Economics PhD/MRes

The PhD programme is a 4-year full-time programme. The letter you received from the University offering you a place on the PhD programme specifies your registration period and the deadline for submission of your thesis.

From Year 1 to Year 2

To progress from Year 1 to Year 2 of the Economics PhD/MRes you need to obtain:

1. An average of 60% or above across all 120 credits of coursework (i.e., eight taught course units, each worth 15 credits) taken in Year 1;
2. A minimum mark of 50% on each course unit;
3. A minimum mark of 60% on the dissertation.

Failure to meet these criteria means that you may be offered an exit degree in accordance with the regulations of the MSc programme that you have registered as your Year 1 component of the Economics PhD/MRes programme.

From Year 2 to Year 3

To progress from Year 2 to Year 3 of the Economics PhD/MRes you need to obtain:

1. An average of 60% or above across all 60 credits of coursework (i.e., four taught course units, each worth 15 credits) taken during Year 2;
2. A minimum mark of 50% on each course unit;
3. A minimum mark of 60% on the research proposal;
4. Completed Generic and Transferable Skills Training.

Failure to meet these criteria means that you may, at the discretion of SoSS, be offered an exit award of MRes if the following is obtained:

1. A minimum average mark of 50% on the course unit element;
2. A minimum mark of 50% on the research proposal.

Note: Unlike MSc level units, there is no opportunity to re-take exams during the summer on MRes level course units. Failure to obtain an MRes exit degree means that you may, at the discretion of SoSS, be offered an MSc exit degree.

From Year 3 to Year 4

To progress from Year 3 to Year 4 of the Economics PhD/MRes you need to have:

1. Completed a substantive chapter that corresponds to a publishable research paper in your research area. Such paper should have the potential to become an article in an international peer reviewed economics journal, or similar, as is the standard in your research area.
2. Presented your research chapter at the annual PhD Conference.

During the month of June of Year 3, and following approval by your Supervisory Team, you will be asked to submit a substantive research paper or chapter to your external evaluator, for assessment in that same month. The evaluator will typically belong to the same RAG as your main supervisor, but cannot be a member of your Supervisory Team. In some cases the external evaluator may recommend further work on the paper to be done by the beginning of September of the same calendar year.

At the beginning of July, the Research Degree Review Panel will meet to decide on the progression of all PhD students. With the exception of those who have been granted a further period to revise and improve the research chapter during July and August, all PhD students will be informed about their progression status. Please note that failure to make satisfactory progress during Year 3 means that you may be offered an MRes exit degree under the same considerations as above.

Year 4 and submission pending

You should aim to have your PhD thesis ready for submission by the end of Year 4. The expectation is that your thesis will consist of at least two substantive chapters of research each corresponding to a publishable research paper in your area of study. Each research paper should have the potential to become an article in an international peer reviewed economics journal, or similar, as is the standard in your research area.

If deemed necessary by your Supervisory Team and conditional on approval being obtained from the Economics PGR Director and SoSS, you will be allowed to enter a Submission Pending Period. The maximum length of the Submission Pending Period is 12 months and it depends on your circumstances and the progress made during Years 3 and 4. In Submission Pending Period, you will not be allowed to carry out further research during the writing-up period.

A submitted PhD thesis is defended in an oral examination involving at least (and most often) two examiners. One examiner will be internal to the University, and is usually a member of staff in the Economics DA; and one examiner will be external to the University. Your lead supervisor is responsible for selecting the appropriate examiners. Possible outcomes of the oral examination 17 include: a pass, a pass subject to (minor) changes, resubmission following substantial changes, or fail. Once a thesis has obtained an unconditional pass, the degree of PhD and MRes will be awarded. The MRes award reflects the substantive research training obtained during Years 1&2 of the Economics PhD/MRes programme. See also Regulations and Ordinances:

• Regulations: Degrees of Doctor of Philosophy/Master of Research Economics (PhD/MRes Econ)

Monitoring research progress

eProg is a University-wide system for postgraduate researchers to record and monitor progression throughout their programme and manage skills training activities. We use this system to monitor your progress. There are several elements of eProg that need to be completed each year by you and several elements that your Supervisory Team need to complete. The University Policy on Progress and Review of Postgraduate Research Students is set out at:

• Progress and Review of Postgraduate Research Students

More information about eProg is available on eProg page below.

• eProg

Research proposal

At the end of Year 2 of the Economics PhD/MRes programme, students need to submit a written research proposal to the Supervisory Team for evaluation by the external examiner.

Proposal structure

A written document constitutes a research proposal if it fulfils a minimum set of criteria:

1. It articulates the basic research questions to be addressed and explains how these questions relate to the existing literature in this area;
2. It explains the methods used to answer the research questions;
3. It describes any software required for the analysis;
4. It demonstrates the availability of any data needed for the empirical analysis.

The Research Proposal would ideally run to 15-20 pages, and it should not exceed 30 pages.

Timeline

As the research proposal forms a significant component of your Year 2 training, you should be meeting frequently with your Supervisory Team to discuss your research ideas. Such meetings should start immediately after the registration week into Year 2.

