Doctor of Business Administration, DBA

About Doctor of Business Administration, DBA - at Robert Gordon University

This course has been created in conjunction with public and private sector leaders to further the career ambitions and provide a means to gain academic recognition for those who lead within their professions. Students on the course will have the opportunity to blend the latest academic thinking with business knowledge, skills and practice, to enable them to make a significant contribution to the enhancement of professional practice. The DBA is a professional doctorate that enables you to take a dynamic research based view of real world management issues. A DBA is equivalent in terms of academic study to a PhD but is more applied in nature.

What you will study

The DBA programme will give you a foundation in research methods and offer you the opportunity to research in one or more of the following areas:

• Corporate Communications, Sales and Marketing


• Finance, Accounting and Corporate Governance


• Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour


• Entrepreneurship and the Performance of SMEs


• Leadership and Strategic Management


• Environmental and Operations Management


• Public Policy and Not-for-Profit Studies


• Tourism, Hospitality and Retail Management


• Technology, Innovation and e-Business.

In the first taught stage you will consolidate and extend your specialist knowledge and research competence and advance your research proposal.

In the second stage you will take your proposal forward to a full dissertation.

Entry requirements

The DBA is a challenging programme demanding a combination of intellectual ability and experience. We welcome applicants from across the world. To qualify for consideration you will need to demonstrate:

• An MBA or Masters degree in a relevant area of business and management


• A minimum of three years business experience


• Ability to demonstrate competence in written and oral English


• All candidates will be interviewed and be required to produce a research outline prior to formal acceptance onto the course.

Fees and bursaries

UK/EU Students

• New students: entire course £9325 for academic year 2010/11

International Students

• New students: entire course £9325 for academic year 2010/11

The above tuition fees are reviewed annually and are subject to change.

If you are already a student at Robert Gordon University, you can find information on fees for academic year 2010/11 on the Student Finance web pages.

How to apply

All applications should be made via the University's application form for research students, which is available using the web link below. Completed application forms should be accompanied by:

• Two academic references


• A transcript or mark sheet for all graduate qualifications


• Certificate of English language competency score of IELTS 6.5 in each of the four test components (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking) for applicants whose first language or language of university education is not English. Students who can demonstrate successful completion of tertiary (university or college) studies in a country whose national language is English, may be exempted from this requirement


• A draft research proposal, or at least a short summary to indicate the potential area of research (Refer to Section 8 of the Application Form)

For more information and to apply, please follow the link below:

• Applying to become a research student

Entry requirements for this course

Contact Robert Gordon University to find course entry requirements.

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