PhD Economics - Economics (ISER) Degree

Program Overview

This PhD program allows students to conduct in-depth research under the guidance of world-class experts. Students develop original theses under the supervision of one or two researchers, attend training courses, and participate in group meetings and research seminars. Graduates have pursued careers in academia, government, and research institutions worldwide.

Program Outline

Outline:

• The program does not have a taught structure, allowing students to investigate their chosen topic in depth.
• Students work on their thesis under the supervision of one or two researchers.
• Most theses are organized into three main chapters, plus introduction and conclusions.
• Students are encouraged to attend training courses to acquire new skills.
• Students are invited to take part in group meetings and attend research seminars.
• Students are expected to present their research work at the research student seminar series at least once per year.

Assessment:

• Students have a supervisory board meeting every six months to discuss progress, training needs, and other issues.
• Any potential issue is considered at the Student Progress Research Committee.
• Students can enter into completion if, by the end of their third year, they have a complete draft of all thesis chapters (excluding introduction and conclusions) and these are of good quality.

Teaching:

• Students are supervised by world-leading experts in their field.
• Students are allocated a supervisor who guides them through the different stages of their research degree.
• In some cases, students may have joint supervision by two members of staff.

Careers:

• Graduates have gone on to work at:
• Department of Economics, University of Chicago, USA
• Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Australia
• Department of Economics and Public Finance, University of Turin, Italy
• Department of Economics, University of Linz, Austria
• Centre for Research on Social Dynamics, Bocconi University, Italy
• Applied Microeconomics Research Unit, University of Minho, Portugal
• World Bank, US
• School of Health Administration, Dalhousie University, Canada

Other:

• The Institute for Social and Economic Research enjoys an outstanding reputation at both a national and international level for cutting-edge and high profile research.
• The research is used by academics and researchers around the world, by policy makers, by politicians and by journalists involved in ongoing debates about society.
• The Institute receives consistently high level of support from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
• The Institute is home to the ESRC Research Centre on Micro-Social Change, an interdisciplinary centre with a prestigious team of staff who have a wide range of expertise in social science disciplines.
• The Institute is also home to the UK Longitudinal Studies Centre (ULSC), funded by the ESRC, which aims to promote longitudinal research.
• The Institute runs the British Household Panel Survey, which has interviewed the same sample members since 1991, and Understanding Society, the world's largest longitudinal survey with 100,000 sample members from 40,000 households.
• PhD students are provided with their own desk, usually in a shared office, and have access to specialist resources such as The Hilary Doughty Research Library, with significant holdings of published and unpublished material on longitudinal and panel data methodology, and its application to economic and policy issues.
• Students can also use a variety of longitudinal and panel data sets, including the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and Understanding Society.

Home/UK fee

£4,786 per year

International fee

£18,750 per year.