Darden Ph.D. Program

The Darden Ph.D. Program

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business offers an intellectually demanding doctoral program for a select group of high-potential applicants. Distinguished by its top-ranked faculty and world-class research centers, the doctoral program will train you as an academic researcher capable of contributing to the cutting edge research in business and management and provide you with the skills you will need for a successful career as a professor.

Chen with students
Programs Phd slide show 1

Unparalleled Accessibility
The Ph.D. program's deliberately small size and Darden's open-door research ecosystem fosters high intellectual and emotional engagement with some of the world's leading business teachers and thinkers.

Breaking Ground Daily
The Darden Ph.D. nurtures an intensive academic pursuit in an intimate environment. As candidates rigorously pursue their area of expertise, professors steward their development into field-leading researchers capable of communicating as clearly in the boardroom as the classroom.

Ed Freeman

Strategy, Ethics & Entrepreneurship

Darden's Strategy, Ethics, and Entrepreneurship (SEE) Ph.D. Program is unique in its integration of these three fields of study. While students will focus on one of the three tracks (either Strategy, Ethics, or Entrepreneurship), we place emphasis on the intersection of these topics. We bring a unique Darden perspective to creating and sustaining value -- not only for the firm, but for the stakeholders involved and for the society within which the firm operates.

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Quantitative Analysis

Data Analytics and Decision Sciences

Darden's Data Analytics and Decision Sciences Ph.D. Program is focused on mathematical methodology with business applications and includes dynamic programming, game theory, mechanism design, machine learning, optimization, search theory, wisdom of crowds, forecasting, decision analysis, pricing and revenue management, and behavioral models of human decision making.

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What Our Ph.D. Graduates Say About the Program

 

 

Where the Brightest Minds Converge

Jeanne Liedtka

The Darden doctoral faculty includes an unparalleled collection of penetrating business minds. With a longstanding combination of academic excellence and real-world experience, professors introduce Ph.D. candidates to research and publishing opportunities that aim to push candidates' purpose toward professional reward. 

UVA Darden winter 2025

Let's Talk Business (School)

What makes a Darden Ph.D. different? The research culture, access to institutes and personal, tight-knit relationships with members of the Darden community are a good place to start. And it’s why we’d love to tell you the rest in direct conversation.