Research degrees programme

The aim of our research degrees programme is to offer opportunities for students to enhance their knowledge and understanding of economics and to develop their research skills - both generic research skills and also competence within the methodologies that are typical of research in economics.

Our doctoral (PhD) programme is intended for students who already have a postgraduate qualification, such as MA or MSc. We also offer an opportunity for MA or MSc by research, which might be used as the basis for proceeding to a doctoral programme.

Our research students are given personal supervision and advice by a team of, normally, two members of staff and may attend modules within our taught courses to support their personal development and training plans. Attendance at our staff research seminars is an opportunity to become familiar with research in progress throughout the School of Economics and to observe more experienced presenters, including visiting researchers. Research students present their own work in progress at our research students conferences.

We encourage our research students to become actively engaged in the academic life of the School of Economics (see our conferences and workshops and our recent news and activities). In particular, doctoral students may be offered opportunities to contribute to the delivery of our taught courses.

If you are interested in studying for a research degree, the first step is to submit a research proposal to the Research Administrator (tel: +44 (0)20 8417 2304). Please produce your proposal using our research proposal guidelines (PDF file).

We welcome all enquiries but are more likely to be able to offer supervision when the proposed research aligns with staff research interests. To get an impression of the topics that we are currently working on, you might consult the lists of our recent publications, our pre-publication discussion papers, and the project titles of our current research students.