Contents

  1. Thinking of Doing a Ph.D. in Economics at Monash?
  2. When and How to Apply?
  3. If I'm Not Sure, How Would I Prepare Myself to do a Ph.D.?

Thinking of Doing a Ph.D. in Economics at Monash?

There are, broadly speaking, two models of a Ph.D. in economics: the English-style research-only Ph.D. (which is usually completed after three years of research, upon completion of a coursework Master's degree) and an American coursework-intensive Ph.D. (which requires roughly two and a half years each of advanced coursework and research). The Ph.D. program at Monash bridges the gap between the two, by providing some advanced training (six units) beyond the honours level, while keeping research the primary focus. The Ph.D. course is discussed below, and before applying to any Ph.D. it is a really good idea to have a sense of why you want to apply, and in particular, who you wish to work with. The best way to do this is by reading peoples' work to find out which ideas and areas of research are most interesting to you.

Some notable areas of research that students and staff in the Department of Economics pursue are:

When and How to Apply?

Being located in the southern hemisphere, the academic year at Monash begins in late February or early March. If you hope to apply for a University or Faculty scholarship, the application process typically begins in early August and ends on October 31st of each year. Fee paying students should also apply at this time as well. Students hoping for anAusAID Australian Leadership Awards Scholarship should apply earlier, from April through June 30th. Also, because the PhD in economics has a sequential coursework component that begins in March, we have no mid-year entry. The following site provides more information about the Ph.D.:

http://www.monash.edu.au/study/coursefinder/course/0029/

For instructions about the actual application process, please have a look at the following web-site:

http://www.monash.edu.au/study/research/

The University's entry requirement is a Distinction average (equivalent to 70%-79% at Monash), equivalent to an American B- average, in an honours or honours-equivalent course that includes a research component (such as a thesis). However, because the standards for economics Ph.D. students around the world are so high and the job market is so tight, we have higher entry requirements in the Department of Economics. We expect students to have no less than 75% average in their previous coursework for entry, with similar performance in calculus, linear algebra and differential equations, and econometrics because the Ph.D. coursework requires students to be able to use such methods. Since the University, rather than the Department of Economics, offers scholarships to students, they require scholarship applicants to have at least a High Distinction (equivalent to at least 80% at Monash), equivalent to an American A average, in your previous coursework is the minimum needed to qualify for a scholarship. Please also note that the University is rather strict about admitting only students who have some prior academic research experience (which is demonstrated with successful completion of a thesis during a four-year undergraduate, honours or Master's degree, or if you have publications). Inputs that you will need to provide for your application are

1. Full curriculum vitae (CV)

You may list among other things any special academic achievements including, if possible, rank and position within your graduating class e.g. ranked fifth out of 100 students in your course.

2. An official indication of your past academic performance, including your GPA or average mark for your undergraduate degree(s), which will be satisfied by providing:

3. Details of any research activity that you have engaged in during your undergraduate or postgraduate degree or in a work environment including:

4. Details of any research publications (for example conference proceedings, journal papers, etc.):

5. Evidence of English language test results (for example IELTS or TOEFL). For more information, please visit:

http://www.mrgs.monash.edu.au/research/doctoral/chapter2d.html

It is most important that you check the criteria of language proficiency for non-English speaking background students as they vary from country to country. If you do not meet those criteria you should register for an IELTS test as soon as possible.

6. A brief preliminary research proposal. This will give us an idea of your research topic, the motivation for conducting this research, some background to the research (literature review), research questions and/or hypotheses, and research methods to be used (about 500 words). Alternatively, if you are still not quite clear about what you wish to do, you may provide a statement of your reason for wanting to come to Monash. Either will help us to match you with a supervisor.

If I'm Not Sure, How Would I Prepare Myself to do a Ph.D.?

I am an Honours or Master's Student

If you're an honours student or a Master's student and really interested in research, you may be eligible to apply for a Ph.D. (it could be less than one year away for you). So, it's never too early to start planning for your future (again see the Economics Honours link for useful tips). At this stage in your studies, you have to choose wisely, and hopefully, you have already developed some areas of interest in economics. This is really important, because you cannot be effective in your research if you are not interested in what you are researching. Beyond research interests, it is also important to choose subjects that will give you the tools necessary to help you do advanced research, because research involves combining creativity and techniques. Once accepted, students are expected to complete a coursework component, which is typically 2 Ph.D. level units (coded at the ECC6XXX level), along with 4 enabling units (coded at the ECC5XXX level) as pre-requisites. Students who enrol must maintain a 70% average in all units to continue with their thesis. The units are listed below:

Core Enabling Units

ECC5650 - Microeconomic theory (6 points)

ECC5660 - Macroeconomic theory (6 points)

