Master of Science in Applied Economics

Courses and instructors

The program is a unique blend of courses taught by academic professors and practitioners, including PhD economists from, for example, the World Trade Organization, the Swiss National Bank, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the Swiss Federal Office for Statistics, and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

Class size is held below 20 students. This favors a profound learning experience and gives participants privileged contacts with instructors. All courses are in English.

Structure of the program

Two semesters of courses (60 ECTS) and a supervised master thesis (30 ECTS) either on an academic topic (e.g. for students who wish to pursue a PhD) or as part of an internship.

The program can be completed in 18 months, but it can be extended to a maximum of eight semesters to accommodate professional activities.

Specializations (optional Majors)

Upon graduation, students can request the following:

• Major in Data science
• Major in Environmental and Energy Policy

To qualify for a Major, students must complete a specific set of courses and a master thesis on a related topic. Students do not have to commit to a specific Major before the end of the study program.

For more information, please consult our study plan.

Fees

Tuition fee: CHF 515 per semester for Swiss residents, CHF 790 for non-Swiss residents

Application fee: CHF 100

Financial support is available from the social office of the University of Neuchâtel.

Academic prizes

Henri Grandjean Prize for the best dissertation on an economic or social topic: CHF 500

Interdisciplinary Academic Prize for sustainable development: CHF 2'500

Student placement

We strive for excellent placement of our students. The quantitative skills acquired during the program are highly relevant on the job market. Our students enjoy many opportunities for internships and jobs. Past students were employed in the financial and real estate industry, public administration, consulting companies, non-governmental and international organizations. Moreover, many students started PhD studies at, for example, the University of Neuchâtel, the University of Maryland, the Jonkoping International Business School, the University of Bern, and the University of Lausanne.

Data from a 2016 survey by the Swiss Federal Office for Statistics reveals that, 12 months after graduation, 92% of our graduates have a job with a salary of CHF 75k per year on average.

Location

The University of Neuchâtel was established in 1838 and has been listed among the top 35 universities in the world by the Times World's Best Small Universities Ranking (<5000 students). We are dedicated to offer the best possible learning experience to our students, with proximity between teaching staff and students being a priority.

Neuchâtel enjoys a central location in Switzerland and a magnificent environment, near the lake and mountains. Direct train connections with Zurich and Geneva in less than 1.5 hours.

Admissions

The official starting date is September each year, but it is also possible to start the programme in the spring semester (February). Deadline to apply for the spring semester (February intake): 30 November. Deadline to apply for the fall semester (September intake): 30 April. 

Applications are reviewed year-round: complete applications receive a response within four weeks on average. For more information, please consult our admission page.

For applicants who need a visa, we recommend that you apply at least six months before the beginning of classes.

Students with a degree in economics or business administration / management from Switzerland are directly admitted. Other applications are evaluated on a competitive basis. Students with less than 30 ECTS in economics and quantitative methods can be offered a pre-program with tailored bachelor-level courses to complement their academic background. 

For more information, please liaise with the MSc program director Prof. Daniel Kaufmann.

Philosophy

Listen to what our former director of the program has to say about our program and philosopy.

Economics is not about solving mathematical problem sets. We strive for our students to become practitioners of economists’ toolbox and become experts in the domain that they find interesting.

Economics is a social science which uses two sets of tools:

• Models (or abstract simplifications) to represent social interactions in a given context
• Empirical methods to quantify causal mechanisms with data, or make predictions

Economists apply their tools to inform...

• ... decisions by firms (e.g., investments or price-setting), individuals (e.g., asset allocation), households (e.g., labor market participation and education)
• ... the design of policies to regulate markets (e.g.  education systems, environmental standards, healthcare)

Defined as a collection of tools, economics has (i) no particular ideological bent, and (ii) no unique conclusion.