophia Antipolis. Students may relocate to the SKEMA campus where their PhD advisor is located from year three onwards. The program is offered on a full-time basis, and students are expected to be on campus regularly.

Application Procedure
Applications for the 2026–2027 academic year are now open across all six tracks. The application deadline is February 15, 2026, at 23:59 CET.
The application package must be submitted by email as a single .zip file to: admissions-phd@skema.edu The application package should include: • A cover letter describing the applicant’s motivation for joining the PhD program and clearly identifying the chosen track. Applicants to the Sustainability or AI for Business concentrations must also indicate a secondary track among the four specialisations (Strategy and Innovation; Finance and Accounting; Operations and Analytics; Marketing).
• Copies of all relevant degrees (Bachelor’s and Master’s diplomas)
• Curriculum vitae
• Proof of proficiency in English (e.g., TOEFL or IELTS scores, or proof that a previous Bachelor's or Master's degree was completed in English)
• GRE or GMAT scores are optional but recommended
• A research proposal (maximum 5 pages) demonstrating the applicant’s ability to conduct academic research in a relevant field.
• Two letters of recommendation from researchers familiar with candidates' academic experience should be sent to the same e-mail address by the referees before the deadline.

About the Organization
RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT
PhD students in finance and accounting attend the activities of the FAIRR Research Center, which is dedicated to producing high quality academic research in Finance and Accounting. The research center comprises about 25 faculty members in finance and accounting and PhD students. FAIRR members are particularly focused on developing high-level expertise in the areas of digital finance, entrepreneurial finance, governance, intermediaries, corporate restructuring, disclosure, financial regulation and household finance alongside other corporate finance, market finance and accounting topics.

The research center organizes regular research seminars on the three French campuses, hosts international workshops and conferences and runs a PhD program with a dedicated Finance & Accounting track. Researchers have access to a wide range of databases, including WRDS (CRSP, Compustat, WorldScope, ISS, IBES...), DealScan, SDC, Datastream etc.

Members have presented their papers at academic and professional conferences and international institutions. Their work has led to publications in top-ranked journals in finance, accounting, management, economics and entrepreneurial finance (including American Economic Review, Economic Journal, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Economic Theory, Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial Intermediation, Management Science, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Review of Finance and Review of Financial Studies).

For further information: https://www.skema.edu/en/finance-accounting-insights-risk-and-regulation

ABOUT SKEMA
With 11,000 students of 130 nationalities and 60,000 alumni in 145 countries, SKEMA Business School is a global school that trains and educates the talents that 21st-century business requires through its research, its 70 teaching programs, and its international multi-site structure. The school currently has campuses in France (Lille, Sophia Antipolis, Paris), China (Suzhou and Nanjing), the United States (Raleigh), Brazil (Belo Horizonte), UAE (Dubai) and South Africa (Stellenbosch). The school is also developing an Innovation Center in AI (Canada), one of the world's major AI hubs. SKEMA’s Faculty comprises more than 190 Professors, organized by Academy – Globalization, Innovation, Transformation, and Digitalization – and Research Centers. SKEMA is multi-accredited - EQUIS, AACSB, EFMD EMBA Accredited. Its programs are recognized in France (Visa, ‘Licence Degree’, Master Degree, RNCP, CGE label), as well as in the United States (Licensing), Brazil (Certificação), and China (Ministry of Education). Member of the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles (CGE). Member of the Conférence des Directeurs d’Ecoles Françaises de Management (CDEFM).

For further information: https://www.skema.edu/

For Additional Questions
helen.bollaert@skema.edu

Website
https://www.skema.edu/en/programmes/phd-in-management