Dear PhD Students,

Welcome to the PhD program at IIM Udaipur. At IIM Udaipur, we place a strong emphasis on research excellence. Our institute ranks 4th in India according to the UT Dallas methodology for ranking business school research. Despite being established in 2011, IIM Udaipur has achieved significant milestones in business school scholarship, owing mainly to our exceptional faculty and their research contributions.

As PhD students within this academic ecosystem, you will have the invaluable opportunity to learn directly from our research-active faculty. This experience and the rigor of the PhD Program will facilitate your development into a scholarly researcher with the potential for active contributions on the global stage. I encourage you to maximize your learning experience in our five-year-long residential PhD program by engaging closely with our faculty and rigorously pursuing the goals set in the PhD program. Remember that every small step taken in the right direction eventually goes a long way. So, focus on the next small step in your path of action.

In addition to continuous exposure to our esteemed faculty, our institute offers numerous avenues for honing your skills and shaping your journey toward becoming a distinguished scholar. In the program's first two years, students will dedicate themselves to specialized PhD courses, distinct from our MBA curriculum, explicitly designed to impart the scholarly rigor essential to learning the craft of research and top-notch journal publishing. Subsequently, you will devote three full years to work toward your dissertation and other academic responsibilities. In addition, the institute fully supports the entire program financially and provides accommodation and other campus amenities.

Furthermore, our newly inaugurated Learning Center, ADHIGAM, provides a dedicated workspace for PhD students—a conducive environment for collaborative learning and the exchange of innovative ideas. I'll highly encourage you to utilize this facility fully, as the right environment can spark the right ideas!

The PhD program at IIM Udaipur also encompasses various opportunities that support your overall development as a scholar. A few of these are:

• Merit-Based Semester Abroad Program: Selected PhD students can spend four months at esteemed international universities, enriching their research perspectives and networking with global faculty.
• International Conference Travel Fund: Generous travel grants enable PhD students to present their research at prestigious conferences, enhancing their communication skills and academic exposure.
• First and Second-Year Research Projects: These projects serve the purpose of initiating your research journey early on in the PhD Program. They take you through the steps of formulating research papers, which eventually will help you develop your dissertation work.
• Brownbag Seminars and Paper Development Workshops (PDW): Monthly seminars and frequent PDWs provide a platform for PhD students to engage with faculty on current research and receive early feedback on their working papers.

The vision of the PhD program at IIM Udaipur is to equip you with the skills and credentials to publish in top-notch academic journals in the short run and become a successful academic in the long run. As torchbearers of this PhD program, I hope that you will build a robust profile in academia and take a proud sequence of "small steps" towards blossoming your academic careers.

Best Regards,

Prof. Probal Mojumder
Associate Professor of Information Systems
Chairperson, PhD Program
IIM Udaipur