If you’re applying for a European-style economics PhD or Master’s of Research program, it’s highly likely that you’ll be asked to submit a research proposal. This is a document where you’ll describe the original research project you intend to pursue if you’re accepted into the economics program.

This is going to be a fairly intense process. While not legally binding, this document is a major part of your application, and it’s extremely important to write a convincing and high-quality proposal. Giving yourself as much time as possible to work on it can only help you.

However, if you’re applying to PhDs for the first time, this is also most likely your first time writing an economics research proposal. So, what to do?

Take a deep breath, read this article, and start brainstorming!

Step 0: Understand What a Research Proposal is For

The main purpose of your research proposal is to give the admissions committee an idea of two things: your ability to conduct quality research in economics, and your suitability for the program itself. Because of its importance, it’s also highly advisable to start this process as early as possible – ideally several months before application deadlines.

Your proposal should indicate to the admissions committee that you understand the field and are capable of (with the right training and supervision) producing quality economics research. The topic you choose, the initial literature review you conduct, your intended methodology, and more: all of these will signal to the admissions committee that you either understand what it takes to conduct serious research, or that you do not.

But even if the committee believes your research proposal is excellent, you may not be admitted. That’s because the second purpose of the proposal is to show that your research interests are a good fit for that specific economics department’s work.

Remember, to earn your PhD, there must be a faculty member at that school who’s willing to supervise your research! You could have an absolutely amazing research proposal on microfinance, yet be rejected by the program on the grounds that none of their economics faculty are interested in microfinance. That’s why the next two steps in the process are critically important.

Step 1: Identify your Research Interests

Before you start writing your proposal, you obviously need a topic. It’s important to identify what you’re most interested in, especially since – if you’re accepted – research in this area will become your life for the next several years!

The field of economics is vast, and there are a wide variety of papers being published. If you’re unsure where to start, first consider the economics classes you’ve enjoyed most in the past. Do you enjoy microeconomic theory, or empirical macroeconomics? Perhaps behavioral economics is more your style, or maybe environmental economics is calling to you.

Once you’ve chosen a general subfield (or two), reading recently published papers in those subfields is a great way to start digging for a topic. Ask yourself: which of these papers are most interesting? What research methods could you alter, or employ for a different but related question, to produce original work? What further research identified by the authors sounds interesting to you? Is there any topic or question that you think is missing from current research output?

If you’re still struggling to settle on a topic after exploring, check out our article about how to choose a topic for your economics research for more advice.

Step 2: Investigate the School and Faculty Research Interests

You’ve chosen a research topic; excellent work! Now, recall that an important part of the research proposal’s job is to show the admissions committee that your interests align with those of the economics department. It’s time for you to start a very important investigation.

This process will look different depending on the type of program you apply to. For instance, many European-style PhD programs will require you to reach out to potential supervisors directly, and receive their approval before you submit your application. In this case, you must research the school’s faculty, check their research output, and message the individuals that you think would be both interested in your research idea and make an effective supervisor for you – preferably far in advance of the deadline.

American-style PhD programs, or PhD programs that begin with a taught component like some MPhil/PhD options, may not ask you to identify a supervisor when you apply. However, even these programs will be judging your proposal based on how well it fits within the research interests of the economics department – so you’ll still need to do some digging.

Overall, you should expect to spend a decent amount of time looking up professors and their research interests, as well as any specialized research groups within the economics department and the department’s research output. Resources like RePEc may help you out here.

As you investigate, ask yourself – honestly – whether you could see these faculty members being interested in your topic and choosing to supervise you. If your answer isn’t a clear “yes”, keep in mind that it will be significantly harder for that admissions committee to justify giving you an offer.

Depending on how many schools you intend to apply to, you may even consider writing multiple research proposals on different topics. While this may sound like a lot of work, it’s a far better strategy than writing just one proposal and hoping it fits everywhere.

Step 3: Drafting: What to Include in Your Proposal

After you’ve chosen a research topic and confirmed that there are professors who would most likely want to supervise your idea, it’s time to start drafting.

You can think of a research proposal as a mini-research paper, where you walk through the typical steps of doing research but stop short of actually conducting data collection and testing hypotheses. Instead, you simply describe what you would do.

