The University of Nebraska requires at least 90 credit hours of graduate classes to complete the Ph.D. degree. Between 30-36 of these credit hours can be transferred from the master’s degree or prior graduate-level coursework. The remaining hours are comprised of seminars in marketing, methodology and other courses that provide the tools necessary to do research, courses in an external minor area and dissertation hours. The program typically takes four years to complete, with two to two-and-a-half years of coursework and the remainder devoted to dissertation research and writing.

As a student in our program, you will have the opportunity to take several doctoral seminars offered by our department, such as Behavioral Research in Marketing, Marketing Channels, Marketing Management, Marketing Models and Sales Management. You will also take coursework from other departments and colleges in the university, including several research methods courses (e.g., research design, causal modeling, field research, etc.) to provide you the necessary tools to do research. Additionally, you will choose an outside area relevant to your interests (e.g., psychology, economics, sociology, etc.) and complete at least four courses in the chosen field. If your master’s level background in business and marketing is not strong, some additional coursework may be necessary.

We assign all students as graduate assistants to our faculty members. Through this assistantship, you will learn how to do research. You will also work closely with faculty members to develop first-year and second-year papers, which are expected to culminate in submission to scholarly journals. Upon successfully completing the coursework, the papers and the comprehensive exam requirements, you will be admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. and begin working on the dissertation.

In addition to becoming researchers, we also train our students to be good teachers. Over the duration of the program, we will give you the opportunity to teach a class during four academic semesters. We will also try and provide additional opportunities for teaching in the summer, depending on funding availability.

Ph.D. Program Plan

Advising

From the start, you’ll be assigned a first-year advisor to guide you through coursework and academic life. A senior Ph.D. student will also serve as a mentor as you settle into the program. By the end of your first year, you will choose a program committee to advise on coursework. After you’re admitted to Candidacy, you’ll assemble a dissertation committee to help advise on dissertation research and writing.

Support

We work diligently to provide you with the resources useful to a graduate education. At present, you’ll receive a personal computer at your desk with office software and access to the university servers, offering statistical packages, library access and email. We encourage you to submit articles co-authored with faculty to journals and academic conferences. A portion of the costs for conference travel are covered by our department.

Equally important is a scholarly environment. We hold “Brown Bag Seminars” several times each semester, where we discuss interesting articles in our field. Faculty and students present research at Friday afternoon research seminars several times during the semester as well. Throughout the academic year, we host our “Visiting Scholars Series,” inviting wellknown scholars in the field of marketing to visit and present current research. In the spring, our department sponsors the Mittelstaedt & Gentry Doctoral Symposium, attracting doctoral candidates and faculty from the Big Ten and research universities west of the Mississippi River. Finally, we host informal gatherings and parties throughout the year, providing opportunities to interact outside of the office.