Oceanography Ph.D. & MBA Degree

The pier at Scripps Institution of Oceanography

A collaboration between the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Rady School of Management enables students to pursue a Ph.D. at Scripps and an MBA at Rady in a coordinated, concurrent program. The concurrent Ph.D./MBA program was developed for students interested in careers where the combination of scientific expertise and management knowledge is particularly important.

Concurrent degree students must first be admitted to the Ph.D. program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography through the normal admissions process. Once enrolled at Scripps, students may apply to the Rady School in the year preceding their desired commencement of MBA study. Prospective MBA students will need to fulfill all normal requirements in applying for the Rady MBA, including taking the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT).

The program structure enables students to craft a program timeline that incorporates their programs at Scripps and Rady. Students work with faculty advisors in both schools to develop linkages between their Scripps oceanography research programs and the Rady capstone project, Lab to Market, which focuses on the movement of innovations developed through research into the commercial marketplace.

After the first MBA year, students will complete an independent study project supervised jointly by Scripps and Rady faculty that will contribute to their doctoral dissertation and the Rady capstone project. In the second MBA year, students undertake normal Rady curriculum including the capstone project, and complete the MBA requirements at the end of the winter quarter.

Upon completion of the MBA requirements, the student will return to Scripps to resume studies and complete the Ph.D.