The Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) is a three-year university diploma developed by IAE Angers — Université d’Angers in partnership with CEIBA Business School.
Designed for experienced managers, executives and entrepreneurs, the program enables participants to investigate important organizational and managerial challenges through rigorous academic research.
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The DBA recognizes that significant research questions often emerge from professional experience.
Participants learn to move beyond immediate solutions and examine the underlying mechanisms of complex managerial problems. Through academic supervision, research-methods training and critical reflection, they develop research capable of contributing to both management knowledge and professional practice.
Meet our current DBA candidates
Year 1 — Foundations and research design
Candidates develop their understanding of management research, identify a research problem, engage with academic literature, and build a theoretically grounded and methodologically rigorous research proposal.
Years 2–3 — Research development and completion
Under academic supervision, candidates conduct empirical research, analyse their findings, develop their thesis and work toward the final research defence.
Throughout the program, structured academic milestones help participants maintain progress alongside their professional responsibilities.
The program is academically led by IAE Angers, with supervision involving academic staff from IAE Angers and CEIBA Business School.
The qualification is a Diplôme d’Université (DU) awarded by Université d’Angers. It is distinct from the French national doctoral degree (PhD/doctorat).
CEIBA coordinates international program delivery, supports participants’ learning and research development, and facilitates collaboration between candidates, faculty and institutional partners.
DBA candidates are typically senior managers, entrepreneurs, and executives who want to formalize their experience into research-driven insight.
As often said: “To practice without theory is to sail an uncharted sea; theory without practice is not to sail at all.” The DBA helps candidates become engaged management scholars—able to connect conceptual clarity with practical transformation.
An executive doctorate for established professionals who want their research to produce measurable practical contributions beyond the classroom.
A community of candidates who are already shaping organizations—and who want to share, debate, and co-produce knowledge at a higher level.
A structured journey that builds critical thinking, methodological competence, and academic discipline, enabling candidates to contribute to the state of knowledge and inspire new ways of doing business.
A 3-year, executive-friendly pathway designed to fit demanding professional schedules while maintaining strong academic standards. The journey begins with coursework and research design to help you clarify a real managerial problem, position it in the literature, and select an appropriate methodology.
You then move into supervised fieldwork, where you collect and analyze data in your organizational or industry context. Throughout the process, you progress through structured milestones—proposal readiness, research seminars, and draft submissions—so your thesis develops step by step.
The final stage focuses on research dissemination and the completion of a defensible manuscript, culminating in the viva-voce defense.
You build your research mindset and toolkit through three applied management research courses and a sequence of research design & methodology workshops.
– Take applied research courses (e.g., Issues in Management Research, Supply Chain and Sustainability, Organisational Behavior)
– Complete the research design sequence: Problem formulation → Theorizing → Methods
– Strengthen your methods toolkit with qualitative & quantitative analysis
– Produce and validate your Thesis Proposal, then complete the Thesis Proposal Defense (proposal milestone)
– Demonstrate readiness for the next stage via the program’s comprehensive readiness assessment (“Grand Comprehensive Exam” in the brochure narrative).
You work with a dedicated supervisor and a supervisory committee to conduct in-depth field studies and craft a thesis with potential for publication, supported by regular meetings (face-to-face + virtual).
– Research Seminars (periodic checkpoints)
– Thesis Draft 1: Literature Review
– Thesis Draft 2: Literature Review + Research Methodology
– Thesis Draft 3: Literature Review + Methodology + Empirical Analysis
– Research dissemination (sharing your findings)
– Final thesis + Thesis defense (viva-voce)
Your DBA is supported through a structured, research-driven mentoring model designed to help you move from a solid proposal to a defensible thesis—and research outputs you can disseminate.