Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands invites online Application for number of Fully Funded PhD Positions at various Departments. We are providing a list of Fully Funded PhD Programs available at Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Eligible candidate may Apply as soon as possible.
(01) PhD Positions – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD: New collaborative partnerships between citizen collectives and governments
The PhD-researcher will focus on understanding the core values and approaches that define the relationships between CCs, governmental agencies, and academic institutions, specifically in Rotterdam and Arnhem (but also other municipalities are possible). This study will examine the relational dynamics between the identified actor groups at different stages of the collectives’ life cycles, while respecting the distinct roles of all stakeholders involved. The researcher will employ a comparative case study approach with participatory action research components, drawing on Soft Systems Methodology (SSM). We start from empirical understanding in real life settings of the CCs, by following a community-based research approach, which goes beyond traditional academic approaches. Additionally, we use SSM, a methodology inspired by system thinking and designed to address complex problems, particularly in scenarios where there is no clear or well-defined solution. SSM emphasizes understanding problems from multiple stakeholders’ perspectives, facilitating the exploration of different viewpoints and fostering a shared understanding of both challenges and potential solutions in forming effective partnerships. One specific output of the project is the development of an interactive game which can be used to facilitate the co-creation of public value by fostering effective collaboration between CCs and local governments, and simulate real-world scenarios, allowing players to experiment with various strategies and approaches to develop successful co-creative partnerships
Deadline : 15 Jan 2026
(02) PhD Positions- Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD: Identifying sustainability transition conflicts
In this four-year PhD project, you will investigate how citizen collectives (CCs) act as early detectors and mediators of societal tensions in living environments in the Netherlands.
Societal transitions toward sustainability and justice are not without challenges or disputes and polarization often emerges – between political ideologies, economic interests, or social values. This project explores how CCs can identify and respond to these “transition tensions” – such as the conflict between urgent climate action and principles of equity – before they escalate, and how their community-based engagement can contribute to avoiding transition backlash and advancing just societal change.
You will work with CCs that operate at the intersection of communities and societal change – both studying as well as helping design strategies for navigating tensions surrounding political ideologies and socio-economic disparities. Therewith you contribute to a broader understanding of how local, community-based organizations can offer solutions for larger societal divides. Using methods such as multi-criteria mapping and participatory action research, you will co-design interventions that help CCs recognize, discuss, and address these tensions.
Deadline : 15 Jan 2026
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(03) PhD Positions – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD in Fair Machine Learning in Marketing
The Marketing group at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University seeks a highly motivated PhD student with strong quantitative skills to study the problem of algorithmic biases in marketing.
As machines are trained to analyse complex problems, many tasks that previously required humans are now guided by Artificial Intelligence. Marketing is no exception in this domain. Increasingly, companies use algorithms to design targeted marketing campaigns. Causal Machine Learning is an emerging research field that can learn the causal effect of an intervention and how it varies within a population based on a large set of potential moderating variables. Its use in marketing has been rapidly growing over the last years (Lemmens and Gupta 2020; Esterzon, Lemmens, Van den Bergh 2023).
Unfortunately, algorithms can be discriminatory. The number of cases reporting biases in algorithms has exploded. Algorithms reproduce and amplify biases present in human decisions. They may even inadvertently create new discriminatory outcomes.
This PhD project ambitions to tackle this crucial managerial and societal challenge. The goal will be to better understand the problem of algorithmic biases in the context of targeting marketing campaigns and to develop a novel methodological framework to design effective and fair personalized policies. The project will include large-scale field experiments in collaboration with company partners.
Deadline : 15 Jan 2026
(04) PhD Positions – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD in Quantitative Marketing
The marketing group at Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) ranks among the best in the world. Our members publish their research in top journals in marketing as well as related fields. They deeply care about open science practices (e.g., data sharing and open-source software) and frequently host seminars to encourage knowledge exchange. In addition, we have a track record of excellent academic placements. Around 80% of our graduated PhD’s started their first job in academia, and over 50% landed a job at a top 100 business school (UT Dallas ranking). The group is diverse (in terms of research interests and cultural background), collaborative, and collegial.
