Doctoral Studies in Organizational Communication

Research training

The Aalto BIZ Organizational Communication unit offers a four-year program of doctoral research training in organizational communication that equips doctoral researchers with the necessary skills, knowledge, and resources to conduct impactful research and succeed in the world of academia. The program is specifically designed for dedicated full-time students.

We continuosly develop our curriculum to ensure that our graduates have a a strong foundation in the theories, frameworks, and concepts that underpin organizational communication research and a solid understanding of the principes and practices of qualitative research.

We  encourage our students to draw insights from multiple fields of scholarship, not only from management and organization studies but also from sociology, psychology, anthropology, philosophy, arts, and gender studies, for example.

We are also committed to helping our students develop their skills in academic writing and public speech, so that they can publish their work in reputable journals and effectively disseminate their research results to both academic and practitioner audiences.

Doctoral degree requirements and curriculum 

Doctoral supervision

Our faculty features a team of highly-regarded doctoral thesis advisors who are all internationally acknowledged experts in their respective fields. Each doctoral student is assigned a dissertation advisory committee consisting of three dedicated scholars who are deeply committed to guiding and mentoring their students throughout the entire journey, from admission to graduation and even into the early stages of their professional and scholarly development.

All of our doctoral supervisoring professors and thesis advisors have published their research in some of the leading journals of our multidisciplinary field, such as Human Relations, Journal of Management Studies, Organization Studies, Journal of Business Ethics, Work, Employment and Society, Organization and Gender, Work & Organization.

They also serve in the editorial boards of many leading journals, scuh as Human Relations, Journal of Business Ethics, and Work, Employment and Society. 

Research expertise in the unit of Organizational Communication lies in areas that include:

• Business-society relations and corporate social responsibility

• Gender and feminist studies, diversity and inclusion

• Strategy and discursive leadership

• Qualitative methods, especially discursive approaches and (n)ethnography

Funding

During the first and second year of studies, full-time doctoral students who make satisfactory progress in their studies and research are guaranteed an annual gross income of about 29.000€, based on a combination of 50% employment contract and 50% personal grants. The employment contract provides students with occupational health care, paid annual leave, as well as a pension contribution, a computer, and a communal working space with large screens and adjustable tables. 

There is also funding for doctoral researchers to participate in international conferences (e.g., EGOS, Academy of Management, ICA), seminars, and workshops.

Recent graduates and their doctoral theses

2023: Alice Wickström, Lecturer at the University of Gothenburg -  "Unequal Matters."

2022: Aleksi Soini, EDI Consultant, Includia Leadership  -  "Identities and organizing materialities: (N)ethnographic perspectives on identity work in organizations and social media.”

2020: Visa Penttilä, Postdoc researcher at LUT University - "Texts on CSR and Business Ethics: Framings, Aspirations and Self-Relations."

2020: Ari Kuismin, Assistant Professor at the University of Jyväskylä - “Affective Organizational Space: An Ethnographic Study of a Nordic Startup Incubator.”

2018: Mark Badham, Senior Lecturer at Leeds Becket University - Four media roles in organizational legitimation - News media participation in discursive legitimation processes.

Doctoral supervising professors

Check out the research profiles of our faculty to see whose research interests match yours:

Kirsi Eräranta

Paula Koskinen Sandberg

Johanna Moisander

Pekka Pälli

We also recruit scholars external to Aalto as thesis advisors and members of the dissertation advisory commitee.

How to Apply

If you are interested in pursuing a doctoral degree in organizational communication, please contact the Head of Doctoral Studies Assistant Professor Paula Koskinen Sandberg or one of the faculty members listed as thesis advisors above.

Please note that we are currently only accepting applications from individuals who are interested in full-time doctoral researcher positions.

We normally recruit new doctoral researchers once a year, starting in December. Detailed information about the application process for our doctoral program and online applications may be found at the admissions page of the Doctoral program in Business, Economics, and Finance.