Courses and Requirements

Please note that the study program might be subject to minor changes. Lessons start at the beginning of September. Attendance is mandatory. The program cannot be attended by distance learning.
 

First year - a.y. 2025 - 2026 (41° cycle) 

Requirements: 
In the first year you have to attend 1 Preparatory course in Mathematics (optional) + 9 compulsory courses: 3 methods courses (shared by the two curricula) + 6 curriculum specific courses + research presentation + seminars organized by the Departments of Management & Technology and Marketing

By the beginning of March: students choose elective courses to be attended in the 2nd year

 
QUARTER COURSE TITLE HOURS PROFESSOR CURRICULUM
Sept. - Oct.
 
Mathematics - Preparatory course 12 
 
C. Turansick
 
OPTIONAL
 
Sept. - Oct. Microeconomics Foundation for Business Studies
 
36
 
C. Panico
 
COMPULSORY
Nov. - Dec. Introductory Econometrics for Business Studies 
 
24+12 L. Gagliardi COMPULSORY
Feb. - Mar. Advanced Econometrics for Business Studies ** 
 
24+12
 
M. Espinosa 
 
COMPULSORY
Sept. - Oct. Organization Theory 24 G. Soda MANAGEMENT
Sept. - Oct. Organizational Behavior  
 
36 R. Ilies MANAGEMENT
Nov. - Dec. Strategy   
 
36
 
G. Di Stefano MANAGEMENT
Feb. - Mar Innovation **
 
24 M. Mariani
 
MANAGEMENT
Apr. - May
 
Entrepreneurship **
 
24
 
C. Salvato
 
MANAGEMENT
 
Apr. - May Empirical Approaches for Management Research  **
 
36
 
A. Gambardella MANAGEMENT
Sept. - Oct. Marketing Theory 24 A. Ordanini MARKETING
Nov. - Dec. Marketing Modelling
 
24 S. Valentini
 
MARKETING
Nov. - Dec.
Experimental Methods   
 

24 
 
J. Vosgerau
 
 MARKETING 
 
Feb. - Mar. Marketing Strategy  **
 
24 L. Akella
 
MARKETING
Feb. - Mar. Empirical Approaches for Marketing Research  
 
24 G. Rubera
 
MARKETING
Apr. - May Consumer Behavior I **
 
24 C. Longoni MARKETING
  Principles of Research Ethics* 2   SELF-MANAGED ONLINE course
* The course is available at ECR.unibocconi.it (login with Bocconi credentials, using the Student ID as username). Students have to pass the final test and send the certificate to the PhD administrative assistant for the registration by the end of the academic year: 31st August 2026
Exam for each compulsory course (maximum 3 retakes).  Retakes will take place at the end of the Spring semester, tipically in June
Moreover a Research presentation is required to be drafted under the supervision of the advisor and to be submitted just before the beginning of the 2nd year (early September).

Second year - a.y. 2025 - 2026 (40° cycle)
 

Requirements:
PhD students may choose how many electives they want to take according to their research interests; the minimum requirement is 4 electives over 2nd and 3rd year.
Moreover, research activity and seminar organized by the Departments of Management & Technology and Marketing.
 

On top of the exam at the end of each course, at the end of the second year, you should obtain an "Accept" in the second-year research paper. 


 

QUARTER COURSE TITLE HOURS PROFESSOR CURRICULUM
Sept. - Oct. Creativity in Theory Building
 
24 P. Mannucci BOTH
 
Nov. - Dec.
 
Advances in Corporate Environmental and Political Strategy
 
24
 
N. Dutt
 
BOTH
 
Feb. - Mar. Text Analysis ** 24 Q. Shi BOTH
Feb. - Mar. Behavioral Strategy
 
24
 
C. Gutierrez
 
BOTH
 
Apr. - May.
 
Organizational Sociology  
 
24 F. Castellucci
 
BOTH
 
Apr. - May
 
Data Mining for Marketing Research  **
 
24
 
K. Zhu
 
BOTH
 
Apr. - May
 
Machine Learning for Casual Inference
 
24
 
M. Varga
 
BOTH
 
Apr. - May Topics in Social Network Analysis 24 A. Iorio BOTH


NEW! Open Science for Researchers: elective online workshop (75 minutes) offered by the Bocconi library, open to all PhD students from 2nd year.
 

** an updated version of this syllabus will be uploaded soon

ELECTIVE COURSES

  • Courses of other PhD Programs are allowed subject to PhD program Director's approval.
     

Third year (39° cycle) / Fourth year (38° cycle) - a.y. 2025 — 2026 
 

NEW! Open Science for Researchers: elective online workshop (75 minutes) offered by the Bocconi library, open to all PhD students from 2nd year.
 

The third and fourth years are largely devoted to research and the preparation of the thesis. You will have to:

  • attend the curriculum PhD Seminar in Business Administration & Management
  • study/research period at other Universities + Ta/RA activities (optional)
  • attend conferences (as a listener and as a speaker)
  • attend seminars organized by the Departments of Management &Technology, Marketing and Accounting
  • submit 2 research papers (1 per year)
  • give two seminar presentations per year to illustrate one's own research output (at least one in Bocconi)
  • submit the thesis to external reviewers (end of 4th year)
  • defend your thesis
     

Detailed requirements