PhD in Communication and Leadership

Communication and Leadership are instruments of coordination, cooperation and decision making, and as such, they are vital to address organisational, societal, and global challenges. In order to understand, explain and develop skills for handling the fundamental changes in societal and organisational conditions caused by the fourth industrial revolution and by the contemporary challenges confronting the world, a holistic academic approach is required. This PhD programme is therefore interdisciplinary.

The aim is to study private and public organisations and their members as well as the interaction and interdependencies of business, society, and government from both theoretical and empirical perspectives.

The programme is directed towards qualified candidates who want to conduct high-level research and develop advanced knowledge in the disciplines of Communication and Leadership. The knowledge developed throughout the PhD programme may be applied in future careers in knowledge-intensive national or international organisations and in academia.

Learning Outcomes

The learning outcomes describe the knowledge, skills and the general competence that the candidate is expected to have achieved upon completion of the study programme, as a result of the learning acquired throughout the course.

Knowledge

The candidate...

• is in the forefront of the research-based knowledge within communication and leadership needed to understand, explain and address contemporary societal and organisational phenomena
• can evaluate the expediency and application of different methods, quantitative or qualitative, in communication and leadership research
• can contribute to the development of new knowledge, theories, methods, interpretations and forms of documentation in communication and leadership in a way that is relevant to understand, explain and address  contemporary societal and organisational phenomena

Skills

The candidate...

• can formulate problems, plan and carry out research on contemporary societal and organisational phenomena through the lens of communication and leadership
• can carry out interdisciplinary communication and leadership research of a high international standard
• can handle academically complex issues related to communication and leadership and challenge established knowledge and practice so as to address contemporary societal and organisational phenomena using an interdisciplinary approach

General competence

The candidate...

• can identify new relevant ethical issues pertaining to the research and practice of communication and leadership and carry out his/her research with scholarly integrity
• can manage complex assignments and projects that require the mobilisation and integration of knowledge within communication, leadership and related disciplines
• can communicate his/her research to an academic audience through scientific publications and conference presentations and disseminate it to a broader audience such as policy makers and organisational managers
• can participate in debates in the disciplines of communication and leadership in international forums that discuss how to understand, explain and address contemporary societal and organisational phenomena
• can assess the need for, initiate and practice innovation within communication and leadership so as to augment existing knowledge and methods in a way that helps policy makers and organisations address contemporary societal and organisational phenomena