FBE Doctoral Day
Tuesday 20 October 2026
- Doctoral Day
- Programme
- Workshops
- Best Paper Award
- Venue
- Photos (2025 edition)
Doctoral Day 2026
The Doctoral Day event is yearly organized by the Faculty of Business and Economics in co-operation with the Executive PhD programme of the Antwerp Management School. We invite PhD students, as well as their research supervisors and interested PhD researchers.
This scientific gathering offers PhD students a platform to present their doctoral work and receive comments from a discussant. The Doctoral Day is also meant to offer opportunities to 'meet and greet' and exchange ideas with fellow PhD students, faculty, and professors. Finally, the annual Doctoral Day wants to contribute to the visibility of the growing research environment of the Faculty of Business and Economics.
Amongst the submitted papers, the Best Paper Award Committee selects three papers that will be presented during the Doctoral Day, after which the Committee decides who receives the Best Paper Award.
Register to join us on 20 October 2026 for the 16th edition of the FBE Doctoral Day. We look forward to welcoming you at the Cloister of the Grauwzusters. For more information, please contact phd.fbe@uantwerpen.be
Deadlines
6 September 2026 | Registration deadline for active participation (discussant and/or presenter) - open for PhD students enrolled at the Faculty of Business and Economics. Presenters need to submit their abstract in the registration form. |
14 September 2026 | Discussants and presenters receive the session schedule. |
16 September 2026 | Presenters submit their full paper. |
9 October 2026 | Registration deadline for participation only & workshop. |
Programme 2026
9:15-9:40 | Registration |
9:40-10:00 | Word of welcome |
10:00-12:00 | Parallel sessions |
12:00-13:00 | Lunch |
13:00-14:30 | Parallel sessions |
14:30-15:15 | Presentations Short list Best Paper Award |
15:15-15:45 | Coffee break |
15:45-16:45 | Workshops - Participants choose 1 workshop |
16:45-17:00 | Best Paper Award Ceremony |
17:00-18:00 | Reception |
Workshops
Participants can follow one out of three parallel workshops:
Publishing and reviewing - Patrick De Pelsmacker
The purpose of the workshop is to provide guidelines, tips and tricks, do’s and don’t’s when preparing a paper for submission to an academic journal and when performing a peer review of a paper that was submitted for publication.
Attention will be devoted to demonstrating relevance and fleshing out the contribution of an article, developing a conceptual framework, research questions and hypotheses, developing and describing a research method and the results of empirical work, and writing a compelling discussion section. The purpose of peer reviewing will be explained, and the duties and tasks of an academic peer reviewer will be discussed. All these principles and guidelines will be illustrated by means of real-life examples.
Participants are expected to actively contribute to the discussion and are invited to share their own publishing and reviewing issues with the other participants.
Prof. Dr. Patrick De Pelsmacker is professor emeritus connected to the marketing department of the Faculty of Business and Economics.
Staying Sane: Stress and Work-Life Balance as a PhD Researcher - Brecht Polspoel
Doing a PhD can be exciting, but also mentally exhausting. Long periods of uncertainty, isolation, performance pressure and blurry work-life boundaries can wear down even the most passionate researcher. In this session we explore how you can take care of your mental health while navigating the ups and downs of academia. Through examples and practical tools, we’ll discuss how to recognize and manage stress, build healthier boundaries, and maintain a more balanced relationship with your work. This session is not about “doing more” or “fixing yourself”, but about finding ways to stay grounded and connected, even in the messiness of academic life.
Dr. Brecht Polspoel is student counselor at UAntwerp. Students can contact him for both study guidance, study choice guidance, and psychological guidance (e.g., stress, anxiety, self-confidence). Brecht Polspoel has a degree in clinical orthopedagogue (KULeuven, 2015) and is doctor of pedagogical sciences (KULeuven, 2019).
What would you do? Bridging the gap from theory to case study. A session on research integrity - Marianne De Voecht
What would you do? Bridging the gap from theory to case study. A session on research integrity.
Join this interactive workshop to uncover the essentials of research integrity. We will cover some key concepts and drivers behind research misconduct but mostly tackle a number of thought-provoking cases. The goal? For you to gain practical tools to identify dilemmas in your own research. Oh, and doing things right of course, that too.
Marianne De Voecht provides support for policy processes relating to research integrity within the Research Affairs Office of Research, Innovation & Valorisation Antwerp. She also monitors developments in artificial intelligence in research and is a member of the RIVA communications team.
Best Paper Award
At the end of the research day, one of the presented papers is awarded with the Best Paper Award. The winner receives a budget that can be spend for conferences or courses.
A first selection is made by the session chairs, who can select one paper out of his/her session to be selected for the longlist. The Best Paper Award Committee will then decide on a shortlist of three papers which are presented during the Doctoral Day. Afterwards, the winner is announced in a plenary session.
For the 2026 edition, the Best Paper Award committee consists of Prof. Dr. Barbara Briers (chair), Prof. Dr. Sven Damen, Prof. Dr. Christof Defryn, Prof. Dr. Ans De Vos, Prof. Dr. Sebastiaan Maes and Prof. Dr. Christa Sys.
Venue
We will welcome you at the Cloister of the Grauwzusters.
University of Antwerp - Stadscampus
Klooster van de Grauwzusters
Building S
Lange Sint-Annastraat 7
2000 Antwerp