(PhD) program in Accounting - HKUST Business School

Curriculum for Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program in Accounting
For students admitted in 2012/13
The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program in Accounting is a research-oriented degree that aims to prepare
the students for a research and teaching career in universities and research institutes.
Program Requirements
a. Introductory Quantitative Requirements (credits not counted towards graduation requirements)
(1) ECON 5100 Mathematics for Business and Economics [3 credits]
(2) ISOM 5540 Introduction to Probability [3 credits]
b. Required Courses (students coming through the HKUST MPhil (ACCT) program will already have
taken these courses)
(1) LANG 5001 Postgraduate English for Academic Purposes [1 credits]
(2) ACCT 5100 Financial Accounting Foundations [2 credits]
(3) ACCT 7720 Analytical Research in Accounting [4 credits]
(4) ACCT 7730 Empirical Research in Accounting [4 credits]
(5) ECON 5210 Microeconomic Theory I [4 credits]
(6) ECON 5220 Microeconomic Theory II [4 credits]
(7) ECON 5300 Econometrics [4 credits]
(8) FINA 5120 Corporate Finance [2 credits]
(9) FINA 5210 Investments Analysis [2 credits]
c. General Management Courses
Any one the following:
(1) ISOM 5700 Operations Management [2 credits]
(2) MARK 5120 Marketing Strategy and Policy [2 credits]
(3) MGMT 5230 Management of Organizations [2 credits]
d. Cross-discipline Research Courses
Any one of the following:
(1) FINA 7900C Doctoral Seminar -Empirical Corporate Finance [3 credits]
(2) FINA 7900D Doctoral Seminar -Empirical Asset Pricing [3 credits]
e. Minimum Course Requirements
Students are required to take at least 38 credits.
Students may need to complete additional courses related to their research topics, as requested by their
thesis supervisors.
Note: Students who have taken the MPhil (ACCT) program at HKUST will be able to transfer their
courses to the PhD program. Students who have taken an MPhil (or equivalent) elsewhere might be
able to transfer the course credits from their previous studies on a course-by-course basis. However, in
such a case, the maximum number of credits transferable is 32.
f. PhD Qualifying Examination
For students admitted via the HKUST MPhil (ACCT) program:
Students will take the qualifying examination in the summer of the second year in the MPhil program.
If they fail, students can retake the examination no later than December of the first year in the PhD
program.
Prepared by SBM
16 Nov 2011

For Direct Entry students:
Students admitted on the basis of an equivalent Research Masters degree of HKPFS awardees will
need to pass a qualifying examination. They will take the same qualifying examination as the MPhil
students.
Students with an equivalent Research Masters degree must pass the examination no later than in
December of the second year of their study.
HKPFS students without an equivalent Research Masters degree must pass the examination no later
than in December of the third year of their study.
g. Thesis Requirements
(1) ACCT 7990 Doctoral Thesis Research
(2) Complete a dissertation under the supervision of a dissertation supervision committee
(3) Presentation and oral defense of the PhD thesis
Prepared by SBM
16 Nov 2011