Information for Prospective Students

The Australian National University has a world-wide reputation and has been consistently ranked as Australia's number 1 university. The ANU PhD Program in Economics includes more than seventy academics and more than eighty PhD students and enjoys a strong reputation nationally and internationally.

Structure of the Program:

The program of full-time study normally occupies a period of three years, comprising two parts: Coursework (Part A) and Research (Part B). All PhD candidates enrolled in one of the participating departments or centres must complete both parts of the PhD program. Each student is supervised by a supervisory panel comprising at lease one main supervisor and two or more advisors. The full composition of the supervisory panel is only determined after successful completion of part A of the program.

Part A normally consists of two consecutive semesters of coursework designed to improve the formal training necessary for the writing of a thesis and to equip candidates with the skills to undertake research and to master the journal literature. Part B consists of research and participation in seminars and/or workshops and submission of a thesis; Part B normally continues for between 24 and 36 months.

Please note that the academic year at the Australian National University starts from February of each year (first semester is from mid-February to mid-June, and second semester is from mid-July to mid-November). Although mid-year entry (i.e. starting in the second semester) to the Program is allowed, the Program is designed for commencing at the beginning of each year. In particular, applicants who want to apply for University Scholarships must note that scholarship applications are only processed once a year in November for entry in the first semester of the following year.

Before you apply:

• Refer to the admission requirements and determine if your qualifications are sufficient for direct entry into the Program.

  If you do not satisfy the eligibility criteria, or if you do have the required qualifications but there has been a while since your previous degree and you prefer to have a refresher year before starting your PhD, you can choose to apply for one of the one-year Masters degrees in the field of economics before entering the PhD program.

• Identify one or two academic economists at ANU whose research interests are close to yours as potential supervisors. A brief summary of research interests of all ANU economists are provided here, but you should also refer to each person’s home-page for more details about their current research projects and a list of their publications. Although it is not necessary to get approval of a supervisor before you apply, you may contact potential supervisors and discuss your research interests. If you decide to do so, have in mind that academics, in particular popular supervisors, react more favourably to students who seem to have done their homework before contacting them, and they do not respond at all to students who send a blanket e-mail to all economists at ANU.

Application:

• If you satisfy the eligibility criteria (including the English language requirement for non-English speaking students) and have identified a potential supervisor, then download and complete the application form and mail your application.

  Application form for local students

  Application form for international students

Instead of a hard copy application, you may complete and submit an on-line application.

• All materials should be sent to the ANU Admissions Office at the address indicated on the application form. The application form gives details of required information and documentation, but you must include

• You should ask the referees to send their reports directly to the Admissions Office.

Fees:

General information about fees is available at:

http://www.anu.edu.au/sas/fees/tuition_fees_postgraduate/index.php

In particular, tuition fees for international students are listed in the postgraduate section of 2008 fee schedule.

Scholarships:

• Scholarships administered by the University: Information about these scholarships is provided in the link below. To apply for these scholarships, you only need to tick the relevant box or boxes on your application for admission. If you are applying for any of these scholarships, note the scholarship deadlines, and submit your application in time for it to be assessed in conjunction with the scholarship rounds. These are generally at the end of August and October each year.

  Research Student Scholarships

• College or departmental scholarships: In addition to University scholarships, different Colleges or Departments may offer their own scholarships. These scholarships are normally partial scholarships in the form of top-ups for the Australian Postgraduate Awards for domestic students, or partial tuition waiver for international students. For information about these scholarships refer to individual websites of ANU economics departments.

• Teaching and Research Assistantships: Many ANU economists obtain research grants and are constantly looking for research assistants. There are also opportunities for tutoring (i.e. teaching assistantship) in the School of Economics and in the Crawford School. However, these opportunities are only available to students who have successfully completed Part A of the Program.

Offers of Admission:

• Even though you apply for admission and university scholarships by submitting one application form, admission and scholarship decisions are made separately. After your application and all its supporting documents (including referee reports) are received by the Admissions Office, your file is forwarded to the Convener of the Economics PhD Program. If the Convener assesses that you satisfy the eligibility criteria, and it is established that your area of interest matches the interests of some ANU economists with available supervisory capacity, then you will be issued an offer of admission. You may receive offers conditional on taking some preparatory courses or subject to taking a one-year Masters course if the Convener assesses that it will be beneficial for your success in the Program.
• University scholarship outcomes become available in mid to late November for commencing the first semester of next year.

Pre-PhD courses:

PhD research in economics requires a higher degree of scientific rigour than undergraduate studies. In a PhD thesis, every claim needs to be proven or substantiated with evidence, and every hypothesis needs to be formulated in an unambiguous way and tested. Some students, especially those who have been away from university environment for a while, find the transition to this level of rigour difficult. To ease this transition, there are preparatory courses offered mainly during summer for the incoming PhD students. We strongly recommend all students to take these courses.

• Mathematical Techniques for Advanced Economic Analysis (link to be established)
• Introductory Academic Program at the Crawford School (link to be established)

Accommodation in Canberra

Due to shortage in student accommodation, it is very important that you arrange your accommodation as soon as you can. Information about accommodation options for graduate students is available here.