A research proposal typically includes the following sections:
- Introduction/research question
- Preliminary literature review
- Proposed methodology & proposed data
- Possible future research
- References & Bibliography

You may also choose to include small sections on the potential supervisors you’ve identified at the program in question, why your research is a good fit for the department, and your funding situation.

Introduction & research question

This brief section should be thought of like an abstract, except that you don’t have conclusions to share. Instead, state clearly what you aim to research, and what your main research questions/hypotheses are.

Preliminary literature review

This is an important section. Here, you ought to write a literature review as if you’re actually going to conduct the research.

What is the current state of the economics literature surrounding this question? What insights have other papers offered? Where’s the gap in the literature? What papers will you be mainly relying on or building off of? Answering these questions as you write your review will help show the admissions committee that you understand how to read the literature and conduct quality research.

Don’t skimp on this section, or the reading you must do in order to build it properly. The more you understand about the literature surrounding your topic, the easier it will be for you to write about your methodology, and the more well-prepared you’ll be for potential interviews.

A side note here about using AI – while AI tools can help you identify sources that are relevant to your literature review, do not rely on them completely. Further, do not use AI to write any portion of your research proposal.

If you use AI to help find sources, take the time to then read the sources carefully and critically. Are they really as relevant as they seem? Do the findings truly match any claims you have made in your proposal? Don’t get caught out by trusting that an AI suggestion is a good suggestion. As of 2025, AI tools are far from infallible when it comes to postgraduate level research, and in the worst case might even create statistics out of thin air to support your argument (this is a common AI problem known as “hallucination”). Use AI tools with extreme caution, if at all!

Methodology & Data

In this section, you should aim to be as clear and objective as possible. Restate your hypothesis, then describe the methods you intend to employ to test it. List specific data sources as much as you can. Use econometric language, identify specific models you’ll likely employ, or describe the type of experiment you’ll design.

This section should show clearly that you’ve put serious thought into answering your research questions and that you know how to test your hypotheses effectively. Further, listing actual data sources will make it clear that your research idea is feasible, not just hypothetical.

Along with the literature review, this section should be the largest and most comprehensive in your proposal. Don’t hold anything back – aim to impress your readers here!

Future research

Including a small section about future research that could stem from your work is a nice touch.

The faculty and admissions committee understand that a research proposal doesn’t always end up being exactly what a PhD student will work on. But, if you list future or related research that could stem from this proposal, it’ll be easy for the committee to see how you could continue to become an expert on this particular sub-topic, and how you could contribute to the literature for years to come. It could also be a good way for you to pivot, if you later decide that your original proposal wouldn’t be the best dissertation topic.

References & Bibliography

Citing your sources is crucially important. That’s partly because plagiarism is a serious offense, of course. But in addition, having a quality bibliography and reference section is another great signal to the committee that you’re a good candidate and should be seriously considered.

Step 4: Reaching Out to Potential Supervisors

Drafting your research proposal is no walk in the park, so once you’ve finished, pat yourself on the back!

Depending on the types of programs you’re applying to, identifying a willing supervisor may or may not be part of the application process. If it is, you should start reaching out to faculty members who might be willing to supervise you as soon as you have an initial proposal drafted. Include the draft in your message to them, along with your CV.

Typically, professors are fairly responsive. Even so, your mileage may vary with this process. If your proposal seems overly amateurish or underbaked, you’re unlikely to get a positive response, even if the topic aligns with the individuals’ research interests.

Further, some professors may not be accepting new students. Sometimes university websites indicate which professors are open to receiving new PhD students, but it’s entirely possible that your first choice of supervisor isn’t available.

Even if you do receive a positive response, you may be asked to make updates or edits before a professor is willing to say “yes”. If you’ve reached this point, don’t despair – it’s actually a very good sign that you’re on the right track, and that you’ve done well in finding a potential supervisor with similar research interests to you.

Step 5: Don’t Give Up!

Writing a quality research proposal is hard work. So is studying for your PhD! But it’s important to keep in mind that there is a reason for all of this work. Finding and getting admitted to the right economics program will make your journey towards earning your PhD much more enjoyable. Moreover, it’ll help immensely when the trials and difficulties of PhD research threaten to burn you out.

Crafting your research proposal should get you excited to narrow down into a specific topic, and imagine getting your own research published. What question have other economists not answered, but you think is important or interesting? How can you uniquely contribute to the literature? Your research proposal should give you a clear idea of the answer!

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