PhD Overview

The Ph.D. program in Economics at UBC owes its strength to the quality of its research faculty, extensive opportunity for student-faculty interaction, and a diverse offering of specializations for thesis work.

The Department of Economics at UBC is one of the world’s best: in a recent ranking based on research publications, our department ranked in the top 20 worldwide, and number one in Canada. Our faculty include eight faculty research fellows or research associates of the National Bureau of Economic Research, two research fellows of the Bank of Canada, two elected fellows of the Econometric Society, and four fellows of the Royal Society of Canada, and one of the Distinguished Fellows of the American Economics Association.

Each year, we typically admit about 15 new students to our program. As a result, our program is small enough to provide extensive research supervision, yet large enough to offer expertise in a wide range of fields. Virtually all of the department’s research faculty hold grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and other funding agencies, implying that opportunities for research assistantships and dissertation support are ample. The department houses the Centre for Labour Studies and manages the British Columbia Inter-University Research Data Centre. As a result, unique training opportunities, research funding, and access to data and computing resources are available to our Ph.D. students.

In addition to study with the department’s 35 professors, students at UBC are able to work with economists in the department of Resource Economics, and in the Sauder School of Business. Students may also take advantage of The Institute for Advanced Studies in Economics, a collaborative teaching and research initiative by the Economics department and the Strategy and Business Economics division at the Sauder School.

The department actively supports the placement of our Ph.D. graduates. Our students have obtained positions at leading research and teaching universities around the world. A number of graduates also obtain excellent positions at government agencies, central banks, non-governmental organizations, and in the private sector.

UBC is situated at the western tip of a peninsula adjacent to the Point Grey neighbourhood of Vancouver. From campus, there are spectacular views of the city, the coastal mountain range, and the waters of Georgia Strait and Howe Sound. Vancouver is a cosmopolitan and ethnically-diverse city, offering many cultural attractions and endless recreational activities. The city consistently ranks as one of the “most liveable cities in the world” according to rankings by The Economist, Mercer Human Resource Consulting, and others.

We invite you to explore our website and learn more about what the Ph.D. program in Economics at UBC can offer to you.