Research Master Business (CentER Graduate School)

Tilburg University

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Program description

This cutting-edge research program in Business offers a broad basis for research in Accounting Finance, Marketing, Operations Research and Organisation.

The Graduate Program in Business (GPB) at CentER offers a full-fledged graduate program, consisting of a two-year MPhil and a three-year PhD phase. The MPhil programme in Business gives a broad basis for research in five tracks: Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Operations Research and Organisation.

You will choose one of these fields as your major right from the start. For each track, a full course program is offered, taught by CentER's top-researchers. Through course topics and international conferences you will get involved in the latest developments in international research in business. Furthermore, you will write a thesis in the second year. By the end of the program you will be capable of writing a paper for an international journal.

Why Study Research Master Business?

The CentER Research Master consists of the doctoral course work which precedes the research years of the PhD. The research master enables students to accumulate theoretical and technical knowledge of research methodology courses and to develop the skills required for cutting-edge research in their field. The program ensures that students get acquainted with analytical and empirical tools that are frequently used in business research. In addition, the students gain a deep knowledge of their chosen field of specialization (accounting, finance, information management, marketing, operations research, and organization and strategy).

Research Master Business Specializations

Business courses are taught by internationally renowned researchers belonging to the faculty of CentER, and some excellent scholars invited from abroad. The following specializations can be chosen from:

Accounting
Accounting is gathering and using information about the planning, control, and performance of an economic entity. Research in accounting at Tilburg University spans a wide range of topics, including:

• How firms use accounting for performance measurement and incentive purposes
• How market agents use accounting information in capital markets
• How firms respond to tax rules
• What is the economic role of auditors

Finance
The active research interests of the Finance group can be divided into three main areas:

• Asset pricing, investments, and financial econometrics
• Corporate finance
• Banking

In all of these fields, both theoretical and empirical research is performed. The asset pricing researchers focus on financial markets and their regulation, market liquidity, market microstructure, pension funds analysis, socially responsible investing, credit provision, money flows of mutual funds, structural pricing, hedge fund performance measurement, behavioral asset pricing, alternative investments (art auction markets and diamond markets) amongst many other topics.

In corporate finance, faculty is on corporate restructuring (such as mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts), managerial remuneration contracting, dividend policy, director network analysis, insider trading, bondholder wealth effects in mergers, IPOs, venture capital, entrepreneurial finance, economic history and more.

The banking group focuses on bank lending relationships, debt renegotiation, the financial banking crisis, financial contagion, bank manager remuneration, capital requirements, financial market regulation.

Information Management
The research and education in the department aims to explore and teach the relationships between an organization’s goals, its rational decision making processes, and the access to relevant information. Information and communication technology provide the tools to establish that relationship.

Marketing
The marketing department’s research covers all three key research areas in marketing:

• Consumer behavior
• Marketing modeling
• Marketing strategy

Operations Research
The research carried out by Operations Research can be divided into five topics:

• Stochastic operations research
• Deterministic operations research
• Simulation and artificial intelligence
• Combinatorial mathematics
• Cooperative game theory

Organization and Strategy
Research in the Organization & Strategy group covers four broad fields:

• International Business
• Strategic Management
• Organization Theory
• Operations and Logistics Management

Within these fields there is a focus on firms’ strategic choices and performance, with particular emphasis on knowledge transfer as it pertains to corporate expansion, inter-firm collaboration, and organizational control and adaptation mechanisms.

Research Master Business Career Prospects

If you follow the Research Master in Business you are prepared to continue in a PhD program. More than 75% of the graduates continue at a PhD position at either Tilburg University or another university. 25% of the graduates start a professional career, mostly in the consultancy or financial sector.

The research master in combination with the subsequent PhD enables our students to find jobs at universities around the world, at research institutes or in the banking and consultancy sectors. Over the past five years, our students were hired by the University of Chicago, Oxford University, Cambridge University, University of Toronto, HEC Paris, Bocconi University, University of Texas at Austin, Warwick University, Erasmus University, University of Vienna, Federal Reserve Board in Washington DC, Riksbank of Sweden, and many others.

Research Master Business Related Programs

Besides the Research Master Business, Tilburg University offers several other Business related masters such as the Information Management program.

See which other programs are related to the Research Master Business

Research Master Business Scholarships

Students who would like to register for the Research Master Business will need to have sufficient funds for tuition and living expenses. Getting a scholarship could be the first step towards obtaining a top MSc degree at Tilburg University.

See which scholarships you can apply for if you want to do the Research Master Business program.

About Tilburg University

At Tilburg University, our mission is to inspire students and faculty members to reach their full potential, and in doing so, reap a positive impact on the society around them. Our education and research is internationally inspired and is ground breaking. Tilburg is represented among the top institutes in the international university rankings.

Tilburg University educational programs instil a broad social awareness in our students along with critical personal and professional skills. Learning and development are offered at all career levels. Research endeavours aim to advance the frontiers of knowledge on issues and subjects of direct value to society – and are actively disseminated and applied within the community with this objective in mind. We play an active part in the local community and that of the region, the Netherlands and the entire world, maintaining close contact at all levels.

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Admission requirements

Grade average

Average above 7.5 out of 10

Written request

Motivation letter
Reference letters

Grade list

Average above 7.5 out of 10

Language requirements

IELTS overall band: 6.5, IELTS listening: 6, IELTS reading: 6, IELTS writing: 6, IELTS speaking: 6, TOEFL paper based: 577, TOEFL computer based: 233, TOEFL internet based: 90

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