The Department of Economics at Royal Holloway has strength across all main fields of the discipline, and so supervision can be offered in most areas of research. Our staff members are renowned for their work in theoretical and applied microeconomics, labour economics, development economics, and experimental economics. The faculty also pursues multidisciplinary topics and benefits from interaction with the Computer Science and Psychology departments, among others.

Being a PhD student at the Department of Economics, you become an integral part of our research community. Research students are encouraged to sign up for meetings with external seminar speakers, to attend conferences and to start building their academic networks. Every Spring, the Department organises an Annual PhD Conference with invited speakers and students from other universities.

PhD students are provided with facilities for carrying out their research. In years 1 and 4, you will have use of a hot desk in the Department. In years 2 and 3, you will be offered an individual workspace. Outside the Department, there are several spaces on campus dedicated specifically to research students, including the Doctoral Hub in the international building and the PGR room in the Davison Building.

You will begin on the MPhil degree for the first two years and will need to meet certain requirements to progress – to upgrade - to the PhD student status. In your first year, you will have to take advanced economics training that provides skills and knowledge necessary to proceed to the independent research work (see PhD Training Programme for details).

The PhD courses are taught by our own faculty, as well as by external experts. Additional training opportunities (such as external summer schools or workshops) can be funded by the Department according to individual students’ specific research needs. Finally, generic research skills training is provided at the College level. The remaining years of the programme are fully devoted to research.

Part of the training throughout the programme is attending internal and external seminar series. In addition, we run a weekly PhD seminar series where students present their on-going research and receive feedback from their peers and the faculty.

Candidates for a place on the MPhil/PhD programme should have completed an undergraduate degree and a taught Masters in Economics, with a distinction or a high pass, in a relevant subject.

The department actively supports the placement of PhD graduates in positions at universities, research institutes, government agencies, and private corporations. Examples of recent placements include:

• Bristol University
• London School of Economics
• University of Stirling
• Cardiff Metropolitan University
• Max Planck Institute, Germany
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
• Institute for Employment Studies.

For more information about placements see the PhD Job Market.

Home (UK) students tuition fee per year*: £4,596

EU and international students tuition fee per year**: £18,200

Other essential costs***: There are no additonal costs greater than £50 per item.