PhD in Economic Analysis

Why do this PhD?

The PhD in Economic Analysis (IDEA) is a joint project between the Department of Economics of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, the Institut d´Anàlisi Econòmica, and the Barcelona School of Economics. 

Our doctorate is part of the IDEA Graduate program that offers both a Master of Research in Economics and a Ph.D. 

We are a highly competitive International PhD programme with an established reputation: both, our faculty, and our students, come from all over the world.  In our campus, students are immersed in an English-speaking international academic community. Our graduates participate and find placement in the global job market in academia, as well as in the business sector, finance, government, and research institutions. Our graduates’ placement rate is close to 100%. 

We offer a high student-faculty interaction and a stimulating research environment by granting students access to a leading community of economists in Europe. 

The PhD Programme is part of the ENTER network of European universities.

Professional opportunities

This programme offers the opportunity to practise as a teacher or researcher in an international university in the field of economics or work in the private sectors in posts requiring high analytical skills. 

Testimonials

The program offered me a fantastic academic environment with active discussion in seminars, access to cutting edge researchers and amazing supervisors.

Alejandra Ramos

2017 (Trinity College University of Dublin)

IDEA offers a challenging but friendly environment, the type of setting that an ambitious graduate student needs. Besides, being a part of Barcelona GSE, IDEA students have access to one of the leading communities of economists in Europe.

Andrii Parkomenko

2018 (USC - Marshall School of Business)

At the IDEA program, I benefited from a vibrant academic environment with top scholars that were always available to provide guidance and feedback to Ph.D. students. To this day, their passion and dedication to research continue to inspire me.

Augustin Tapsoba

2019 (Toulouse School of Economics)

The IDEA program offers world-class formation and opportunities for a successful academic career in Economics. My time in Barcelona was fantastic and I am very grateful for it.

Christian Alemán Pericón

2022 (ECARES, Université Libre de Bruxelles)

The IDEA Program has provided me with a solid foundation for my research. I benefit every day from the rigorous training in economic theory and quantitative methods as well as from the experience of supportive guidance by an excellent faculty.

Dennis Hutschenreiter

2022 (Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH))

Coordinator

Jordi Masso Carreras

Composition of the academic tribunal for the PhD programme

• Inés Macho-Stadler: Coordinator and Secretary of the academic committee.
• Academic committee members: Flip Klinj, Javier Fernández Blanco, Amedeo Piolatto

Administration

Departament d'Economia i d'Història Econòmica - International Doctorate in Economic Analysis (IDEA)
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Edifici B - Campus de la Autònoma
08193 Bellaterra
Barcelona (Spain)
Phone: (+34) 93 581 13 59
E-mail: idea@uab.cat

Thesis supervisor/s and academic tutor/s

Thesis supervision and thesis tutoring

Admission application

This PhD program establishes the following pre-registration periods for the academic year 2024-2025:

• From February 15th to March 20th                                                                      Maximum resolution by the Doctoral School: April 25th

• From April 5th to May 30th                                                                                     Maximum resolution by the Doctoral School: June 25th

• From June 10th to July 30th                                                                        Maximum resolution by the Doctoral School: October 1st

• From September 1st to September 15th                                                                  Maximum resolution by the Doctoral School: November 5th

Documentation necessary for admission

In addition to the documentation that each programme indicates, two documents (Other documents1 and Other documents2) that serve as a wildcard are attached for each programme so that the interested person can attach other documents that he or she considers appropriate or that the PhD programme indicates.

Admissions before the established period and pre-admissions

The Doctoral School, following the indications of the coordination of the PhD programme, can issue before the start of the term of admission of an academic course, or before the end of the term of resolution, letters of admission so that you can request a scholarship or to do the visa procedures in your country. It is only necessary that you enter your application in the computer application and that you indicate it in the Observations field, where you must indicate that you need a letter of admission and the scholarship to which you are opting. If the computer application is closed, you can contact the coordination of the programme.

