The Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM) is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management and the Erasmus School of Economics, both at Erasmus University Rotterdam. It aims to bring together top researchers in business and management from each of these schools. Alongside its research program ERIM also has a graduate program in management designed to attract and train young scholars from around the world. ERIM seeks to contribute to "scientific research that enables organisations to assess and improve their business processes in order to perform in a profitable and responsible way." History ERIM was founded in 1999. It modeled itself on the top American and European business schools such as Wharton Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, UCLA Anderson School of Management, London Business School, and INSEAD. By 2010, ERIM has become one of the top three schools in business research in Europe, and is among the top 25 in the world. It has achieved a top ranking at the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), periodically ranking first outside the United States. In the next decade, ERIM will additionally focus on impacting business practice and the views of business professionals and the general public. Research Within ERIM, research in management is divided into five broad streams: marketing; finance and accounting; strategy; organization and business processes; logistics and information systems. Currently, more than 200 researchers are engaged in ERIM’s research programs. They are an international collection of researchers with backgrounds in business administration as well as other disciplines such as psychology, sociology, economics, econometrics and technical sciences. Also under ERIM’s umbrella are more than 20 specialist research centers, focusing on topics as diverse as customer value chains, mutual and hedge funds, neuroeconomics, entrepreneurship, closed loop supply chains, sustainability, climate change, and business in China. Doctoral program As a graduate school, ERIM offers a five-year doctoral program, broken down into two years of course work (following which the candidate receives a Master title) with three years applied to dissertation. The PhD degree is awarded following a successful defense of the dissertation. Candidates must have a Bachelor degree to enter the program. Candidates who already have an MSc degree may enter the program as second-year students, while those who have already received a relevant MPhil degree may enter as third-year students. The main goal of the program is to train promising students with academic ambitions to build competitive