MPhil/PhD in Development Economics
DURATION
3 up to 6 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2024
TUITION FEES
GBP 22,490 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for overseas student full-time | GBP 4,860 home student full-time | overseas student part-time: GBP 11,245 per year | home student part-time: GBP 2,430 per year
Introduction
The PhD in Development Economics is a research degree offered by the Department of Economics, and is also part of the PhD pathway, 'International Development', within the Bloomsbury Doctoral Training Partnership.
The latter forms one of the few Centres recognised by the UK's Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), thereby receiving financial support, and especially individual grants, for MSc and PhD students.
Why study PhD Development Economics at SOAS?
- We are ranked 27th in UK for economics (QS World University Rankings 2023)
- We are top 20 in the UK for student satisfaction with teaching (Complete University Guide 2023)
- We are top 40 in the UK for economics (Complete University Guide 2023)
- This PhD pathway is open to applicants whether or not eligible for, or in receipt of, ESRC funding, with ESRC-funded students expected to form a small minority overall. Successful applicants to the MPhil/PhD in Development Economics will normally have a good Master's degree in a relevant subject if entering directly into the MPhil/PhD pathway although each applicant is assessed on merits including work and other experience
- The first year of training involves attendance at courses and/or seminars but not usually formal written examinations. Students are registered for an MPhil in their first (full-time equivalent) year but usually convert to a PhD after their upgrade viva rather than continuing to the MPhil qualification
- An essential feature of the MPhil and PhD process is the close working relationship between research students and supervisors. Supervisors and students meet regularly and consult closely. All research students have a Supervisory Committee to cover theoretical, empirical and regionally-specific supervision, as appropriate
Admissions
Curriculum
The research degree embodies a core of training in research methods combined with a clear structure of progression thereafter. The training components are explained below. The duration and structure of the research degree will be as follows:
Full-time research degree: 3 years plus 1 year writing up
Year 1 - Research Training
Research students will take the 'Research Methods for Development Economics' course in the Economics Department.
Year 1 - Upgrade
Students will normally be expected to pass an upgrade from MPhil to PhD status within 9 months of commencing the degree.
Year 2-3 - Research
Core research undertaken; primary and secondary data collection as appropriate, thesis chapters finalised.
Year 4 - Write up
If necessary a fourth year can be taken to write the final thesis. Examination of the thesis will take place after submission within the 4th year.
Part-time research degree: 6 years, plus 1 year writing up
The research degree can be undertaken over 6 years:
- Research Methods course must be taken over the first two years
- The upgrade will take place within 21 months after initial registration
- The examination will take place after submission within the writing-up year (year 7) at the latest.
Program Outcome
Objectives
- To Encourage and Enable Students to Complete an Original Thesis in the Expected Time
- To Provide Training and Experience in Fieldwork Across a Variety of Schools of Economics and in a variety of Statistical Techniques
- To Allow Flexibility in Training to Suit Students With Different Backgrounds and Subsequent Research Needs
- To Make Available and to Monitor First Class Research Supervision With the Involvement of at Least
- Two Members of Staff Through Individual Research Student's Supervisory Committees
- To Encourage Knowledge of Other Relevant Disciplines and the Adoption of an Interdisciplinary Approach Where Appropriate
- To Equip Students With the Ability to Assess One Another's Work Critically, Whether in Response to Written or Spoken Presentation.
- To Obtain Language Skills as Appropriate
- To Ensure Students Experience a Congenial and Productive Environment for the Conduct of Research
- Through Availability of a Wide Range of Facilities and Full Participation in the Intellectual Life of the Department and School. Library Facilities Are Outstanding and Computing Facilities Are Attuned to Student Needs
- To Emphasise the Relevance of Research to Theoretical, Empirical and Policy Issues
- To Draw Upon the Department's Particular Strengths, Especially Its Expertise in Different Approaches to Economic Problems and Its Experience in Problems of Development, Specific Regions, and Comparative Analysis
- To Involve Students in the Specialised Centres of the School Where Appropriate
- To Advise on Publication and Careers Progression.
A broader student-tailored programme of training needs can also be established in the first weeks of study, with a range of courses available from the Department’s MSc programmes. To this end, all students should undertake a Training Needs Analysis with their supervisor in the first weeks of Term 1
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Economics graduates leave SOAS with a solid grounding in statistical skills and an ability to think laterally, take a global perspective, and employ critical reasoning.
Recent graduates have been hired by:
- Bain & Co
- Bank of America
- Cabinet Office
- Deloitte
- Ernst & Young
- KPMG
- NHS England
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
- HSBC
- National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi
- UK Civil Service
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
- University of Bayreuth
- HM Treasury
- Department for International Development
- PwC
- UNDP
- King’s Investment Fund
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- The World Bank
- EY
- British Chamber of Commerce
- European Commission
- Institute for Social and Economic Studies
- International Climate Change Economics
- Overseas Development Institute
- UNICEF
- Oxfam
- RBS
Program delivery
All research students are expected to attend a dedicated research student seminar. In addition, a separate programme of research training is offered for first-year students. The sessions will deal with theoretical and methodological issues in Economics and Development Economics, as well as subject-specific guidance on other generic research skills (such as literature reviews, and fieldwork planning).
In addition, students will attend a termly Development Economics research day, where there will be a mediated discussion of theoretical and methodological issues faced and an opportunity for students to present their own research. Students will also attend the general Research Students Seminar that provides a range of input for all stages in the completion of a PhD and Early Career Development for Development Economists.