Eligibility criteria
Entry requirements
Applicants seeking admission to the DBA program shall normally hold:
- An MBA degree, or equivalent, from an approved university or equivalent
or
- Where other masters degree level qualifications are held, applicants may be asked to complete a prescribed bridging program (normally designated courses from an MBA program)
or
- An appropriate Honours or Bachelors degree with Honours of at least 2A standard from an approved university or equivalent higher education institution
or
- An UniSA Graduate Diploma of Research Management (see note)
and
- Substantial (no less than five years) experience at executive/management level
or
- Substantial (no less than two year's full time) experience in a teaching or research position, in the discipline area in which the applicant intends to conduct their research, within an approved university or equivalent higher education institution.
All applicants are required to submit a detailed curriculum vitae outlining their managerial/executive or teaching/research experience.
Applicants seeking entry with substantial (no less than five years) professional experience at executive/management level are required to submit as part of their admission application a 500 word outline of a proposed research topic in the field of business and/or management.
Applicants seeking entry with substantial (no less than two years full time) experience in a teaching or research position, in the discipline area in which the applicant intends to conduct their research, within an approved university or equivalent higher education institution are required to submit as part of their admission application submission a 2000 word outline of a proposed research topic in the field of business and/or management which reflects their current knowledge and understanding of their discipline area as an academic.
For international applicants for whom English is a second language, the minimum English language requirements are :
- International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test: Minimum score of 6.0 in Reading and Writing sub scores and minimum overall score of 7.0 obtained within the last two years or corresponding results from an equivalent test such as TOEFL, CET (Cambridge English Test) or UEC (University Entry Certificate at CELUSA);
OR - Successful completion of a tertiary qualification at bachelor level or above completed in Australia within the last two years;
OR - Successful completion of two or more years of tertiary study at bachelor level or above conducted and completed in English within the last five years in a country in which:
- English is an official language; or
- English is commonly used, as determined by the University.
- Where the study in English was more than five years ago, this requirement may be satisfied by subsequent and recent work experience of 2 or more years duration in a setting where English is the language of business subject to satisfactory evidence as determined by the University.
Note: Applicants holding the UniSA award, Graduate Diploma in Management Research, shall normally be admitted to the DBA program if they have completed each course of the GMR with a minimum of P2 grade, with an average grade of P1 or above over the five courses, and satisfactory submission and defence of their research proposal as a DBA proposal with a grade of P1 or above.
The DBA is a full fee-paying program.
Candidates must have ready access to electronic mail and internet.