ECC5850 - Mathematical economic theory (6 points)

Economics Electives

ECC5690 - Theories in international and development economics (6 points)

ECC5730 - Advanced applied general equilibrium analysis (6 points)

ECC5810 - Public economics (6 points)

ECC5840 - Information, incentives and games (6 points)

ECC5870 - Advanced health economics (6 points)

Ph.D. level units

ECC6650 - Research topics in advanced microeconomics (6 points)

ECC6660 - Research topics in advanced macroeconomics (6 points)

ECC6690 - Research topics in open economy (6 points)

I am an Undergraduate Student

If you're an undergraduate student you still have some time to plan. If you're currently studying at an Australian University and you want to apply to a Ph.D. in either Australia, Canada or England, then you should definitely think about doing well in an honours program, such as the Monash Economics Honours Program. From there, you may then think about doing a Master's degree, or apply to a Ph.D. course that has a significant coursework component. If you are interested in studying in the US you can apply directly to a Ph.D. program, after completing your undergraduate degree; an honours degree will help too, but it's not essential, presuming you've prepared yourself by taking as many of the mathematics units from the list below as you can. You need not get a US Master's degree in economics before applying to a US Ph.D. program, as they are typically more applied, and intended to train practitioners.

While the Department of Economics at Monash does not require that you successfully complete all of the mathematics subjects listed below, you should consider that many aspiring Ph.D. students around the world, will have had that mathematical training (or perhaps even more). So it is in your interest to study as much mathematics as possible and to perform well in those subjects. Even though facility with mathematics does not translate into facility with economics, it is a language that economists often use to communicate with each other. One other issue to consider is whether you prefer to learn mathematics by proof, or simply how to use a technique, without proof. If you prefer more formalized training, take the mathematics stream, while if you prefer the more applied training, you may like the engineering stream (though there is not always an equivalent unit). So, if you have room in your course, and you are really interested in preparing yourself for higher degree research, you should consider these units in mathematics:

The Bare Minimum Quantitative Training

If you are adept in mathematics, but simply didn't take many subjects in your previous study because you were interested in other areas, then the bare minimum quantitative training you need to even be qualified to undertake a PhD in economics at Monash includes the following subjects:

This is not the recommended list however, because as a Ph.D. applicant, you have to consider that most of your competitors in departments around the world have studied more mathematics than what is included in that list. Consider that at the University of Chicago, you cannot even enrol in undergraduate economics unless you have earned a High Distinction in a year-long sequence of calculus. To be qualified for their Ph.D., you are required to know far more mathematics. Most Ph.D.-granting economics departments around the world have similar expectations of applicants. So, if you wanted to do a Ph.D. in one of those departments you would be told to consider taking as many of the subjects listed and discussed below as possible before applying.

Basic Foundational Units in Mathematical Techniques that are Useful for Economics

Mathematical Technique(s)

Monash Mathematics Unit

Engineering Unit

Differentiation & Integration

MTH1030

ENG1090 AND ENG1091

Multivariate Calculus

MTH2010

ENG2091

Linear Algebra

MTH2021

Topic covered in ENG1091

Interested in Economic Theory? Take the Mathematics Stream

Mathematical Technique(s)

Monash Mathematics Unit

Monash Engineering Unit

Real Analysis

MTH2140 AND/OR MTH3140

None

Mathematics of Uncertainy

MTH2222

There is an Engineering equivalent ECE3093 (which has prerequisite of ECE2011) but it is applied

Interested in Macroeconomics? Consider in addition

Mathematical Technique(s)

Monash Mathematics Unit

Engineering Unit

Ordinary Differential Equations

MTH2032

Topic covered in ENG1060, ENG1091, AND ENG2091

Numerical Methods

MTH2051 ANDMTH3051

ENG1060

Interested in Financial Economics? Consider in addition

Mathematical Technique(s)

Monash Mathematics Unit

Engineering Unit

Partial Differential Equations

MTH3011

Topic covered in ENG2091

Financial Mathematics

MTH3251

None

Interested in Econometrics? Consider doing a double degree in Economics and Econometrics

Complete a Double Degree under the Bachelor's of Economics (Please see this link for instructions about where to send enquiries)

If you've either never studied econometrics or never used statistical packages, and would like an intuitive introduction to R and STATA, you might like to download the following cookbook. First click on the blue type-faced link, and you'll see a blue type-faced link called "download" to save the .pdf file to your favourite location:

Basic Econometrics with R & STATA

If you are new to household survey data analysis and think you might be interested in using them in your research, you might be interested in having a look at this brief primer that summarizes a strategy for analyzing household surveys using STATA:

Household Survey Data Analysis with STATA: A Primer