Monarch Switzerland
Online Doctoral Study
for Working Professionals
Your experience. Your ambition.
Your next contribution.
Strengthen your professional authority or develop your scholarly voice—with individual faculty guidance and the freedom to remain active in your career.
MBS · MGRI · SEPTEMBER 2026
ONLINE DOCTORAL STUDY
Build your future alongside your career.
You have built experience, expertise and professional responsibilities. Now take them further without leaving your career, family or life at home behind.
Monarch Switzerland has provided online and distance-based education to international professionals for close to two decades. Choose a doctoral pathway connected to your ambitions, with individual faculty guidance.
Remain professionally active
Connect your study with the challenges and opportunities you encounter in your working life.
Study from your home country
No mandatory campus attendance or relocation is required. Develop your research and work with your supervisor remotely.
Develop your ideas with guidance
Individual feedback helps you refine your question, choose your approach and strengthen your contribution.
Complete your defence online
The doctoral defence may take place online. An in-person alternative is optional when offered by Monarch.
Optional workshops
Academic workshops can complement your experience. Attendance is not a prerequisite for completing your programme or defending online.
ONLINE DOCTORAL STUDY
MBS · Professional Doctorates
Build on your experience to strengthen your professional authority, broaden your leadership perspective and deepen your specialist expertise.
Monarch Business School Switzerland connects your ambitions with program study, applied research and faculty guidance.
Doctor of Business Administration
Strengthen your professional authority and develop insight into organisational challenges.
Explore programme →Doctor of Management
Build on your management experience and shape your next leadership contribution.
Explore programme →Doctor of Leadership
Deepen your leadership perspective and your capacity to guide people and change.
Explore programme →Doctor of Applied Neuroscience
Develop specialist insight into neuroscience, management and human performance.
Explore programme →Doctor of Professional Studies
Develop an original, practice-focused contribution grounded in your professional expertise.
Explore programme →Doctor of Coaching
Deepen your coaching expertise and strengthen your contribution to coaching practice.
Explore programme →ONLINE DOCTORAL STUDY
MGRI · Research Doctorates
Develop your scholarly voice and make an original contribution to knowledge.
The Monarch Global Research Institute brings together researchers exploring questions in business and society. Exchange ideas across disciplines and develop a contribution to your chosen field.
PhD Programs
Explore research-oriented doctoral study and develop an original contribution to knowledge.
Explore programme →Doctor of Social Science
Explore social, institutional and organisational questions through interdisciplinary research.
Explore programme →Your research interests. Your PhD direction.
The PhD in Business Research accommodates research across the broad field of business and management. You do not need a separately named doctorate for every specialism.
- Strategy, leadership and organisational change
- Entrepreneurship, innovation and family business
- Marketing, consumer behaviour and digital business
- Finance, accounting and corporate governance
- Human resources, organisational behaviour and talent development
- Operations, supply chains and project management
- Sustainability, business ethics and corporate social responsibility
- Technology management, AI and business analytics
Bring the question that matters to you. Faculty can help you refine your topic and explore its fit within the PhD in Business Research.
Explore the PhD in Business Research →ONLINE DOCTORAL STUDY
Your ideas. Individual guidance.
Bring your experience, interests and ambitions. You do not need a finished proposal to begin a conversation.
Once you choose a professional or academic doctorate the faculty will guide you in developing your research proposal.
- Start with your experience. Identify challenges and opportunities that matter to you.
- Refine your question. Develop a focused project with faculty guidance.
- Explore existing knowledge. Discover ideas and perspectives relevant to your work.
- Develop your approach. Choose methods suited to your question.
- Build your insight. Gather and interpret evidence, with feedback as your work develops.
- Share your contribution. Present your research through your thesis and doctoral defence.
Planning your journey
Standard-pathway minimum registration is 24 months for the DBA and 36 months for the PhD in Business Research. These are not guaranteed completion times: graduation depends on completing the programme’s research, thesis and examination requirements.
Admissions can advise on programme requirements and recognition of prior study. Professional experience alone does not automatically shorten a doctorate.
ONLINE DOCTORAL STUDY
Complete your programme online
All programmes at Monarch can be completed online, allowing you to pursue your ambitions without relocating or stepping away from your professional life.
Your doctorate, completed online
For doctoral candidates, this includes the doctoral defence. Optional in-person opportunities may enrich your experience, but are not required to complete your programme.
Meet members of our graduate community
Marlene Gonzalez
Founder and President of Life Coaching Group LLC, Marlene focuses on executive coaching and leadership development. Her professional experience includes serving as Senior Director of Global Training, Learning and Development at McDonald’s, as well as leadership roles in Latin American operations and the company’s Venezuelan business. She holds an MBA from IESA Business School in Venezuela and previously worked as a start-up coach at Rev1 Ventures.
Read profile →
Dr. Richmond Ezenwa Okafor
With more than twenty-five years of entrepreneurial experience, Dr. Okafor completed a DBA in Entrepreneurship focused on digital transformation and horizontal collaboration in Nigeria’s road-freight sector. His research developed a framework to support more efficient, transparent and digitally enabled collaboration among logistics providers, shippers and transport operators—connecting extensive professional experience with a practical organisational challenge.
Explore graduate stories →
Dr. Scott Farrell
Dr. Farrell completed his DBA while serving as Group Chief Financial Officer for B. Braun Companies Southern Africa. Drawing on his experience of managing a multi-territory healthcare enterprise, his research examined organisational factors that support financial resilience and strategic transformation in complex corporate environments. His doctoral work connected the challenges of senior financial leadership with an investigation grounded in professional practice.
Explore graduate stories →Your ambition. Your next step.
Take the next step toward your doctorate.
Tell us about your experience and what you want to achieve. Our Admissions team can help you explore the professional or research pathway that fits your goals.
Plan your next chapter
Online doctoral study information →
Consult the relevant programme pages and Admissions for current entry requirements, fees and pathway details.
Monarch Switzerland
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Online Doctoral Study Brochure · September 2026