Program Overview

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Overview

The PhD Program in Business Administration welcomes applications from individuals planning research-oriented academic careers. As well as gaining access to a world of knowledge and opportunity, Sauder PhD students benefit from the individual attention they receive from faculty members - right from the outset of the program. Our faculty members devote extensive time, energy and effort to developing the research capabilities of all of our PhD students.

What makes the program unique?

Sauder School of Business has a hard-won reputation as Canada's preeminent business research school, and is a major contributor to such leading marketing journals as the Journal of Marketing Research, the Journal of Consumer Research and Marketing Science. This results, in part, from the fact that the PhD program is a genuine priority here. Both the organizational culture and the promotion-and-tenure structure encourage active collaboration between doctoral students and faculty.

Quick Facts

• Faculty: Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration
• Academic Unit: Robert H. Lee Graduate School
• Specialization: Marketing and Behavioural Science
• Mode of delivery: In person at UBC Vancouver
• Program Components: Dissertation
• Tuition (First Year):
  • Domestic: $5,626.02
  • International: $9,883.98
• Median Funding: 50% of students receive $52,732 or more funding per year in the first 4 years, before tuition and fees

Admission Information & Requirements

1) Check Eligibility

Minimum Academic Requirements

The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies establishes the minimum admission requirements common to all applicants, usually a minimum overall average in the B+ range (76% at UBC). The graduate program that you are applying to may have additional requirements. Please review the specific requirements for applicants with credentials from institutions in:

• Canada or the United States
• International countries other than the United States Each program may set higher academic minimum requirements. Please review the program website carefully to understand the program requirements. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission as it is a competitive process.

English Language Test

Applicants from a university outside Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must provide results of an English language proficiency examination as part of their application. Tests must have been taken within the last 24 months at the time of submission of your application. Minimum requirements for the two most common English language proficiency tests to apply to this program are listed below:

TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language - internet-based

• Overall score requirement: 100
• Reading: 22
• Writing: 21
• Speaking: 21
• Listening: 22

IELTS: International English Language Testing System

• Overall score requirement: 7.0
• Reading: 6.5
• Writing: 6.5
• Speaking: 6.5
• Listening: 6.5

Other Test Scores

Some programs require additional test scores such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Test (GMAT). The requirements for this program are: The GRE or a comparable test is required. Please check the program website.

2) Meet Deadlines

See the graduate degree program listing for additional deadline details. Program Name: Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Marketing and Behavioural Science (PhD) Intake: September 2026 Canadian Applicant Deadline: 31 December 2025 International Applicant Deadline: 31 December 2025

3) Prepare Application

Transcripts

All applicants have to submit transcripts from all past post-secondary study. Document submission requirements depend on whether your institution of study is within Canada or outside of Canada.

Letters of reference

Applicants have to submit 3 references to apply to this graduate program. Please review our general information on reference letters, including the types of references (e.g. academic, professional) that you may be asked for and how the references will be collected.

Statement of Interest

Many programs require a statement of interest, sometimes called a "statement of intent", "description of research interests" or something similar.

Supervision

Students in research-based programs usually require a faculty member to function as their thesis supervisor. Please follow the instructions provided by each program whether applicants should contact faculty members. The program will review research interests of applicants and recommend/match faculty members during the application/evaluation process. Applicants should not reach out to faculty members directly.

Tuition & Financial Support

Tuition

Fees| Canadian Citizen / Permanent Resident / Refugee / Diplomat| International
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Application Fee| $118.50| $168.25
Tuition *
Installments per year| 3| 3
Tuition per installment| $1,875.34| $3,294.66
Tuition per year
(plus annual increase, usually 2%-5%)| $5,626.02| $9,883.98
Int. Tuition Award (ITA) per year (if eligible)| | $3,200.00 (-)
Other Fees and Costs
Student Fees (yearly)| $1,144.10 (approx.)
Costs of living| Estimate your costs of living with our interactive tool in order to start developing a financial plan for your graduate studies.

Financial Support

Applicants to UBC have access to a variety of funding options, including merit-based (i.e. based on your academic performance) and need-based (i.e. based on your financial situation) opportunities. We provide a financial package that includes tuition plus $30,000 per year for the first five years of the PhD Program.

Career Outcomes

The PhD in Marketing and Behavioural Science is designed to prepare students for an academic career. The vast majority of our students have gone on to academic positions at universities worldwide. Our recent graduates have positions at research schools such as The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The University of Michigan, The University of Washington, Temple University, Simon Fraser University, Drexel University, and Nanyang Technological University.

