10 PhD programmes offered by the university

The Northwestern University Marketing doctoral program provides rigorous training in the skills required for success as a world-class marketing researcher. This is achieved via coursework, close collaboration with faculty, and intellectual exchange in a department known for its research culture.

The Operations Management doctoral program at Northwestern University trains students to apply empirical techniques and theoretical analysis to advance our understanding of how work and processes are, or should be, organized and managed.

The Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences program at Northwestern University produces researchers who combine strength in core methodologies of operations research (e.g., optimization, stochastic modeling and simulation, statistics, and data analytics) with the ability to apply them to yield practical benefits in solving problems that are important in the real world. 

The PhD program in Managerial Economics and Strategy (MECS), a program offered jointly by the Departments of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences (MEDS) and Strategy at Northwestern University, emphasizes the use of rigorous theoretical and empirical models to solve problems in both theoretical and applied economics.  

The PhD program in Management and Organizations (“MORS”) from Northwestern University, integrates psychological, sociological, economic, and complex systems perspectives on the study of organizations and their members.

The Finance doctoral program at Northwestern University provides students with rigorous training in finance, economics, mathematics and statistics. These tools, plus opportunities for supervised independent research, enable students to make their own contributions to the understanding of financial markets and institutions that lead to productive research careers. 

The Materials Science and Engineering program at Northwestern University was the first in the world and is internationally renowned for the excellence of its graduates.

The Accounting Information and Management doctoral program at Northwestern University trains students in empirical/archival and analytical/theoretical research methods focusing on the role of accounting in the market for financial information.

Students in this joint Management and Organizations and Sociology program offered by Northwestern University are interested in topics that bridge management strategy and economic sociology, such as social movements, the production of culture, entrepreneurship, social networks, gender and race inequality in organizations, and globalization.   

The Financial Economics program at Northwestern University is offered jointly by the Department of Economics in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Finance in the Kellogg School of Management.