Ph.D. Programme in Economics

Coursework

In the first year, students will focus on building a strong foundation. In the first year, students must take six courses: a year-long sequence of each of the three core courses: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Statistics/Econometrics.

Monsoon Semester

• Microeconomics I
• Macroeconomics I
• Statistics

Spring Semester

• Microeconomics II
• Macroeconomics II
• Econometrics I

In order to meet the requirements for the PhD, students must maintain an average minimum grade of B or 3.0/4.0.

Waiver

A first-year course requirement may be waived in specific circumstances, usually subject to passing a qualifying exam in each of the six core courses, and with the permission of the PhD coordinator(s). The exam would be administered at the beginning of the semester for a given course. Students may take elective courses in their first year or PhD reading courses in lieu of any first-year core courses for which they get a waiver. This elective or reading course will count towards the three elective course requirements over the first two years of their PhD programme.

Appointment of faculty mentor(s)

Up to two faculty mentors will be appointed by the PhD Coordinator(s) of each individual department while taking into account (a) match between supervisor’s (and co-supervisor’s) specialization and area of proposed research, (b) student preference(s), and (c) number of students being supervised by individual faculty members. The mentors’ key role is to encourage and assist the students to find a faculty advisor, and to help the students navigate through the program requirements.

Coursework

In the second year, students will develop their research interests by taking a total of three elective courses (across the monsoon and spring semesters). In order to meet the requirements for the PhD, students must maintain an average minimum grade of B or 3.0/4.0 in these courses. In case students have already taken elective courses in their first year in lieu of core courses for which they have received waivers, they can take more elective courses in their second year, but they will not be required to take any more than 3 elective courses or PhD reading courses across both years to meet the PhD requirements. 

The list of elective courses offered in any semester will be announced closer to the date. Amongst others, students can expect elective courses in the following areas: Advanced Game Theory, Advanced Macroeconomics, Behavioral Economics, Decision Theory, Development Economics, Economic and Social Networks, Experimental Economics, Health Economics, History of Economic Thought, Industrial Organization, International Economics, Public Economics, Political Economy, Time Series Analysis.

Note that in general students can complete the six mandatory courses over their first two years. They are also allowed to take electives in the first year based on their inclinations, apart from the mandatory courses. As long as total credit requirements towards the six mandatory courses and the three elective courses are fulfilled with an average minimum grade of B or 3.0/4.0 across the two years, the students will meet the PhD requirements.

Students already holding an MPhil degree prior to admission at Ashoka University may apply to have the elective course requirements waived, and move directly to submitting a research plan.

Finding an Advisor

Students are strongly encouraged to find a potential advisor(s) within 1.5 years into the program, that is, after their third semester. This will ensure that the students have adequate guidance while writing the proposal for candidacy and will be able to submit it on time. The PhD mentors assigned to the students will facilitate them in finding the advisors.

Admission to Candidacy

To attain candidacy, students must submit a research proposal working towards the final dissertation. The deadline for the proposal is the beginning of their third year, that is, after the second year summer before the start of the Monsoon semester. The proposal should include a well developed research plan. The details of the proposal will be determined by the respective advisor and the Student Research Committee.

Students will then be called upon to orally defend their research plan before their Student Research Committee (SRC), specifically constituted for each PhD student. The Student Research Committee will be appointed by the Program Coordinator of the Department before the student plans to defend their Research Plan. It will be chaired by the student’s faculty advisor (must be a permanent faculty (tenured or non-tenured) of the Economics department at Ashoka University) and will include as members: (a) co-advisor, if any, and (b) at least one permanent faculty member (tenured or non-tenured) from Ashoka University Economics Department, and at least one external committee member who is from outside the department (may be from any other department within the university or outside the university) who specializes in a related area. Post candidacy, students can change the composition of the Student Research Committee after getting approval from the PhD coordinators and the Research office.

Students may apply to be formally admitted to PhD candidate status once they have completed their coursework requirements and successfully defended a research plan.

The university requires that an incoming PhD student holding a MPhil/MTech degree need to fulfill the candidacy requirements within 1.5 years.

Presentations

After candidacy, students are expected to present at least once every year in the Graduate Event which is annually organized by the Economics Department. Besides presenting at Ashoka, students are encouraged to present their research in seminars or conferences outside the university.

Research Committee review

Students who have been admitted to PhD candidate status must meet with their Student Research Committee (SRC) to review their progress once a year.

PhD Grad Event

The department, every year, will organize a PhD grad event which will consist of student presentations and faculty panels.

• Student Presentations: The upper year PhD students who have been admitted to candidacy will present their work. The content of the presentation will be mutually decided by the student and the faculty advisor.
• Faculty Panels: Besides student presentations, there will be faculty panels to guide the PhD students. This will provide the PhD students an opportunity to interact with faculty, exchange ideas, and in general prepare them to become a professional economist.

Dissertation defence

Once admitted to candidacy, students will write up their research in the form of research papers, which together form a draft PhD dissertation. Students will be required to subject the draft dissertation to a check for plagiarism using standard software.

Students will submit the dissertation to his/her SRC for its internal assessment. With the approval of the SRC, the dissertation will be submitted to at least two external examiners and to the Faculty supervisor(s) for their formal assessment and recommendation. On the independent recommendation of each external examiner, supervisor and co-supervisor, the SRC will formally conduct a viva voce examination in the presence of at least one, but preferably both, external examiners. The examination will be open to all faculty members and students from Ashoka University.

After the viva voce, a copy of the dissertation is deposited with the INFLIBNET, and with Ashoka University Library.

Timelines

Students must submit their final dissertation within six years of the date of admission to the PhD Programme. Based on need or justification, an extension of up to 1 year may be recommended by the SRC, and granted by Dean (Graduate Programs).