Online Doctoral Study for Working Professionals
Build on your experience. Strengthen your professional authority or develop your scholarly voice—with individual faculty guidance and the freedom to remain active in your career.
- Fully OnlineResearch without borders
- Working ProfessionalsStudy alongside your career
- No Campus RequirementNo relocation required
- Online DefenceComplete remotely
Doctoral Study Without Borders
You have built experience, expertise and professional responsibilities. Now take them further through doctoral study that fits alongside your career, family and life at home.
Monarch Switzerland has been providing online and distance-based education to international professionals for close to two decades. Build on that experience with a study pathway that connects your ambitions with individual faculty guidance and the flexibility to remain professionally active.
Whether your goal is greater leadership influence, deeper specialist expertise or an original contribution to knowledge, you can pursue it from your home country. Faculty supervision, research development and the doctoral defence can all take place online, without mandatory campus attendance or relocation.
Your professional environment can remain part of your journey—bringing meaningful questions, practical context and fresh perspectives to your study.
Build Your Future Alongside Your Career
Move toward your next professional chapter while continuing the work and commitments that matter to you. Part-time study gives you a way to develop your ideas, expertise and contribution alongside your career.
At Monarch, you can work with your supervisor, develop your research and complete your doctoral defence remotely. Plan regular time for study around your professional life, with individual guidance as your ideas develop.
Study From Your Home Country
Remain connected to your country, family and professional environment. No mandatory campus attendance or relocation is required to complete the program.
Remain Professionally Active
Continue building your career while exploring questions that matter to your field. Connect your study with the experience and perspective you bring from professional life.
Develop Your Ideas With Guidance
Work with your supervisor to sharpen your ideas, develop your approach and strengthen your contribution. Individual feedback helps you see your next steps more clearly.
Defend Online
The doctoral defence may be completed online. Candidates may select an in-person defence when offered by Monarch, but physical attendance is not required for program completion.
Optional workshops, not a campus requirement. Academic workshops may complement the research experience. Workshop attendance is not a prerequisite for online defence.
Turn Your Experience Into Your Next Contribution
The challenges you have encountered, the decisions you have made and the opportunities you see can inspire a valuable doctoral project. Build on that experience to develop new insight for your profession or field of study.
You do not need a finished proposal to begin a conversation. Once you choose a professional doctorate the faculty will guide you in developing your research proposal. Together, you can refine an area of interest into a focused project.
- Professional ExperienceStart with the challenges and opportunities that matter to you.
- Research ProblemDevelop a focused question with faculty guidance.
- Theory & LiteratureExplore existing ideas and discover fresh perspectives.
- MethodologyChoose an approach suited to your question.
- EvidenceGather and interpret evidence to develop your insight.
- Original ContributionShare a contribution to professional practice or scholarly knowledge.
Choosing Your Doctoral Pathway
Start with the contribution you want to make. Monarch Business School Switzerland (MBS) supports professional ambition and applied contribution; the Monarch Global Research Institute (MGRI) supports scholarly inquiry and original contributions to knowledge.
PhD or Professional Doctorate?
PhD
Develop your scholarly voice, explore important questions and make an original contribution to knowledge through a research-oriented doctorate.
Professional Doctorate
Strengthen your professional authority, deepen specialist expertise and develop an applied contribution to management, leadership or your area of practice.
Choose the emphasis that fits your ambitions: a contribution to scholarly knowledge or a project closely connected to professional practice. Both pathways lead to doctoral-level research.
Where do you want to take your experience next?
| Your area of interest | Explore this pathway |
|---|---|
| Original research in business and management | PhD in Business Research |
| Applied management and organizational research | Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) |
| Leadership research and professional practice | Doctor of Leadership (DOL) |
| Social, institutional and organizational problems | Doctor of Social Science (DSS) |
| Leadership as an academic research field | PhD in Leadership |
| Economic research | PhD in Economics |
| Financial research | PhD in Finance |
| International relations research | PhD in International Relations Theory |
| Sustainability and responsible business | PhD in CSR & Sustainability |
| Organizational and cognitive neuroscience | PhD in Organizational & Cognitive Neuroscience |
| Applied neuroscience within management | Doctor of Applied Neuroscience in Management |
| Management expertise and leadership contribution | Doctor of Management (DMan) |
| Specialist professional practice | Doctor of Professional Studies (DPS) |
| Coaching expertise and practice | Doctor of Coaching (DCOACH) |
How Your Doctoral Journey Develops
Begin with an area that matters to you. With faculty guidance, refine your question, explore existing knowledge and develop an approach suited to the contribution you want to make.
Your supervisor provides individual guidance and feedback as you develop your project. Through reading, research, analysis and writing, you build the confidence and capability to express your ideas and support your conclusions.
Study independently, with people to support your progress. Stay connected to your supervisor and the wider Monarch community. Discuss your ideas, explore different perspectives and use feedback to strengthen your work.
Optional academic workshops can complement the online experience, but are not mandatory for completing the program or defending online.
PhD in Business Research
36 monthsMinimum registration · Standard pathway.
Doctor of Business Administration
24 monthsMinimum registration · Standard pathway.
Planning your journey. These are minimum registration periods, not guaranteed completion times. Graduation depends on completing the programme’s research, thesis and examination requirements. Admissions can advise on programme requirements and any recognition of prior study; professional experience alone does not automatically shorten a doctorate.
Take the Next Step Toward Your Doctorate
Bring your experience, interests and ambitions. Explore the doctoral pathway that helps you take them further, without leaving your professional life behind.
Wherever you are based, your next chapter can begin with a conversation. Tell our Admissions team what you want to achieve and discover the professional or research pathway that fits your goals.
- Fully online doctoral study with individual research supervision.
- Part-time study designed around professional commitments.
- No mandatory campus attendance and no relocation requirement.
- Online doctoral defence, with an optional in-person alternative when offered.
- Structured study connected to your chosen field and contribution.
Your experience. Your ambition.
Your next contribution.
Explore Doctoral Programs
MBS · Professional Doctorates
Doctor of Business Administration
Strengthen your professional authority and develop insight into organisational challenges.
Explore Program →Doctor of Management
Build on your management experience and shape your next leadership contribution.
Explore Program →Doctor of Leadership
Deepen your leadership perspective and your capacity to guide people and change.
Explore Program →Doctor of Applied Neuroscience
Develop specialist insight into neuroscience, management and human performance.
Explore Program →Doctor of Professional Studies
Develop an original, practice-focused contribution grounded in your professional expertise.
Explore Program →Doctor of Coaching
Deepen your coaching expertise and strengthen your contribution to coaching practice.
Explore Program →MGRI · Research Doctorates
PhD Programs
Develop your scholarly voice and make an original contribution to knowledge.
Explore Programs →Doctor of Social Science
Explore social, institutional and organisational questions through interdisciplinary research.
Explore Program →