Doctoral (PhD)

The Economics PhD program prepares students for a research career. The program combines required courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics; elective courses in a variety of applied fields; and original research. The program is offered on a full-time basis. Most students start in September but occasionally a PhD student may be allowed to begin in January (Spring term).

Admissions

Interested in joining our graduate program? Please review our Admissions page for admission requirements and documentation.

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PhD Placements

SFU Economics has had a 100% placement rate for our outgoing PhD graduates. Almost 200 graduates have gone on to teach in universities all over the world; serve as advisors or officials in provincial, state, and national governments; or are employed in a variety of roles in the private sector.

View our placement list

Program requirements

To ensure you are on track towards completion, please refer to the SFU Academic Calendar for the complete most up-to-date PhD program requirements.

Visit the SFU Academic Calendar

Elective courses

The elective courses are graduate ECON courses different from the required PhD courses or, with permission from the Graduate Chair, graduate courses in other subjects. Students should ensure that their chosen elective courses give them adequate preparation for meeting the field examination requirement. Please see the Satisfactory Progress Guidelines for more details.

ECON 900 Research paper

ECON 900 is a required course in which all PhD candidates must register and present their own original research in progress, starting from the Fall term of the second year. To receive a passing grade in ECON 900, students must complete a research paper under the supervision of a faculty member and formally present the paper in a Brown Bag seminar. Normally the supervising faculty member is the student’s senior PhD supervisor.

Funding

Effective Fall 2024, every PhD student is guaranteed minimum funding as detailed in the SFU Graduate Program in Economics PhD Minimum Funding Policy.

We also offer a number of graduate fellowships and awards for which students may apply.

Program guidelines and satisfactory progress

To remain in good academic standing, PhD students are required to make satisfactory progress by following the PhD Satisfactory Progress Guidelines set by the department. Students who fail to make satisfactory progress are normally required to withdraw from the program.

In addition to the departmental guidelines, the university requires that all graduate students maintain a minimum CGPA of at least 3.00. Each PhD candidate’s progress is assessed at least once a year. Students who perform unsatisfactorily are subject to the process described in 1.8.2 Review of Unsatisfactory Progress of the Graduate General Regulations.

PhD Progress Guidelines

PhD thesis

Students must complete an original and significant PhD thesis. Students should choose an area of research as early as possible and work with a senior supervisor specializing in the area. Please consult the Faculty Index for faculty fields of research.

Research standards and thesis defence

PhD theses must meet the standards set out in the Graduate General Regulations 1.9 - 1.11.

An oral examination (defense) of the thesis research is required and should follow the university best practices for the conduct of a PhD thesis defence.

Preparing and Submitting Your Thesis: Information Resources

Students are considered ‘PhD candidates’ after they have completed all degree requirements except for their thesis (ECON 990).

Economics