What this programme is about
A PhD Finance is a research degree for people who want to investigate how financial markets, firms and investors behave, often with demanding mathematical and empirical methods.
Topics can include asset pricing, corporate finance, banking, household finance, market microstructure or financial econometrics.
Doctoral training usually begins with theory, economics and quantitative methods before you move into specialised research workshops.
The data can be large, but the hardest problem is often identification: what can you actually infer from the pattern you observe?
Strong papers make their assumptions explicit. A sophisticated model does not compensate for a weak research design.
Choose programmes by faculty research areas, data access, methodological training and the research culture you want to join.
Inside the curriculum
Skills you'll build
Where this can take you
What studying this programme is like
Asset-pricing research studies expected returns, risk, investor behaviour and the mechanisms behind market prices.
Corporate-finance work can examine capital structure, investment, governance, ownership or mergers.
Banking research may explore lending, regulation, financial stability and intermediary behaviour.
Financial econometrics provides methods for working with complex market and firm data.
Research seminars expose developing papers to detailed criticism, which is part of learning how to produce publishable work.
The dissertation must make an original contribution to finance theory, evidence or methodology.
Is this likely to suit you?
Good fit if you...
- You have strong finance, economics and quantitative foundations.
- You enjoy theory and empirical research.
- You are comfortable with econometrics and programming.
- You want an academic or research-intensive career.
- You can work on one research question for a long time.
Think twice if you...
- You mainly want practical investment training.
- You dislike mathematics or econometrics.
- You want a short professional credential.
- You are not interested in original research.