Enrolment, Duration & Other Stats

These statistics show data for the Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Marketing and Behavioural Science (PhD). Data are separated for each degree program combination. You may view data for other degree options in the respective program profile.

ENROLMENT DATA

| 2023| 2022| 2021| 2020| 2019
---|---|---|---|---|---
Applications| 73| 67| 72| 78| 86
Offers| 7| 4| 8| 3| 5
New Enrolment| 4| 2| 2| 1| 1
Total Enrolment| 12| 10| 11| 12| 12

Completion Rates & Times

This program has a graduation rate of 83% based on 7 students admitted between 2011 - 2014. Based on 8 graduations between 2020 - 2023 the minimum time to completion is 3.75 years and the maximum time is 6.83 years with an average of 5.51 years of study.

Research Supervisors

Supervision

Students in research-based programs usually require a faculty member to function as their thesis supervisor. Please follow the instructions provided by each program whether applicants should contact faculty members. The program will review research interests of applicants and recommend/match faculty members during the application/evaluation process. Applicants should not reach out to faculty members directly. This list shows faculty members with full supervisory privileges who are affiliated with this program. It is not a comprehensive list of all potential supervisors as faculty from other programs or faculty members without full supervisory privileges can request approvals to supervise graduate students in this program.

• Aquino, Karl (Organizational behavior)
• Ba, Wenjia (understanding sequential interactions; Machine Learning; revenue management; probability theory; understanding sequential interactions, machine learning, revenue management, probability theory)
• Cavanaugh, Lisa (Emotions, Relationships, Self and Identity, Social Influence, Prosocial Consumption)
• Chandrashekaran, Murali (Management education, customer satisfaction, mergers and acquisition, innovation, international collaborations in education, Integration and professional development, strategic management of customer relationships, shareholder value, subsidiary performance, satisfaction strength, customer loyalty)
• Cornil, Yann (Food marketing; sustainability; Sensory Perception; Food marketing, Sustainability, Sensory Perception)
• Dahl, Darren (Consumer behaviour, new product development, social marketing, affect and emotion, creativity in business, Marketing)
• Griffin, Dale (Consumer decision making, risk assessment and risk communication, managerial decision making, behavioural finance, forecasting, branding and consumer satisfaction, research methods and statistics)
• Hardisty, David (consumer behaviour; sustainability; decisions about the future; product attribute framing; consumer behaviour, sustainability, decisions about the future, product attribute framing)
• Ning, Eddie (Information Acquisition; Consumer Search; Dynamic Pricing; Bargaining; Continuous-time Games; Emerging Technologies; Information Acquisition, Consumer Search, Dynamic Pricing, Bargaining, Continuous-time Games, Emerging Technologies)
• Oblander, Shin (quantitative marketing; Causal inference; customer relationship management; probabilistic machine learning; bounded rationality; representation learning; quantitative marketing, causal inference, customer relationship management, probabilistic machine learning, bounded rationality, representation learning)
• Qian, Yi (Economics of Intellectual Property Rights; Counterfeiting and Brand Management; Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Marketing Analytics)
• Sirwani, Deepak (Numbers; Time; Morality; decision making; Numbers, Time, Morality, Decision making)
• Wang, Yanwen (financial decision making; Public health; Public Policy; technology; Financial decision making, Public health, Public policy, Technology)
• White, Katherine (sustainability, social influence and consumer behaviour, the self and consumer behaviour; sustainability, social influence and consumer behaviour, the self and consumer behaviour)
• Wu, Chunhua (Structural Modeling; Internet Advertising; Social Networks; CRM)

Sample Thesis Submissions

• Sales impact of live streaming

Related Programs

Same Academic Unit

• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Accounting (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Finance (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Management Information Systems (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Management Science (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Organizational Behaviour (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Strategy and Business Economics (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Transportation and Logistics (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Urban Land Economics (PhD)
• Master of Business Administration (MBA)
• Master of Business Analytics (MBAN)
• Master of Management (MM)
• Master of Science in Business Administration in Finance (MSCB)
• Master of Science in Business Administration in Management Information Systems (MSCB)
• Master of Science in Business Administration in Transportation and Logistics (MSCB)
• Professional Master of Business Administration (PMBA)

Further Information

Specialization

Marketing and Behavioural Science

Program Identifier

VGDPHD-CHMB

Classification

Social sciences » Economics and business administration » Marketing
Social sciences » Economics and business administration » Marketing » Distribution and start-ups
Social sciences » Economics and business administration » Marketing » Market studies
Social sciences » Economics and business administration » Marketing » Advertising and promotion
Social sciences » Economics and business administration » Marketing » Sales and marketing