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Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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The degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is the University's principal research degree for graduate students and is available in all faculties and departments.

A Cambridge PhD is intellectually demanding and you will need to have a high level of attainment and motivation to pursue this programme of advanced study and research.

In most faculties, a candidate is expected to have completed one year of postgraduate study, normally on a research preparation master's course, prior to starting a PhD.

Completion normally requires three or four years of full-time study, or at least five years of part-time study, including a probationary period.

Terms of research are normally consecutive and, for full-time students, require residency in Cambridge. Not all departments offer part-time research degrees.

Various routes to the PhD are possible and, if you are made an offer of admission, it will be made clear whether you are required to study for a master's degree or certificate in the first instance, or will be admitted directly to the probationary year for the PhD. You are registered for the PhD only after a satisfactory progress assessment at the end of the probationary year (five terms for part-time degrees). The assessment is designed also to focus your mind on the stages necessary for the completion of your research within the normal time limit and to address any structural problems that have arisen during the first year. Students must pass the first year assessment in order to continue their PhD study.

During your PhD, your effort will be focused on writing a dissertation. The word count of the dissertation is dependent on the department and the Student Registry or Educational Student Policy will be able to tell you the maximum word limit. This must represent a significant contribution to learning, for example through the discovery of new knowledge, the connection of previously unrelated facts, the development of a new theory, or the revision of older views, and must take account of previously published work on the subject. Some Cambridge dissertations go on to form the basis of significant publications.

Although you will spend long hours working independently, your department and College will both support you throughout your PhD. You are also able to attend regular seminars in your subject area and could be involved in teaching, perhaps giving seminars or supervising, or in the social life of your department and College.

PhD course search

Go to the Course Directory and filter courses using the relevant checkboxes.

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Qualification, university name, postgraduate economics courses at university of cambridge.

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About Postgraduate Economics

Given the current state of our global finances, Economics is a fascinating subject which offers graduates a wide range of career opportunities, Whether you are interested in macroeconomics or environmental economics you’ll be able to find the perfect course on Postgraduate Search

Related subjects:

• Applied economics
• Health Economics
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MPhil in Population Health Sciences

University of cambridge.

The overall aim of the programme is to provide course participants with the necessary knowledge and skills to serve as a foundation for a Read more...

• 10 months Full time degree: £13,554 per year (UK)
• 22 months Part time degree: £6,777 per year (UK)

PhD in Land Economy

Land Economy offers a full-time and a part-time PhD programme. The Department currently has over 70 PhD students at different stages of the Read more...

• 3 years Full time degree: £9,858 per year (UK)
• 4 years Part time degree: £5,915 per year (UK)

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Using your degree: Economics

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What do Cambridge graduates do?

In the most recent graduate outcomes survey, the top occupations for Economics graduates and postgraduates from the University of Cambridge were as finance and investment analysts and advisers, actuaries, economists, statisticians, management consultants and business analysts, natural and social science professionals and researchers. Alumni also went to work as higher education professionals, marketing associates and programme and software development professionals and found their own businesses .  

This survey only gives us a small picture of where Alumni work after they leave Cambridge, and we know anecdotally that graduates also go on to start their own businesses, work in development economics and go on to further study , as just a few examples. You may also like to consider careers in journalism, media and range of other fields by gaining the right experience.  

Will employers want my degree?

The majority of employers that recruit Cambridge graduates do not require a certain degree. They are usually more interested in what you can do rather than what you have studied. Want to know what role would suit you? Try  looking for ideas  for help with identifying your personal strengths and preferences. Then search  Handshake  for internships, jobs or graduate schemes you are interested in. Note that selection criteria may focus on "competencies" and "strengths" as much as on having studied a certain subject.  

The economics course aims to foster a variety of skills including the assimilation of complex arguments, the analysis of practical issues, logical thought, quantitative techniques, mathematical skills, and effective communication. 

There are employers are a looking specifically for a person with a degree in Economics. The Careers Service holds a careers fair for Economists each Autumn with employers just like these. These can include: Economics, finance and public policy consultancies, microeconomics consultancies, litigation firms, the Government Economics Service, research institutes, regulators (Ofcom), Office for National Statistics, audit, tax and professional services firms and strategic economics consultancies.  

You may like to look at jobs boards that are aimed at Economists to get a broader idea of roles available in real-time. These include: 

• Econ-Jobs  
• EconomistJobs  
• eFinancialCareers  
• Financial Times  
• The Economist Jobs Board  

Do note we are not responsible for external content 

Using my degree

Economics graduates who want to use their degree often think about working in  economics consultancies ,  central banks  or  international organisations .  

