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^{Professors Rebecca Piekkari and Catherine Welch introducing doctoral students to the intricacies of case studies at the School of Business 7 December 2018}

Aalto University School of Business organised another majorly popular Case studies in business and management research seminar for doctoral students in early December. The course was created in 2007, and since 2013, it has been carried out in cooperation with the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM). Right from the start, it was one of EIASM’s most popular courses.

This time, the course was taken by nearly 30 enthusiastic doctoral candidates who wanted to learn more about carrying out a case study. There have been dozens of applications each year, the top year being 2015 with nearly 90 applicants. However, the maximum number of students for the course is thirty. EIASM's office in Belgium confirmed that the seminar led by Professor of International Business Rebecca Piekkari from the School of Business and Professor Catherine Welch from the University of Sydney is one of the most popular course of the institute based on the number of applicants.

Feedback from the seminar also speaks for its excellence. Students have often claimed it is the best course of the doctoral degree phase and that it provides the skills to successfully plan research projects. Information about the course is mainly spread by word of mouth among doctoral students – for more and more students, it is a must.

The week-long course is work-intensive, but it provides doctoral students with in-depth knowledge and skills to carry out case studies and justify their choices. The seminar also gives students an extensive methodological library that they can use along the thesis process.

Text: Sonja Lehtinen