If you need a preadmission, the coordination of the programme can issue it if it considers it appropriate. You must contact the coordination of the programme to inform you of the procedure.

On the International Support Service website you can see more information about future foreign students related to residencies in Catalonia, legal procedures and the UAB campus.

Monitoring your application

You can monitor your application using the same page as you made it. Below are the explanations of the different stages:

• Application made by student: your pre-registration has been saved.
• Incomplete application: there are documents missing from the application.
• Validated by the administrative office: the application and attached documents have been checked.
• Admitted: the coordinator has considered the pre-registration and proposed an offer or admission.
• Offer of admission: the Doctoral School has considered the proposals for admission made by the coordinator and has made a definitive offer. The PhD student will also receive an e-mail informing them of this decision. The PhD student must wait to register.
• Waiting list: the coordinator has considered the pre-registration and has agreed on admission but there are no places on the PhD course.
• Application rejected: the coordinator or the Doctoral School have considered the application but do not agree to admission as not all the requirements have been fulfilled.

If you need it, here you will find a complementary information document on PhD studies.

Requirements and selection criteria

General access requirements

Specific access requirements

• Master's degree in Economic Analysis from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
• The two-year Master's degree in Models and Methods of Quantitative Economics (QEM) offered jointly by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, the Warsaw School of Economics, the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, the Université Catholique de Louvain and the Università Ca Foscari di Venezia.

Applicants with equivalent qualifications (bachelor's degree plus 2-year master’s degree) may be assessed for admission by the doctoral programme's academic committee. 

Candidates who do not come from the two reference masters of the doctorate must pass two of three general knowledge exams (prelims) in Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Quantitative Methods.

Selection criteria

This PhD programme will evaluate the following documents in the selection process:

• Transcripts and previous qualifications (bachelor's and master's degrees). Up to a maximum of 2 points for having taken a degree in economics or a qualification with equivalent content; up to 4 points for having taken a master’s degree of 120 ECTS credits composed mainly of  subjects in advanced economic analysis.
• Accreditation of a level B2 or equivalent of English. This requirement can be ignored if the student is native of an English-speaking country or has completed his or her undergraduate or master's degree studies in English (up to a maximum of 1 point).
• Statement of interest showing that the student can work with a researcher on the programme and a commitment on the part of the researcher to supervise the student's work (up to a maximum of 2 points).
• Three letters of recommendation (up to a maximum of 1 point).

In order to be accepted candidates must obtain a minimum of 7 points out of 10.

Registration and fees

Calendar and Registration documents

After the registration

Training activities

Transversal training activities

Mandatory and optional specific activities

For this PhD programme the following training activities are scheduled:

Mandatory activities:

• Attendance at seminars or lectures given by experts in the subject area
  The Department of Economics and Economic History, together with the Institute of Economic Analysis of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), runs the following seminars on a weekly basis. Applied Economics, Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. As part of their training PhD students must attend the seminars that correspond to their research area.


• Giving a seminar on the research project
  As preparation for entering the job market, all final-year PhD students must present their research in a seminar.


• Participation in internal seminars organised by the research group or the department
  In addition to the above seminars, there are also two internal seminars in which lecturers and students discuss their research and present their latest work. These are: Microeconomics, Applied Economics and Macroeconomics.


• Job market sessions
  As preparation for entering the job market, students take part in these mock interviews with a panel of lecturers, who assess the candidates.


• Research papers
  All students write three research papers that form part of their thesis. If deemed appropriate, the academic committee of the PhD programme can allow a thesis to comprise only two papers.


•  

Optional activities:

• Summer Schools
  The thesis supervisor recommends students, where appropriate, to take part in summer schools focusing on their research area.


• Symposiums for young researchers
  The thesis supervisor recommends students, where appropriate, to take part in symposiums.


• Oral presentations or posters at national or international conferences.
  The thesis supervisor recommends students, where appropriate, to take part in conferences.

