Process and Content

In order to receive an SSE PhD degree in finance, students must earn 240 ECTS credits. These credits consist of a course work component (105 ECTS) and a dissertation component (135 ECTS). There is also the option of leaving with a “Licentiate” degree after completing at least half the program.  (Note that there is no separate application for the "licentiate's" degree.)

 

The course work part in finance is integrated in the economics course program which in turn is jointly organized by the Stockholm School of Economics and the Stockholm University, under the name Stockholm Doctoral Course Program in Economics, Econometrics and Finance (SDPE).  The course program contains core courses and advanced topic courses. For PhD students in Finance, the compulsory core courses in the first-year are organized as follows:
 
Quarter 1 (Sept-Oct)          Quarter 2 (Nov-Jan)
 
Mathematics I                            Mathematics II, part 2
Mathematics ll, part 1               Mathematics lll
Microeconomics I                      Microeconomics II

 
Quarter 3 (Jan-Mar)          Quarter 4 (Apr-June)
 
Econometrics l                           Discrete Time Asset Pricing
Macroeconomics I                     Applied Contract Theory -Corporate Finance

 
In the second year, students in finance take further compulsory core finance courses, generally three. In addition, they can choose among different shorter mini courses covering more specialized area in finance. Alternatively, students can fulfill the course requirement (ECTS 105) by taking topic courses in economics, which are frequently arranged in sequences.

 

Find more information about all the current finance courses here.

 

Find more information about current economic courses and sequences here.

 

Seminars
Seminars constitute an important part of the PhD program. The seminars provide students with insights into current research and give students and faculty opportunities to present and discuss ongoing research. From the second year students are obliged to regularly participate in the Friday Finance Seminars and the Thursday Finance Workshops. In addition, there are further seminars/workshops at SSE that may be of interest, notably the Economics Lunch Seminar, the Economics Seminar, or the SITE Brown Bag Seminar.
 
The Thesis

During the second year the student should find a subject field for the thesis and seek out a thesis advisor. While most of the work on the thesis is expected to be carried out in years 3-5, it is important to start working on the thesis as soon as possible during the second year.

A thesis typically consists of several essays in one or several fields of financial economics. Essays may be single-authored or co-authored with fellow students or faculty. A benchmark is that the number of essays should be equivalent to three single-authored essays. The essays are expected to be well suited for publication in international scientific journals - the main channel for communicating research results. Thesis work in progress is presented and discussed at the internal lunch workshops.

The completed PhD thesis is made available to the interested public, and the student defends her/his thesis in an oral examination with an external discussant appointed by the faculty.  After the seminar, the thesis committee consisting of three professors decides whether the thesis passes.

 

Teaching experience is an integral part of the PhD program. PhD students are required to do some teaching, starting during their second year.