These employers will all expect you to have a strong undergraduate degree and in some cases a postgraduate degree/work experience. So, if you are interested in a certain sector think about what you are good at and which roles might be a good fit for you.  Network with alumni  who studied economics. You can see what they do, their career to date and contact them for further information. Use  LinkedIn  in a similar way. 

Prospects.ac.uk have a suite of job profiles related to using your Economics degree which you can use to get more rounded in the responsibilities behind the job titles.  

• Actuarial analyst 
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• Risk manager  
• Statistician  
• Stockbroker  

You may like to read more about what Economics graduates do after graduation nationally. You can find a report on this from Luminate a graduate careers research organisation. You will find information about Economics graduates under ‘Business and Administration’ https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/what-do-business-and-administrative-graduates-do .  

Read our blog to get inspiration about your career choices. It brings together news, opinions, advice, and perspectives from Cambridge students and graduates.

Use Handshake - join today to explore career options, book an appointment, find jobs and internships, connect with employers, and enhance your network.

Our YouTube channel features videos on topics including finding internships, writing successful CVs, graduate schemes, and virtual careers fairs.

LinkedIn Learning is a resource available to all students and staff - use it to explore courses and start learning creative, business and technology skills.

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The full Economics course at Cambridge lasts three years. The first year provides a broad introduction to both pure and applied economics and to economic issues in history, and politics. The second year builds on the work of the first year courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics, and provides a selection of optional courses – including mathematical economics, development and labour. The final year provides a much greater range of options chosen from areas such as economic theory, public economics, banking and finance, industrial organisation, development, advanced econometrics, sociology, and economic history.

Two recent Fellows of the College have been awarded Nobel Prizes in Economics: Professor Amartya Sen, former Master of the College, was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1998 for his contributions to the theory of social choice and his studies of the economics of poverty; and past fellow Sir James Mirrlees who was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1996 for his work on optimal taxation and asymmetric information.

Course Details

The teaching Fellows in the College are Professor Oliver Linton who works on econometric theory with particular application to financial markets; Professor Debo Bhattacharya, an econometrician specializing in micro-econometrics and empirical microeconomics, Professor Tiago Cavalcanti, a macroeconomist working particularly in areas of development and economic growth; Dr Rupert Gatti, a microeconomist who works on game theory, industrial organization and the economics of digital and online markets; and Professor Chris Rauh whose research interests are include labour economics and political economy.

Much of the teaching in the first and second years is done in College but for the specialised options in the final year we may arrange for you to be supervised elsewhere. With an annual intake of between 14 and 16 the total number of undergraduates reading Economics in Trinity is about 45 and the College usually has about a dozen research students in the subject. This supplies the varied and supportive peer group essential for lively and successful studies. The Trinity College Economics Society arranges meetings for visiting speakers.

Undergraduates in Economics at Trinity come from many countries and a range of school backgrounds. Candidates are expected to have studied Mathematics to A-level (or equivalent), but there are no other formal requirements. It is not necessary to have studied Economics previously and we realise that some schools do not offer the opportunity to study economics. Some experience writing essays would be helpful. However, the ability to think and to evaluate evidence is what counts and there are many combinations of both arts and science subjects that would be acceptable.

Candidates for Economics normally have one interview with two members of the Economics teaching staff.  You should be aware that approximately half of your interview will be spent discussing an article that you will be asked to read in advance, and the remainder of the time will be spent discussing various problems assigned in the interview. You may be required to use standard mathematical techniques during the course of the interview, but this will not require knowledge beyond that covered in the first year of the A-level mathematics course (or equivalent). You should have a paper and pen with you, and should expect to have to work on that, while describing to the interviewer what you are doing, and be prepared to show the paper on the video camera when requested.  There will also be a discussion of general economic issues though no specialised knowledge of the subject will be assumed. If you are not studying Economics at A level you will not be expected to have the same level of knowledge as those who are, but you will need to have the preparation that a regular reading of a good newspaper would provide. The typical conditional offer is A*A*A; comparable conditions are set for those taking the IB and other school-leaving examinations.

More information can be found in the course brochure, available from the Secretary at the Faculty of Economics & Politics, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DD, or by visiting the Faculty website at  www.econ.cam.ac.uk .

• Faculty of Economics

Admissions Assessment

All applicants are required to take the TMUA at an authorised centre local to them (for a lot of applicants, this will be their school/college).

