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Not sure whether a DBA, a PhD by Research, or a PhD by Portfolio fits you best? This decision guide compares the three pathways in plain language, explains what evidence each requires, and provides a practical “evidence-first” framework to help you choose the doctorate aligned with your background, ambitions, and available outputs.

This transparent guide explains how portfolio doctorates are assessed: the key doctoral criteria, what counts as strong evidence, how authorship is demonstrated, and what the viva/defence typically tests. It also includes a practical mapping matrix and readiness checklist to help candidates structure a coherent, defensible submission.

A doctoral pathway can be completed in one year without lowering standards when acceleration is driven by evidence and rigorous assessment, not reduced expectations. This article explains the three conditions that make a one-year PhD academically credible—evidence sufficiency, doctoral-level evaluation (including a defence), and transparent quality assurance—and offers a practical integrity checklist for ambitious professionals.

A PhD by Portfolio is designed for senior professionals who already have substantial, research-grade outputs—such as publications, executive reports, policy frameworks, sector analyses, evaluation studies, and applied methodologies—and who want that work assessed as a coherent doctoral contribution. Instead of repeating what you have already produced in a traditional dissertation format, the portfolio route curates your strongest evidence and adds a rigorous critical commentary that articulates originality, method, and impact.

Many executives generate doctoral-level work in real organisational contexts: they define complex problems, apply structured approaches, and produce evidence-based outcomes that influence decisions and practice. The key academic question is not “How long did it take?”, but “Does the work demonstrate doctoral-level contribution—and can the candidate defend it?” For candidates with the right evidence base, a PhD by Portfolio offers a robust, time-efficient pathway that recognises prior achievement while maintaining doctoral standards.

International higher education is being transformed by tightening visa rules, rising living costs and growing uncertainty for students who want to study abroad. This article explores how borderless online schools and virtual universities are emerging as a powerful alternative, allowing learners to earn international degrees without relocation or immigration risk. Using the Swiss School of Business Research (SSBR) as an example, it shows how fully online bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programmes—especially executive-focused options such as the PhD by Portfolio—provide flexible, globally oriented study routes for ambitious professionals worldwide.

This article explains how Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is reshaping higher education and why it now reaches all the way to doctoral level. It introduces the PhD by Portfolio as a rigorous pathway that recognises existing executive and professional achievements instead of forcing candidates to start from zero. Using SSBR as a case study, it shows how seasoned managers can organise their prior projects, publications and innovations into a coherent doctoral portfolio – earning a one-year PhD online while continuing to lead and create impact in their organisations.