PhD Positions in Management, Leadership, and Organizational Studies at Stockholm School of Economics Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden

The Department of Management and Organization at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) is inviting applications for fully funded PhD positions in Business Administration, with a specialization in management and organization. SSE is recognized as the top business school in the Nordics and offers a vibrant, multidisciplinary, and inclusive research environment. The PhD program is a four to five year, full-time, residential program taught in English, with no tuition fees and guaranteed funding for all admitted students.

Research areas for this intake include governance, leadership, organizations and people at work, and wellbeing, welfare, and happiness. The department encourages applications from candidates with research-focused Master’s degrees and welcomes diverse research interests, including organizational behaviour, human resource management, work psychology, public policy, administration, and employment relations. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are supported, and the department maintains strong collaborations with businesses, public, and non-profit organizations in Stockholm and internationally.

Special attention is given to a fully funded PhD project at the Center for Responsible Leadership, focusing on 'Generational perspectives on doing leadership differently in the Nordic and Baltic context.' This project explores how young people experience and enact leadership, with opportunities to study leadership development, activism, entrepreneurship, and the influence of socio-cultural and historical contexts. The project is expected to use qualitative methods such as interviews, ethnography, and historical analysis, and offers unique collaborative research opportunities through the Center for Responsible Leadership and its partners.

Applicants should have a strong academic background, motivation for research, and proficiency in English. The program values both qualitative and quantitative research skills. All admitted PhD students receive a scholarship covering living expenses, and there are no tuition fees. The application deadline is January 15, 2026. Applications must be submitted through the SSE web-based application system, with all required documents and a statement of purpose. For the special leadership project, applicants should reference the project title in their statement of purpose.

For more information, prospective applicants can consult the department’s research and people pages or contact supervisors such as Professors Karl Wennberg, Katja Einola, Emma Bell, Constanze Eib, and Micael Dahlen. The SSE community offers a collegial and supportive environment for rigorous, theory-driven, and methodologically diverse scholarship on contemporary work and organizations.