Typologies and Research Ethics

Internationalization

Foreign residencies

International Doctoral Research Component

Evaluation and annual review

With regard to the annual monitoring of this doctoral program, the doctoral student must take into account the observations in this section that will be available soon.

Thesis deposit

If you want to deposit the doctoral thesis in this PhD programme, remember that you must confirm the complete application (status DI) 15 days before the maximum thesis completion date that appears in your file.

Look out! If you want to deposit before the end of this academic year and thus not have to pay the fees for the next course, you must confirm your deposit request before June 15,  2025.

At the time of making your online deposit, you must attach these documents to your application, in the section "Attach documentation": 

All PhD students

• 01 - Examining board proposal (the signature is not necessary)

International Doctoral Research Component: Mandatory documentation if requested

• 09 - International Doctoral Research Component: 1 report of the external member
• 10 - International Doctoral Research Component: 2 report of the external member

Compendium of publications: Mandatory documentation if requested

• 08 - Compendium: Resolution of acceptance by the CAPD

Writing a thesis in a language other than Catalan, Spanish and English: Mandatory documentation if requested

• 11 - Resolution if the thesis is written in other language than Catalan, Spanish or English

Information related to the thesis

Internal Quality Assurance System of the centers

Verification

Evaluation process previous to the implementation of the degree: presentation of a proposal for a new PhD programme for AQU-Catalunya (Agency for the Quality of the University System of Catalonia) to issue the binding evaluation for the Council of Universities (Ministry of Universities), which is the responsible agent for verification.

• Report on the PhD programme
• Resolution on verification by the Spanish Universities Council
• Registry of Universities, Centres and Degrees (RUCT)

Monitoring

Periodic monitoring process of the development and results of the PhD programme: self-evaluation carried out, every 3 years, by themselves.

• Monitoring report on the programme 2015-16
• Monitoring report on the programme 2021-22

Accreditation

Renewal process for the implementation of the degree: presentation, every 6 years since the implementation of the program, of a self-report for AQU-Catalunya to issue the binding assessment for the University Council, which is the responsible agent of accreditation.

• Self-evaluation report
• Accreditation report
• Resolution on accreditation by the Universities Council
• Registry of Universities, Centres and Degrees (RUCT)

AQU VSMA Framework

Internal Quality Assurance System of the faculty

Set of processes to manage and monitor the different aspects of degrees, with the strategic objective of ensuring continuous improvement

• Internal Quality Assurance System
• Tutoring Action Plan (PAT)
• Standing Committee

Opina UAB

A channel for suggestions, complaints and praise regarding the functioning of the UAB

PhD data

• Satisfaction surveys of Doctors
• Satisfaction surveys of thesis supervisors
• Check here the results of the doctor's job placement survey
• The PhD figures

Recognition and awards

In this link you will find the doctors who have obtained the Special Prize Award in this PhD programme.

The following prizes and honours have been awarded in relation to this PhD programme.

• In May 2010 PhD student Lorenzo Burlon received the prize for best article at the Meeting of PhDs in Montpellier (DMM, third edition).
• In November 2010 PhD student Lorenzo Burlon received the Louis-André Gérard-Varet award for the best article presented by a young economist at the annual Meeting of the Association of Southern European Economic Theorists (ASSET).
• In September 2011 PhD student Jan Grobovsek received the Fondazioni Eni Enrico Mattei prize for one of the three best papers to be presented at the meeting of the European Economic Association.
• In 2011 PhD Student Pau Balart received the Louis-André Gérard-Varet prize for the best article presented by a young economist at the annual meeting of the Association of Southern European Economic Theorists (ASSET).
• In November 2012 PhD student Tugce Cuhadaroglu received the Louis-André Gérard-Varet prize for the best article presented by a young economist at the annual Meeting of the Association of Southern European Economic Theorists (ASSET).
• In 2011 PhD student Pau Pujolas received the prize for one of the three best papers to be presented at the 16th Workshop on Dynamic Macroeconomics in Vigo.