Doctoral Programme in Economics

Brief description: The EUI Economics department aims to produce top-class researchers placed to pursue successful academic or professional careers in leading universities or other research-oriented organizations. Researchers in ECO engage in formal course-based training in the areas of microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics. Independent, but closely supervised research is an essential part of the four-year programme, and doctoral candidates have regular opportunities to present and discuss their research. The broad range of interests covered by current faculty enable them to supervise dissertations on a wide variety of topics within the three core areas. Prospective researchers for the Ph.D. in Economics are invited to explore whether their interests fit with those supported by the ECO faculty.

You must submit your application and all required documents via the interactive online application form.
The deadline for completing the application form and for the submission of references and all required documents is: Sunday 31 January 2016. Applications may be submitted until midnight (24:00 - CET) on that day.

A Mock-Up Application Form containing a preview of the sections of the form and the requested information is available online:
Mock-Up Application Form – Department of Economics

There are two distinct phases in the application process:

1. Register as early as possible
You are encouraged to register, insert your personal and referee details as soon as possible. This is important to allow sufficient time for your referees to submit the reference letters before the deadline. Reference letters will not be accepted after the deadline 31 January 2016 (24:00 - CET).

2. Complete and submit your application by the deadline 31 January 2016 (24:00 - CET)
Once you have registered you may continue to work on you application (including required documents) until the deadline.  Submit the application only when you have filled in all the information correctly and have successfully uploaded the final version of the required documents.  Once submitted, it will not any longer be possible to update or modify your application details (with the exception of the 'Grant Authority' and 'Referees' sections).

By registering/submitting application, you give your consent for processing the data as specified in the Privacy Statement for Application and Selection Procedures for EUI Post-Graduate Programmes and in accordance with the EUI’s Data Protection Policy outlined in the President’s Decision No. 40 of 27 August 2013 regarding Data Protection at the EUI

Before starting your online submission, prepare the required documents:

- a one or two page CV
- the research statement of 1500 words (See above)
- a degree transcript, issued by your university listing the exams/courses taken at university, grades/marks awarded and (if applicable) the final degree result (electronic size max 1 MB). Submit your transcript as a scanned file to the on-line application. If pertinent, you may attach more than one transcript from previous degree/s. Do not attach or send supplementary documents that are not strictly requested, such as the copy of your official diploma, traineeships diplomas etc.
- International English language certificate (See above).
- GRE  (EUI code 7395 - departmental code 1801). The online or unofficial version of your GRE - Examinee Score Report -  is acceptable. Candidates must directly upload mandatory GRE scores to the online application form.

Note that attachments must be PDF using standard international fonts (max size 1MB)

Do NOT use macros, special characters, password-protected attachments, electronic signatures or logos.

Selection process and schedule
2 November: Application procedure opens.
31 January: Deadline for applications and references. Applications are screened for completeness by Academic Service. Professors of the Department check the application files and identify the most promising ones.
Early March: National pre-selection committees composed of grant authorities, EUI faculty and representatives of PhD students shortlist candidates for interviews for specific countries or groups of countries.
Mid March: Invitations for interviews for shortlisted candidates are sent by e-mail. Candidates who are not shortlisted are also informed by e-mail.
4-7 April: Shortlisted candidates are interviewed in Florence by Departmental panels. Interviews for the LL.M. programme will take place on 11 and 12 April.
Mid April: EUI’s ‘Entrance Board’ decides which applicants will be offered admission on the basis of the Departments’ proposals. Candidates are informed of the admission results by e-mail.
May to July: Formal admission letters are sent by e-mail. Practical information for selected candidates is posted on the Academic Service's web pages. Reserve candidates may be contacted during this period if selected candidates withdraw.
End of August: Registration of new researchers.
1 September: Academic Year begins.

Selection criteria 
- Academic record
National pre-selection committees have the expertise to interpret academic grades, degrees and rankings of departments and universities and make sure that comparable standards are used for assessing all applicants.
Candidates are expected to have sufficient background in theory and research methodology relevant to their discipline and research project.

- Quality of the research proposal
The originality and feasibility of a PhD proposal play a crucial role both in the initial pre-selection by the EUI Professors and in the interviews in the Departments of History, Law and Political and Social Sciences. Applicants for the Economics Department provide a short research statement rather than a full research proposal.

- Potential supervision
The department carefully examines whether it can provide suitable supervision for the candidate, taking into account the profile of the department and distribution of supervision among its academic staff for the whole of the period concerned.

- Language abilities
All candidates must have a good knowledge of English. The expected minimum level of English language proficiency is C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).

- GRE
Candidates for the Economics Department must submit a GRE test score. Candidates for all other Departments are recommended to do so.
See also: Interviews and Language Test

European University Institute

address: Badia Fiesolana - Via dei Roccettini 9, I-50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) - Italy

e-mail: applyres@eui.eu

Website for more information