In Year 2, you will also have the opportunity to discuss your research proposal in the course unit ECON80060, Research Skills for Economists. This is a year-long core unit consisting of practical exercises, presentations, and an essay. The essay and presentations relate to your intended research. Thus, they lead naturally into the research proposal. This means that during semester 2 of Year 2, you will start working on the content of your proposal as part of the coursework of ECON80060.

Your aim should be to have a first version of your research proposal ready by the beginning of May. This version shall be circulated to your Supervisory Team for feedback. Following the discussion and feedback from your supervisors, you should continue working on the proposal and a final version should be provided to your supervisors by the beginning of June.

Once your supervisors approve the research proposal it will be submitted to an external evaluator, chosen by your Supervisory Team. Afterward, you will present your research proposal to the external evaluator and your supervisors. The external evaluator will assess the quality and feasibility of your research plan, and whether is suitable for being the basis of your PhD dissertation. 

Evaluation procedure

The following process is used to evaluate your research proposal:

1. During Semester 1 of Year 2, the student will meet regularly with the supervisors to discuss research questions and open problems and modelling strategies to solve them;
2. During Semester 2 of Year 2, the student will write up the research proposal and submit it for feedback to the supervisors. The deadline for this should be the beginning of May;
3. Following feedback and revision of the research proposal, the supervisors will be asked to approve the proposal. The supervisors, who are responsible for making arrangements for an external evaluator, will inform the PhD student about these arrangements, and the research proposal will be submitted to the external evaluator no later than mid-June;
4. Typically, one week after the submission of the research proposal, the PhD student will present the proposal to the external evaluator and the Supervisory Team;
5. By the end of June, the external evaluator will submit a report that assesses the feasibility of the research plan and whether, if completed, can form the basis for a PhD in Economics;
6. At the beginning of July, the Research Degree Review Panel will meet to decide on progression of all PhD students, who will then be informed about their progression status;
7. If the research proposal is not deemed to be acceptable in June/July, the PhD student may be granted, in exceptional cases and at the discretion of the PhD Director, a further period to revise the research proposal, with resubmission deadline by the end of August. The PhD Director will seek the opinion and the academic judgement of the external evaluator to assess whether the resubmission constitutes a satisfactory research plan for the PhD. A final decision regarding the student’s progression to Y3 will be taken at the beginning of September.

More information

See also: Progress and review

About the Discipline Area (DA)

• 55 permanent members of academic staff, including
• 13 professors on full-time appointments, together with
• 4 professors on part-time bases and some on honorary appointments.

Economics also hosts many externally funded research projects, and the DA is the editorial home of the general economics journal The Manchester School. 

Research area groups

Research is organised principally into seven broad areas. 

Research skills training

All PhD candidates in the Economics PhD/MRes programme have to take the Research skills for Economists course unit (ECON80060) during Year 2 of the programme. The lecturer of this course unit is:
James Banks
Room 3.020 in ALB
Email: james.banks@manchester.ac.uk

Teaching assistance

PhD students in Economics have the opportunity to gain first hand experience with teaching students from year two of the programme onwards.

We recommend that you get involved in some TA-activities as early as possible as the benefits for you include improved presentation skills, exposure to critical audiences and opportunities to enrich your knowledge in topics other than your PhD-research area. There is also a monetary reward for TA activities. If interested, please contact the TA-coordinator in Economics:

Mario Pezzino
Room 2.013 in ALB
Email: mario.pezzino@manchester.ac.uk

Please see Teaching Assistant Hub for more information.

PGR representatives

For each year of study, one PGR will be chosen to represent that group at various levels within the University.

• Several meetings will be held between the PGR representatives and the Economics PGR team
• Representation of PGRs on the School of Social Sciences PGR committee is also required

For Year 1 students there is one PGR serving on the latter committee, while for Year 2 students there are two PGRs represented on that committee.

Benefits of being a PGR representative include:

• an opportunity to develop leadership skills;
• an improved CV;
• the chance to gain insights into the work and organisation of PGR activities of the Economics DA and the School of Social Sciences. 

Please inform the Economics PGR coordinator if you are willing to take up this role - kyriakos.neanidis@manchester.ac.uk.

• More about PGR representation

Seminar series

Economics at Manchester runs two tiers of seminars. The Research Area Group series seminars run on weekly during term time on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and the DA-wide seminar series is held Wednesdays, normally four times per academic year. Visit our seminar series pages.

Economics PGR conference

Every year, the Economics PGRs organise their own conference. Attendance at these conferences is compulsory for Years 2-4 PGRs, but we hope that also year 1 PGRs will attend.

Year 3 PGRs are responsible for the organisation of this conference. All PGRs in Years 3 and 4 will present their research at the annual PhD student conference. Visit the PhD student conference pages.

Discussion papers

Depending on your research progress, during Year 3 or 4 you may wish to publish some of your research findings in order to disseminate your work widely. The Economics DA can facilitate this process as it has its own Discussion Paper Series. Publication of your work in the Economics Discussion Paper (EDP) series can only be made through your PhD supervisors.

Key people

• Economics staff list
• Current PGRs
• Past PGRs

Director of Postgraduate Research Study

Doctoral Academy Team

Head of Economics

• Glossary - acronyms explained
• Become a teaching assistant
• Supervision and review
• Research training
• Intellectual property and malpractice
• Ethical considerations
• Your student reps
• The School of Social Sciences
• The Faculty of Humanities