PhD in Methods and Models for Economic Decisions

The PhD program lasts three years and all its activities are in English. Each post is endowed with a scholarship of about € 16.243 gross per year. Each student is endowed with an additional budget of about €1.624 per year for research activities. The PhD program is hosted by Department of Economics of the University of Insubria (located in Varese, Italy), which has been granted the Departments of Excellence award and funding plan for the period 2023 – 2027 by the ANVUR (Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes), ranking 8th among the Italian departments of economics and statistics.

Topic and goals

A substantial part of economic analysis centres on decision-making processes. Consumers and producers, workers and firms, banks and managers, households and policymakers are constantly making decisions that carry economic significance. Economists seek to understand, predict, or influence the processes underlying these decisions.

The analysis of human decision-making draws on a range of methods and models, which vary considerably across different areas of economic research. For example, classical decision theory is largely rooted in mathematical modelling, whereas more recent developments in behavioural decision theory often employ experimental methods. Econometric techniques are used to examine the factors influencing specific decisions, such as those related to labour, transport, health, or charitable giving. Particular attention is also given to contemporary approaches in policy evaluation.

Computational methods play a key role in simulating interactions among economic agents and in assessing the broader economic implications of those interactions.

The PhD programme in Methods and Models for Economic Decisions equips early-career researchers with the skills to master the wide range of theoretical and applied approaches used in economics to analyse decision-making processes.

Faculty

The PhD Board includes faculty members of Insubria University as well as faculty members of other Italian and foreign universities. See the PhD webpage for the complete faculty list. 

Organization 

In the first year of the program, students attend compulsory courses to acquire a broad set of research skills (from theory to data analysis), that allow them to tackle the complex phenomena related to decision making. During the second and third year of the program, students focus on their own research under the supervision of one or more faculty members and participate in seminars and reading groups in their field of interest. See the training activities webpage for the complete list of courses. The program strongly encourages students to spend part of their PhD period abroad and supports them in gaining international experience. The central goal of the program is to create independent researchers, who can then pursue an academic career in leading universities or obtain research positions in private firms or international organizations. At the end of the third-year students submit their PhD dissertation, which is usually made of three research papers. The PhD courses in the next academic year will start in November 2025. 

Admission requirements 

The selection procedure is open to candidates who hold a Master’s Degree (Laurea Magistrale) or a 4-year Degree previous to the Ministerial Decree no. 509/1999 (Laurea quadriennale vecchio ordinamento), or equivalent academic title (Master’s Degree) obtained abroad, without age or citizenship restrictions. Graduands may conditionally access the selection procedure, provided that they obtain the required admission qualification by 31 October 2025, under penalty of exclusion in case of positive outcome of the selection procedure. Full details for applying to the academic year 2025-2026 (Cycle 41) with enrollment procedures can be found here in Italian and in English. 

Here are the links to the full call for applications in Italian and in English

Deadline for applications: July 12, 2025 at 12:00.

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