PhD in Economics, Management, Finance & Accounting

The program develops the students’ talents in a unique combination of a high-level, academic research environment together with applied, policy-oriented research opportunities. Students receive state-of-the-art coursework training and can select into a wide array of specializations. For each specialization, a professional research environment is provided by Berlin’s universities and economic research institutes. 

General structure of the curriculum

The BSE PhD Program offers four tracks: a PhD in Economics and three business tracks (PhD in Accounting, PhD in Finance, and PhD in Management). Despite different foci of the tracks, they all share a common structure in their curriculum.

The curriculum is divided in a qualification and a dissertation phase. During the qualification phase (roughly, the first one and a half years), students acquire basic methodological and research oriented training in mandatory course work, they define their research area and find supervisory support. Close contact with faculty members and other senior researchers in seminars provides early feedback on the scientific potential of research ideas. During the qualification phase the students have full flexibility in the choice of their research topics and supervisors. Funding through stipends allows for high flexibility.

During the dissertation phase, students are typically employed at their supervisor's chair or in research groups of the participating research institutes. This enables a close connection to their supervisor and to the specialized groups of researchers.

In total, students have to complete a minimum of 90 ECTS in order to finish the program.

The Berlin School of Economics offers a broad variety of Core and Elective Courses in

• Accounting
• Behavioral & Experimental Economics
• Econometrics & Statistics
• Economics Policy
• Finance & Management
• Marketing
• Public Economics, and
• Quantitative Labor

that can be attended during the qualification phase. The Elective Course program varies over time. Up-to-date information on the offered courses and curriculum of the four tracks can be found on the website

Graduates of the BSE’s PhD Program are excellently prepared for positions in academia as well as for policy-related institutions and organisations, which has been documented by a list of outstanding placements.

Requirements

Applicants should have a Master’s degree in Economics or Business Studies. Fast-Track options are available for applicants with a Bachelor’s Degree.

Applicants from related fields (such as Industrial Engineering, Statistics or quantitative social sciences) may also fulfill the requirements if they have a sufficient background in Economics or Business Studies.

Applicants whose native language is not English have to demonstrate English language proficiency unless they hold a degree from a university in an English-speaking country or can document at least one year of studies in an English-speaking academic program. Sufficient evidence for a good command of English is a high TOEFL or IELTS score.

How to Apply: Applications will be accepted until February 15, 2021, and can only be submitted via the admission portal: https://admission-bdpems.wiwi.hu-berlin.de

More Information