ASSESSMENT FORMAT

• Paper 1:  Mathematical Thinking multiple-choice questions. (75 minutes, no calculator)
• Paper 2:  Mathematical Reasoning multiple choice questions. (75 minutes, no calculator)

You must be registered in advance (separately to your UCAS application) to take the assessment – the registration  deadline is 29 September 2023 . Your assessment centre must register you for the pre-interview assessment; you’re not able to register yourself. See the  written assessments  page for information about assessment centres and registration.

The pre-interview written assessment for Economics will be  taken on Wednesday 18 October 2023 .

Further details about the format of the assessment and preparatory materials can be found on the  written assessments  page.

Please note that your performance in the pre-interview assessment will not be considered in isolation, but will be taken into account alongside the other elements of your application.

Teaching Staff

• Professor Debopam Bhattacharya
• Professor Tiago Cavalcanti
• Dr Rupert Gatti
• Professor Oliver Linton
• Professor Chris Rauh

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Graduate Economics Society

The Cambridge University Graduate Economics Society (CUGES) is the society for all Postgraduate students of Economics programmes (Diploma/MPhil/MRes/PhD).

CUGES was founded in 2022 with the main aim of potentiating the Cambridge Graduate Economics network. For now, it will focus on:

1) Organizing welcome events for new cohorts;

2) Promoting regular social events throughout the year;

3) Fostering links between current students and alumni.

In the future, as CUGES grows, it may expand its activity portfolio to also include larger-scale events to celebrate key moments, or fieldtrips and other career events to bridge the gap between academia and industry.

Any feedback is always welcome - you can share your thoughts anonymously here.

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The doctoral program in Economics at Harvard University is one of the leading programs in the world. Supported by a diverse group of faculty who are top researchers in their fields and fueled by a vast array of resources, the PhD program is structured to train and nurture students to become leading economists in academia, government agencies, the technology industry, finance and banking, and global policy organizations.

Harvard University and the Department of Economics are regularly ranked amongst the top programs in the world, and the consistency of success among our graduates is inspiring. We have educated several foreign heads of state, Nobel Prize Winners, Clark Medal Winners, MacArthur Fellowship Recipients - many of whom have returned to Harvard to offer their expertise and brilliance in shaping and nurturing our students.  Learn more about where we place our  graduates  and explore our  Program  to find out if a PhD in Economics is a good fit for you. 

Program Requirements

As a PhD student in the Economics program, students will spend the first two years in the program engaged in rigorous coursework designed to develop a foundational understanding of economics. In the following years, students transition to research under the guidance of strong faculty mentorship and participate in field workshops. In the final year, students conduct independent research and complete a dissertation.

The department of Economics at Harvard University is committed to seeking out and mentoring scholars who wish to pursue a rigorous and rewarding career in economic research. Our graduates are trailblazers in their fields and contribute to a diverse alumni community in both the academic and non-academic sectors. We invite you to learn more and apply to the PhD program in Economics. 

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Students have access to a variety of funding and financial support opportunities.

• Research Funding
• Teaching Fellowships and assistants
• Additional external and internal resources

Learn more about financial support

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Seminar in economic theory, location: .

Joseph Root (University of Chicago)... Read more about Seminar in Economic Theory

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Justin Katz Beatrice Ferrario... Read more about EC 3011 Graduate Student Workshop in Financial Economics

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What does it me…

What does it mean to be a scholar in an age of AI?

The article at a glance.

Academic publishing has long been based on the premise of elite scarcity. With generative AI promising to lower barriers for producing exceptional articles, Professor Matthew Grimes asks how this will change the scholarly profession.

Category: AI and technology Insight

The academic profession, including in business schools, is like an exclusive members club. Faculty members seek tenure, promotions and greater prestige among peers based on a well-understood set of elite rules. A scholar whose article is published in the most prestigious journal, with the highest standards for acceptance and rejection, will achieve rewards in a way publication in a less-lauded journal may not. 

But this long-established code of the academic professor is based on a pivotal understanding: scarcity. The underlying premise is that there is a very limited number of truly exceptional journal articles competing for the career-advancing spots in the very best journals.  

AI can speed up article creation and more

So what happens when generative artificial intelligence (AI) upends this understanding by allowing the creation – all within ethical academic bounds and peer-acknowledged excellence – of far more than a limited number of exceptional articles, perhaps even a virtually limitless supply of them? 

That’s the focus of an editorial, ‘From scarcity to abundance’, in the Academy of Management Journal (AMJ) – one of the most elite journals in the field of business management, co-authored by Matthew Grimes, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Futures at Cambridge Judge Business School. 

Elite academic articles often take many years to reach publication stage, but the authors say “generative AI tools now increasingly offer capabilities aimed to increase those efficiencies and the pace at which those efficiencies are realised by scholars” – a very polite way of saying that AI may seriously disrupt the entire supply chain for academic articles, which currently assumes a molasses-like speed. 

