Some people joke that INSEAD stands for ‘I never stop eating and drinking’! Others talk about the family-friendly life on campus – or the jet setting between campuses. But nearly all of our PhD graduates agree that their time at INSEAD was the best of their lives.
No other PhD in management offers such a choice of lifestyles. If bright lights, condo living and hot weather are your preference, Singapore has exactly what you’re looking for. If you prefer to rent an apartment in a French château, rustic cottage or elegant town house, head for Fontainebleau – where you can also run, hike, bike, ride or climb in the shady forest that surrounds the campus.
At weekends and holidays (studies permitting), you can opt for a totally different experience. The many attractions of Paris are less than an hour from Fontainebleau by car or train. And some of Asia’s most exciting cities and idyllic resorts are within a few hours’ flying time from Singapore.
But on Monday morning, as soon as you step back onto campus, you’ll know you’re in INSEAD. Asia or Europe, the atmosphere is utterly distinctive. It’s energetic yet peaceful, supportive yet challenging, multicultural and tolerant yet free of political correctness.
A community within a community
There is something about the size and structure of our PhD programme that builds a close-knit, supportive community. Is it because you spend your first two years learning alongside colleagues from other areas of specialisation? Is it because there are fewer than 90 PhD students across the entire institution? Or is it because of the close, cooperative relationships with faculty?
Whatever the answer, everyone knows everyone else. There’s a camaraderie and mutual respect that’s rare in the highly competitive world of academia. And this extends to the global alumni network that now numbers around 200 PhD graduates – most of them academics at top international business schools or universities. It’s an extraordinarily valuable personal and professional network.
Although the INSEAD PhD community is comparatively small, you’ll rub shoulders with MBA, Executive MBA and Executive Education participants of all ages and backgrounds: future business leaders and successful senior managers. In fact, with around 1,000 MBA students at any one time and 11,000 executive participants every year, INSEAD is one of the largest graduate business schools in the world.
This means there are excellent facilities for socialising and sport, as well as study. For example, PhD students are welcome in a whole range of MBA clubs and teams, and regularly participate in the school’s famous “national weeks”, which celebrate world cuisines and cultures.
For families
Whichever campus you choose as your base, you will find INSEAD incredibly family friendly. Both sites have “family rooms” designed to entertain small children and, for older families, international schools within easy reach. Partners and children are welcome on campus at all times and there is a range of suitable accommodation near both locations.
Singapore is known as one of the cleanest, safest and most child-friendly cities in the world, while Fontainebleau offers a rural, small-town setting and green spaces that are perfect for bringing up families. There is a strong multilingual community of children and parents – both students and faculty – centred on each campus. And the PhD programme now comes with the option of paid maternity leave, as well as automatically extended study time and financial support.