Our PhD program seeks to train the next generation of marketing academics. We want our students to maximize their potential and become independent marketing scholars. We expect students to become experts in their domain of interest and define a research agenda around a topic of their choosing. As such, PhD positions in our group are open and students have the opportunity to collaborate with several faculty members when possible. The supervisory team will be formed considering the student’s research interests. During their years of study, students define and execute their own projects. They do this in consultation with their advisers.
Our quantitatively oriented faculty work on topics such as design of multi-armed bandits and reinforcement learning models with applications to recommendation systems and clinical trials (Gui Liberali), privacy (Gilian Ponte), causal inference (Jason Roos), consumer eye tracking (Ana Martinovici), digital marketing and behavioral decision making (Alina Ferecatu), virtual / augmented / mixed reality (Yvonne van Everdingen), digital platform markets (David Kusterer), marketing strategy (Gerrit van Bruggen), deep learning (Sebastian Gabel), consumer and firm networks (Xi Chen), customer analytics (Aurélie Lemmens), and consumer learning (Maciej Szymanowski).
Deadline : 15 Jan 2026
(05) PhD Positions – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD in Consumer Behavior
The Marketing group at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University seeks a highly motivated PhD student looking to study research questions in the domain of consumer behavior. Strong applicants are motivated to conduct novel research within the field of consumer behavior, typically have a background in psychology, business, statistics, or a related field, and desire to pursue careers as world-class academic researchers. The project will enable the PhD student to develop new theories about consumer behavior and/or psychology and test these theories utilizing quantitative research. Students define and execute their own projects in consultation with their advisers, and thus need creativity, self-direction, and a passion for scientific research
Deadline : 15 Jan 2026
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(06) PhD Positions- Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD in Sustainability and Management
The Business-Society Management department at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, is seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate looking to study a topic in the area of sustainability and management. For this position, you will be able to freely choose your own research topic, within our department’s area of expertise. Potential research topics broadly cover the challenges that society and our natural environment face and then consider how organisations can address these challenges. Specific topics include (but are not limited to): systems and resilience thinking, sustainability issues in multinational enterprises and global value chains, corporate communication, sense-making processes, social innovation, business ethics, philanthropy, alternative organisational and governance forms such as social enterprises, commons and cooperatives, corporate social (ir)responsibility, (organisational) stigma, stakeholder management, and aligning corporate value propositions with societal issues.
Overall, we are looking for a candidate who is eager to learn to research how organisations and businesses can be key drivers of social change, and we welcome applications from a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives. Strong applicants typically have backgrounds in business or economics and are looking to pursue an academic career. Creativity, self-direction, and a passion for scientific research are therefore essential qualities.
Deadline : 15 Jan 2026
(07) PhD Positions – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD in Finance
The finance faculty at RSM is a vibrant and diverse group consisting of leading international researchers. Our faculty undertakes world-class research that is regularly published in leading academic journals.
We are looking for highly motivated candidates that have an interest in undertaking challenging and rigorous research. Besides a background in finance, we also welcome applicants with an education in Economics or Econometrics.
Deadline : 15 Jan 2026
(08) PhD Positions – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position in Supply Chain Management
The aim of the ERIM Business Processes, Logistics, and Information Systems (LIS), Supply Chain Management (SCM) section doctoral program is to be at the forefront of developments in its domain. We are committed to making major contributions to management science by nurturing the next generation of supply chain scholars who can advance methodological and theoretical knowledge of supply chains.
Candidates will become active members of the large and diverse group of researchers at the SCM section. This group is one of the largest of its kind with more than 30 faculty members. It consistently ranks amongst the top-3 in Europe in terms of research output. Candidates are expected to contribute to the group’s world-class research and teaching, and thereby to management science and management practice in logistics and supply chain management.
