Micro-X has welcomed the announcement of an Australian-first combined PhD-MBA that will be offered by Flinders University from next year through a compressed doctoral program in tandem with an accelerated masters of business administration.
“PhD graduates tend to be very thorough, very smart, very focused and deliver some great outcomes but they usually don’t have the context to think around business and commercial acumen,” chief engineer Anthony Skeats said.
“If they get that additional business knowledge that makes them far more powerful.”
“We know from talking to employers that PhD graduates are brilliant in their research field, but they often lack business-relevant abilities, including presentation, negotiation and leadership skills,” said Carla Dias Wadewitz, a co-lead of the new program.
“It’s giving them skills that are not only useful inside a lab, so they understand human resources, finance and leadership.”
Some leading lights overseas, including Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Dartmouth and the National University of Singapore, have been offering joint programs for several years.
Read more from Anthony and details of the combined PhD-MBA in The Australian Financial Review here.