MPhil+PhD in Economics
The Curriculum
The curriculum requirement for MPhil and the PhD program is more or less the same except the thesis requirement.
(A) Introductory Quantitative Requirement and Professional Development Courses (credits earned will not counted towards program requirements under section (B))
-
ECON 5100 Mathematics for Business and Economics
-
ISOM 5540 Introduction to Probability or
MATH 5411 Advanced Probability Theory I, or
MATH 5431 Advanced Mathematical Statistics I - SBMT 6780 Professional Development in Ethics, Innovation and Technology for Research Postgraduate Students (1 credit)
- PDEV 6770 Professional Development for Research Postgraduate Students (1 credit)
- PDEV 6800 Introduction to Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (0 credit)
(B) Program Requirements
Required Courses and Minimum Credit Requirement
MPhil: at least 23 credits (with at least 3 field courses)
PhD: at least 36 credits (Students who have taken an MPhil program or equivalent in other universities may be granted credit transfer on a case-by-case basis, up to a maximum of 32 credits.)
-
Required courses
-
Economics - Micro- and Macro-economic theory I and II, (ECON 5210, 5220; 5250, 5260), Econometrics (ECON5300)
-
Language - LANG 5005 *( For PhD students only. Students are advised to complete LANG 5005 in the first year of study.
-
Economics Seminar (**Department Requirement**): All research students in their first 3 years are required to complete the department seminar requirements. Students will meet weekly with the seminar course coordinator to discuss at least one paper scheduled for presentation in department seminars. Participants are expected to thoroughly study the assigned papers, attend the seminars, and engage critically with the speakers' presentations. Occasional mini-courses or workshops under the ECON7800 series may be offered to research students. Credits earned from these activities cannot be used to substitute department seminar. The total credits earned from the ECON7800 series are capped at 4.
-
-
Field courses
-
MPhil: at least 3 Economics field courses
-
PhD: at least 15 credits of Economics or equivalent field courses
-
-
MPhil Theory/Qualifying Examinations (Micro and Macro-economics, in June right after the 1st year of study; and Aug for second attempt)
-
Students admitted without an HKUST MPhil degree in Economics will take the qualifying examination in the Summer of the first year of PhD study. They will take the same qualifying examination as the HKUST MPhil students.
-
MPhil Students who fail the qualifying examination in the two attempts may continue their MPhil study, but are not allowed to proceed to the PhD program. PhD students who fail the qualifying examination after two attempts in the first year of their PhD study are required to withdraw from the PhD Program.
-
-
Research Paper Requirement (Applicable to PhD student without an HKUST ECON MPhil Degree)
-
PhD students are required to submit an approved research paper by the Summer of the second year of PhD study.
-
-
Thesis Research
-
ECON 6990 MPhil Thesis Research
-
ECON 7990 PhD Thesis Research
-
- Students will have up-to-date and in-depth knowledge in Economics, leading to independent substantive scholarly research.
- Demonstrate a sound grasp of the literature in Economics.
- Apply their knowledge in Economics to solve related business problems in an innovative fashion.
- Students will have an in-depth understanding of contemporary business and organizational issues, within the field of Economics.
- Demonstrate a broad based knowledge of core business functions.
- Integrate functional knowledge to solve business problems within the field of Economics.
- Students will be equipped to perform all aspects of the role of faculty in academia, including pedagogical skills.
- Teach independent courses or lead lab/tutorial sessions effectively.
- Present their discipline knowledge clearly to layman.