Deadline : 15 Jan 2026
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(09) PhD Positions – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD Position in Innovation Management
Successful innovation management involves all actions needed to generate creative ideas and to turn these into attractive new products, services, and business models. The Innovation Management group at RSM is a team composed of several ambitious international faculty whose research focuses on creativity, idea management, leadership in innovation, diversity and inclusion, AI, standardization, collaborative innovation, and innovation strategies. We also execute large research projects in collaboration with leading organizations on, for instance, horticulture innovation and in the creative industries. Our research is often empirical and applies both quantitative and qualitative methods. As a PhD candidate in our section, you can design your own PhD project. The themes described below serve as inspiration and reflect the expertise of the department. Supervisors can vary per paper that you are working on.
Deadline : 15 Jan 2026
(10) PhD Positions – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position in Organization and Management Theory
Our research group in Organization and Management Theory (OMT) is seeking a PhD candidate to contribute to its research program. The core focus of our research program is the study of organizations in society. Our research is rooted in the observation that organizations are everywhere and play a key role in tackling humanity’s challenges. From birth, most people’s lives are lived through and in organizations such as schools, corporations, professional associations, governments, sports clubs, hospitals, cultural organizations, and many more. Therefore, all key societal challenges and transformations – such as those related to climate change, inequality, the onset of artificial intelligence or geopolitical conflict – are ultimately addressed and coordinated through organizations. The study of organizations is thus crucial to our understanding of contemporary societies.
At RSM, and the Department of People and Organisations, we have an eclectic program with state-of-the-art and impactful research. Researchers that are part of this program adopt a sociologically informed macro perspective – meaning that they start from the organization, organizational field, or societal level as the main unit of analysis. Otherwise, researchers are highly diverse and, as a group, encompass a wide variety of theoretical perspectives and research methods. For our PhD candidates, we provide an encouraging and supportive environment where our primary objective is to support you in developing your own research projects.
We are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic PhD candidate to further strengthen our group. The ideal candidate has a demonstrated passion for and experience in academic research, along with a learning orientation, perseverance, and a collaborative attitude. We are recruiting for a four-year, fully funded open PhD position, with the possibility of an extension for a fifth year. You will develop yourself as an all-round academic, learning how to conduct world-class research. Since this is an open position, there is no pre-defined research subject, which means that you will have the freedom to pursue your own interests as long as they fit within our broader research program.
Deadline : 15 Jan 2026
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(11) PhD Positions – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD in Strategic Management & Entrepreneurship
Our doctoral programme is designed to train world-class researchers in Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship, with a strong emphasis on quantitative methods. We combine in-depth knowledge of key topics in the field with rigorous training in econometrics, statistics, and analytical skills. By joining our PhD programme, you will become part of a collaborative and internationally oriented research community.
Our faculty cover a set of clearly defined research areas within strategy and entrepreneurship, and applicants are expected to develop research interests that explicitly align with these areas. The initial coursework provides a strong foundation in both theory and quantitative methods, preparing you to design and carry out empirical studies. In addition, you will be actively involved in the department’s research culture from the very beginning by attending seminars and engaging with faculty. These interactions will support you in developing a focused research agenda that matches your interests, builds on your quantitative skills, and contributes to the department’s research strengths.
Deadline : 15 Jan 2026
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About Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands – Official Website
Erasmus University Rotterdam is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humanist and theologian.
Erasmus MC is the largest and one of the foremost academic medical centers and trauma centers in the Netherlands, whereas its economics and business school, Erasmus School of Economics and Rotterdam School of Management are well known in Europe and beyond. Currently, Erasmus University Rotterdam has been placed in the top 100 universities in the world by five major ranking tables. In 2017, the university was ranked by Times Higher Education as 69th in the world with its business & economics as 17th, and clinical health as 42nd in the world, and was ranked among top ten business schools in Europe by the Financial Times. In 2015, Erasmus University Rotterdam was ranked by Times Higher Education as 20th in Europe and 72nd in the world, with its social sciences as 40th, and clinical health as 35th in the world.
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