Postgraduate Prospectus

www.essex.ac.uk/economics | Economics
Domenico Tabasso, Sassari,
Italy – MSc Economics ’06,
PhD Economics ’11
Graduate
profile
After my BA I worked as a
research assistant at an Italian
university. During that period I
realised that I wanted to start
a proper career in research,
so applying for a PhD was a natural
choice. I decided to study at Essex
because the Department of Economics
is internationally famous for its researchers
and particularly well known in my field
of specialisation, labour economics.
I really liked the atmosphere in the
Department. Staff were always willing to
discuss research issues in a constructive
and very informal way, so it was a very
stimulating and enriching environment.
I also appreciated the fact that Essex’s
Department of Economics is very well
connected with other universities in the
UK and internationally. This means some
of the best economists in the world come
to Essex for seminars, conferences and
workshops. For a PhD student, feeling
part of such a vibrant community
was an extremely motivating and
rewarding factor.
One of my fondest memories of Essex
is the spring and summer time, when the
good weather made it easy to meet friends
and colleagues on campus. I made some
really good friends – and met my future
wife – at the University.
After graduating, I started my career
as an academic researcher and am now
a research fellow at the University of
Melbourne, Australia. Having my PhD from
Essex has been crucial for entering the
academic job market. The Department’s
staff were extremely helpful during the
period in which I was looking for a job
and their contributions were
very important for successfully
completing my studies and
starting my new career.
If you are admitted to our four-year
programme, you begin with a year in
which you take MSc-level modules in
microeconomics, macroeconomics,
mathematical methods, econometrics and
options in the fields of your choice. During
the remaining three months, you work on
your PhD topic. You also have the option of
doing an MSc dissertation, thereby securing
an MSc at the end of your first year.
In the second year of our four-year
programme (the first year of our three-year
programme), you take two doctoral
modules chosen from microeconomics,
macroeconomics and econometrics. At the
end of the year, you will have successfully
completed your modules and made
significant progress in identifying your
chosen research topics. During the final
two years, you complete your thesis
under the guidance of your supervisors.
As a PhD student, you attend a weekly
Research Strategy Seminar at which you
outline your work and discuss the ideas
of others. (Our research students also
have opportunities to present at workshops
and seminars in our Department, as well
as national and international conferences
and workshops). There are opportunities
to participate in master classes on
advanced research methods at Essex
and at other institutions.
Research areas
Research supervision is available in
the following fields:
n Applied econometrics
n Development economics
n Econometric theory
n Economics of the family
n Economic theory
n Finance
n Game theory and applications
n Industrial organisation
n International trade
n Labour economics
n Macroeconomics
n Monetary economics
n Networks
n Public economics
Your PhD thesis is generally completed
within three to four academic years and
has a maximum length of 80,000 words.
We employ a number of PhD students
as Graduate Teaching Assistants. By
teaching small groups of undergraduates
for up to four hours per week, you gain
valuable experience of communicating
economic ideas.
Holders of Essex PhDs obtain
appointments in government or
international organisations and many
embark upon academic careers in UK
universities and around the world. In
recent years, graduates have been
appointed to lectureships and research
posts at universities including Chicago,
the London School of Economics, Leicester,
Loughborough, St Andrews and East
Anglia, among others.
Postgraduate Prospectus 2012 | 93