Our Executive DBA in a nutshell
For Busy Professionals
Obtain your doctorate in 4 years with part-time study, research and a unique support system to accompany you. Only 4 residential sessions in Year 1.
Your Learning Experience
Identify emerging trends and create new knowledge by formalising your practical experience. Find your specific Subject Matter Expertise to gain an edge.
Freedom
Get the freedom to choose your subject matter, the format of your work and your pace. After Year 1, you work with your supervisor(s) at your own
A Professional Degree
For experienced professionals (minimum 10 years of experience with a recognized or developing expertise) who wish to study beyond an (Executive) MBA, or other advanced professional degree (Master's level minimum).
Important dates
- Program start:
23 October 2023 - Final application deadline:
2 October 2023 - Apply by 31 May 2023*
to benefit from a FLAT 15% tuition fee discount
* Extended!
Conditions apply: please check with the team for more information.
Key information
- €49,900
Program tuition - 4 years
Program length - PhD and ABD applicants welcome
- Women in Corporate Governance scholarship for all women applying to the program
- Accessible school / Ecole accessible
Residential Sessions
Year 1 residential sessions take place in Paris (city center).
Hybrid
In person or online.
Main Objectives
> Challenge yourself
One of the key objectives that motivates applicants to join our E-DBA program is the desire to be intellectually challenged in a meaningful way, which contributes to creating a wide range of future professional opportunities: Speaking engagements, teaching in undergraduate and graduate programs, expertise-based consulting opportunities, corporate governance roles, and more.
> Differentiate yourself
For many senior managers, the E-DBA gives them the ability to lead more efficiently and differentiate themselves from the Master’s-level staff they manage. The E-DBA often opens opportunities for corporate governance (e.g. board member) and strategic roles (C-suite).
> Gain recognition
Some graduates venture into academic endeavors, cultivating the joys of conducting serious research, writing and publishing practical as well as theoretical articles, to establish themselves as recognized subject-matter experts and thought leaders.
Click here for a detailed program schedule and course dates:
Join a growing global Brain Trust
Our E-DBA program is divided into two main phases:
Phase 1: Doctoral Student phase
- A toolbox to develop new skills
This is the learning phase of the program covered in Year 1, which is composed of 4 x 1 week-long residential sessions delivered in hybrid mode
(face-to-face and/or online simultaneously).
During these 4 residential sessions, participants complete 4 research methods modules:
> Introduction to Research Methods
> Qualitative Research Methods
> Quantitative Research Methods
> Case Study Methods
Participants also take part in unique labs and workshops to help build their research project and learn how to establish their expertise:
> Learning Lab
> Futures Literacy Lab
> Doctoral Writing Labs
> Subject-Matter Expert Workshop
At the end of Phase 1, participants are coached on how to define their Doctoral Project and its format (3-paper approach, dissertation, or themed book).
They are then matched with one or several supervisors to start the next phase of the program.
Phase 2: Doctoral Candidate phase
- A safe space to research and write with your supervisor(s)
To mark the successful completion of Phase 1, participants are conferred a blockchain-based certificate awarding them the title of Doctoral Candidate.
This signifies the start of the next phase of the program, the research and writing segment, covered in Years 2, 3 and 4 of the program. Participants conduct their research using the skills acquired in Phase 1 of the program and work with their supervisor(s) to write their papers.
Brain Trusts and Doctoral Writing Labs - Support systems
From the onset of the program which starts with the Learning Lab, participants form peer groups called Brain Trusts to create a unique internal support system -- a sounding board to discuss and challenge ideas.
In Phase 2, all Doctoral Candidates are invited to participate in Doctoral Writing Labs to continue to feel connected to the school, and benefit from additional faculty and peer support.
Doctoral Candidates continue to support each other within their Brain Trusts but also become part of a bigger, cross-cohort Brain Trust of E-DBA participants from previous years further along the path to completing their papers.
The Doctoral Writing Labs give participants an opportunity actually apply and practice the skills acquired in Phase 1 of the program to the papers that comprise their Doctoral Project.
At the end of Phase 2 of the program, Doctoral Candidates submit their Doctoral Project and if this is approved and accepted, they move on to the final step, the Viva Voce (oral defense).
As soon as the Viva Voce is successfully completed, the Doctoral Candidate is awarded the title of Doctor.
The École des Ponts Business School descends from a 270-year history of illustrious researchers and inventors. École des Ponts ParisTech, our mother institution, was the first civil engineering school in the world, founded in 1747, and is celebrated for having produced inventors such as Louis Vicat, the creator of ‘Grey Gold’ (cement) and Philippe Lebon, the first person to successfully use artificial gas as a means of large-scale illumination.
Today, the research tradition continues with increased emphasis on creating academic-to-business linkages in research. Like our mother school, our business school is committed to fostering an environment where ideas can be explored, challenged, shared and applied. Thanks to a large number of labs, centers and initiatives, researchers, faculty and doctoral candidates can now pursue an increasing array of areas of interest.
Our research interests are founded on groundbreaking thinking on innovation and entrepreneurship, leadership and talent management, circular economy and sustainable development, digital transformation and change. We want to be reactive to the changes in global markets, international events and shifts in technology, as well as to find the strategies to better perform in complex and multinational environments. We focus on the mega-themes and the human & leadership skills needed to encounter these shifts and changes.
