项目介绍

2026年6月4日

Copenhagen Business School, Department of Organization invites applications for a vacant PhD scholarship within the field of organization studies, with a particular focus on behavioural design in the public sector. The scholarship is part of the DFF2 funded research project BEHAVE: Behavioural Design of Public Service Work, which examines how behavioural design, including nudging, is increasingly used as a management tool in public organizations.

The project aims to generate new knowledge about how behavioural design enters public service work and how it may transform everyday tasks, professional roles, organizational responsibilities and discretionary practices.

The healthcare sector is an obvious empirical field for the PhD project, however, applicants may also propose to study other parts of the public sector, such as employment services, social services, education, taxation or municipal administration.

The scholarship may cover the following research areas, depending on the academic profile and interests of the applicant:

• behavioural design as a management tool in public organizations
• the effects of behavioral design on professional work, discretion and expertise in public service organizations
• studies of how behavioural design is developed, translated and used in everyday organizational practice
• studies of behavioural design across different public sector organizations

We are particularly interested in candidates with a background in organization studies, sociology, anthropology, public administration, sociology of professions, sociology of health and illness, or science and technology studies. The PhD project is expected to be based on qualitative methods, such as organizational ethnography, participant observation, shadowing, qualitative interviews, document analysis and/or case studies.

The scholarship requires the conduct of empirical fieldwork in and communication with Danish public sector organizations. The candidate must therefore be able to communicate fluently in Danish or another Scandinavian language.

The successful candidate will be expected to develop an independent PhD project that relates to the overall BEHAVE project, while contributing with their own research question, theoretical perspective and methodological reflections.

The three-year PhD programme at CBS gives you the opportunity to conduct research under the supervision of CBS’s associate professors and professors, supported by research related PhD courses. The programme is highly international, and you are expected to participate in international research conferences and to spend time at another research institution as a visiting PhD student. See the CBS homepage for more information about the PhD programme, https://www.cbs.dk/en/research/phd-programme.  

CBS PhD graduates are held in high esteem not only in academia and research institutions but also in government and business where their research qualifications are in high demand.

CBS is committed to ensuring excellence, transformative and relevant teaching and research. Candidates who wish to join us must be interested in working in an organisation of this type and it is expected that the applicant shows an interest in joining the department’s research environment. You can read more about the department’s research here: www.cbs.dk/ioa. 

Application and admission requirements

The department will give priority to applicants with high grades from their universities.
To be considered the applicant must

• have a basic education at master’s level (corresponding to the 3 + 2 Bologna process)

• have received the grade of 10 (or equivalent) for the master’s thesis according to the Danish 7-point grading scale (https://ufsn.dk/english/education/the-danish-education-system/grading-system/)  

• have a weighted grade point average of at least 8.2 on the Danish 7-point grading scale for the bachelor’s and master’s degree combined or alternatively a weighted grade point average must be at least 9.5 for the master’s degree alone. If the grade point average is not met, documentation for being in the top 40% of the class is also accepted.

• have completed the master’s programme before starting the PhD programme at CBS

• master academic English at a high level in writing and speaking

The application must include a project description (max 4 pages). We expect candidates to ask for the general project description and write up a research proposal that relates to the overall project, while also showing how the candidate will contribute with his/her ideas.
The project description must include:

• a presentation of an original research question
• a description of the initial theoretical framework and method
• a presentation of the proposed empirical material
• a work plan for the three years

More information can be found here: https://www.cbs.dk/en/research/phd-programmes/admission

In addition to the project description, copies of the following must be included:

• cover letter
• diploma for bachelor’s and master’s degree or other certificates at an equivalent level as well as the grade transcripts
• documentation for being in the top 40% of the class (if grade requirements are not met)
• a concise curriculum vitae (CV)
• a list of articles and publications (if applicable)
• one example of a selected written work (e.g. master’s thesis)

The PhD student is enrolled in the CBS PhD School. Further information about PhD scholarships and the PhD programme can be found at https://www.cbs.dk/en/research/phd-programme.

For further information please contact Kirstine Zinck Pedersen, email kzp.ioa@cbs.dk or Trine Pallesen, email tp.ioa@cbs.dk.