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Study Plan for Philosophiae Doctor in Logistics (PhD) (2019–2022)

Study information

The doctoral program at HiMolde is a three-year full-time program leading to a doctoral degree (PhD) in Logistics. If you have 25% working duties, the planned duration of the program is extended to four years.

The conferral of the doctoral degree in Logistics signifies that the candidate has attained expert competence in a major field of study. You will normally have one supervisor at HiMolde, plus one or more co-supervisors from other institutions. Suggesting co-supervisors is the duty of your main supervisor, and the Doctoral Degree Committee must approve them.

When you are approximately half-way through your doctoral program period, you will have to pass a midway evaluation process, where two evaluators (one internal and one external) will give you feedback and advice on your progression. The evaluators may also make recommendations to your tutors and the university if any adjustments should be made.

Towards the end of your PhD-studies, your adjudication committee will be appointed. The committee has three members, including one member from HiMolde and at least one international member. The committee has two major duties: To evaluate if your thesis is accepted for its final defense, and to evaluate your trial lecture and public defense.

What do you learn?

Learning outcomes

A candidate who has completed the PhD programme should obtain the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence: 

Knowledge

• is at the forefront of logistics, mastering scientific theories and methods of logistics research;

• has demonstrated expert knowledge of the chosen focal area of logistics.

• can evaluate and assess various theories, methods and processes in Logistics research and in applied research and development (R&D) projects in an international perspective;

• can contribute to the development of new knowledge, new theories, and methods in Logistics.

 
Skills 

• can formulate research questions for academic research and applied research and development at a recognized international level in Logistics;

• can contribute to new knowledge in logistics through scientific research that can be published in peer-reviewed national and international scientific journals;

• can handle complexity, create an overview and synthesize established scientific knowledge and practice;

• can critically evaluate and constructively criticize scientific research in Logistics.

• is able to plan, structure and present a lecture.

 
General competencies 

• can identify relevant ethical issues and conduct research with academic integrity;

• can disseminate research and development through highly ranked national and international channels and participate in debates;

• can identify their own research in logistics within a wider research area and social context;

• can evaluate the need for renewal, and can initiate and be engaged in innovation.

Admission

To be eligible for admittance, one must have an excellent academic record with at least a five-year master-level degree in a relevant field, or equivalent educational qualifications. For applicants with a Norwegian background, an average mark B from the master-level study is needed, for international applicants an equivalent level would be required. The application must also comprise a good plan for the research project, and a course plan. For further details, read the detailed rules governing the program.

Financial requirements

There is no tuition fee at Molde University College (HiMolde). However, you need to be able to support yourself financially. Normally, this means applying for a PhD scholarship provided by HiMolde, The Research Council of Norway or other Norwegian scholarship providers. Scholarships provided by the college are advertised on the university college’s web-pages and the portal www.jobbnorge.no whenever they become available.

Applicants with funding from employers/funders abroad may be accepted only if HiMolde has made a special agreement with that employer/funder. The doctoral committee will only evaluate applications for admission to the program if access to one of the funding schemes mentioned above can be documented by the applicant.

Provided financing is in order, candidates may submit an application for admittance to the program. This application should describe the doctoral project in terms of topic chosen, tentative research questions and preliminary ideas for the methodological approach. The application must also contain a proposed course-plan. It is recommended that the applicant locates a member of the academic staff of HiMolde who is interested in the topic, qualified as a supervisor, and willing to help developing the project and application for admittance. The Doctoral Committee at HiMolde will make the final decision about accepting applicants as doctoral students. Applicants who have already been through the application procedure for a scholarship from HiMolde, much of this would already have been done in that process.

Structure and content

Programme content

Logistics deals with the organization of the flow of products, services and information from raw materials to the end user in a supply chain. The analysis of such supply chains may be built on a broad spectrum of academic disciplines, such as economics, business administration, industrial organization, engineering, management science, information science and computer science. Quantitative techniques and models based on mathematics, statistics, engineering, and operations research are also useful tools in such analyses.

The PhD logistics program is organized as a three year full-time program, or – if the candidate has 25% work-load related to e.g. teaching and tutoring, - a four year program.

The main part of the program is related to the doctoral project, which is defined on an individual bases where the candidate pursues a given research task under guidance from well qualified tutors. The project is defined as part of the admission procedure, and the project plan must be approved by the PhD Logistics committee. The end product of the research project is the doctoral thesis, which may be in the form of a scientific monography or a collection of academic papers of a quality that would make them acceptable for publication in peer-reviewed academic journals.

The candidate must also complete courses according to an approved course plan, comprising a total workload equivalent to 45 ECTS. One PhD module is compulsory, DRL002 Philosophy of Science. In addition at least 5 ECTS must be PhD courses with an explicit content related to logistics, supply chain management or transport economics. The remaining 35 credits may comprise a mix of PhD courses offered under the PhD Logistics program, approved PhD courses from other institutions, a limited number of Master’s modules and approved presentations at international conferences.

Content and structure of the programme

The general structure is as follows: The total workload of the program is 180 ECTS. 45 ECTS is allocated to the course plan, and the rest to the thesis work. There is one obligatory course: DRL002 Philosophy of Science (5 ECTS). Holders of Norwegian scholarships will in addition normally have one year workload of required duties for HiMolde. Doctoral students may spend one or two semesters abroad, for both courses and thesis work.

In co-operation with the supervisor, candidates should propose a list of suggested courses to the Doctoral Degree Committee. The composition of the list should take into account both the suggested topic for the thesis and the background of the candidate. For example, if the candidate does not have a solid background in logistics, the course plan should contain a necessary amount of courses in logistics. In addition, The Doctoral Degree Committee may require that the candidate takes courses without credit if this is necessary to bring the candidate up to an acceptable level for starting the doctoral study.

The course plan may comprise elements belonging to:

1. The MSc Logistics program at HiMolde

2. Doctoral courses provided by HiMolde

3. Courses at master's or preferably doctoral level at other (foreign or Norwegian) universities

4. Presentations of papers at international academic conferences, which each will count 3 ECTS each (maximum 9 ECTS in total)

5. Tutored self-study courses.

Courses at PhD level must total a minimum of 25 ECTS and DRL002 Philosophy of Science is obligatory.
At least 5 ECTS must be doctoral courses explicitly related to logistics, supply chain management or transport economics. A minimum of 30 ECTS must be exam-based courses, meaning that the sum of credits of conference papers and tutored self-study courses could not exceed 15 ECTS.

PhD Courses

• Obligatory PhD Course:
  Philosophy of Science (min. 5 ECTS)
  This course is given in Norwegian by Volda University College. You can choose a similar course from other institutions., see: https://www.hivolda.no/studietilbod/vitenskapsteori-og-etikk-phd-emne/var You may choose a similar course from other institutions, but these must be approved as substitutes by the PhD Logistics committee.
  

• Elective courses:
  

• DRL027 Heuristics for stoc Heuristics for stochastic optimization - 5 ECTS

• DRL028 PhD Seminar on Blockchain Applications in Supply Chain Management - 5 ECTS