Then there’s another key question: can AI surface interesting research questions as well as the minds of human scholars? “The extent to which generative AI will augment or replace academics in the creative tasks associated with scholarship is a matter of debate (indeed, the authors of this editorial have internally expressed such debate), yet the potential should be taken seriously,” the editorial says. 

What does it now mean to be a scholar or academic journal? 

“We pose 2 questions, given the potential promise of generative AI to increase both the quantity and quality of scholarship,” says the editorial:

• What does it mean to be a scholar when the know-what’and know-how barriers to becoming one are minimised (anyone who wants to can participate in scholarship)?
• practical importance
• theoretical intrigue
• methodological rigor?

The editorial makes clear that the journal’s editors don’t have all the answers at this still-young point in the evolution of generative AI, but makes equally clear that these difficult questions need urgently to be asked. 

Asking awkward questions and prompting deep thinking of academics 

“The future of academic publishing in the age of AI poses very awkward questions for academics to be asking about ourselves, our colleagues and our profession,” says editorial co-author Professor Grimes. “We are all academics trained and working in an era where the scarcity of truly first-class research was the guiding principle, but we are looking at a rapidly advancing new era of generative AI in which the scarcity of knowledge production can no longer be assumed. 

“The editorial doesn’t attempt to curb the use of generative AI in producing scholarship: there are clearly some hazards such as well-documented ‘AI hallucinations’ (relevant but false information) and ‘deep research fakes’ (data manipulation to deceive the academic community), but there is also truly great research potential in AI in areas ranging from the creation of academic articles, to bridging the gap between academic theory and practice, to the ability to improve the peer-review system of evaluating the merits of academic literature. 

“Our purpose in writing this editorial is to prompt some deep thinking and soul searching amongst ourselves and our peers about what we want our profession to look like given the rapid advances in AI,” says Matthew. 

The authors say they don’t seek to codify the academic profession’s response to AI, but rather to examine different uncertainties that will affect scholarship. “We are merely at the beginning of a conversation we expect to be having for many years to come,” they say. 

Our purpose in writing this editorial is to prompt some deep thinking and soul searching amongst ourselves and our peers about what we want our profession to look like given the rapid advances in AI.

AI in academic journals: good faith should not be assumed 

The editorial also looks at how journals currently deal with generative AI, noting that the Academy of Management will soon publish guidelines on AI use for its suite of journals and conference submissions. 

“At the moment, however, many existing journal policies surrounding generative AI appear to be operating on the assumption that authors, reviewers, and editors will act in good faith,” the authors say. Given the risks such as “hallucinations” coupled with rapid advances in AI, “we believe such an assumption is inadequate” and that governance rules are needed such as specialised review protocols for papers that employ generative AI. 

The editorial then returns to what generative AI means for the academic profession. 

At the moment, however, many existing journal policies surrounding generative AI appear to be operating on the assumption that authors, reviewers, and editors will act in good faith … we believe such an assumption is inadequate.

Generative AI challenges the distinctive value of management scholarship 

“Our investigation of the implications of generative AI for management scholarship and for our profession is not meant as a call to arms to defend the profession and its current boundaries,” the editorial concludes. 

“Instead, in the short-term, we view this as a call to prepare ourselves, as well as our current and future PhD students, with the appropriate knowledge not only to use but, more critically, to evaluate algorithmic knowledge production.” 

“In the long term, we view this editorial as a call to rethink the distinctive value of our profession in a world of abundant management scholarship. In other words, we suspect that a plausible generative AI-led shift from scarce academic knowledge production to abundant academic knowledge production will inevitably increase the urgency around answering a fundamental question: To what problems in society is management scholarship the (unique) solution?” 

The editorial is co-authored by Professor Matthew Grimes of Cambridge Judge Business School, an editor of the AMJ, along with four of the journal’s other editors: Georg von Krogh of ETH Zurich, Stefan Feuerriegel LMU Munich, Floor Rink of the University of Groningen, and Marc Gruber of Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. 

In the long term, we view this editorial as a call to rethink the distinctive value of our profession in a world of abundant management scholarship.

Featured faculty

Matthew grimes.

Professor of Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Futures

View Matthew's profile

Featured research

Grimes, M., von Krogh, G., Feuerriegel, S., Rink, F. and Gruber, M. (2023)  “From scarcity to abundance: scholars and scholarship in an age of generative artificial intelligence.”   Academy of Management Journal , 66(6): 1617-1624 (DOI: 10.5465/amj.2023.4006)

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