Institut ekonomických studií
Fakulta sociálních věd
Univerzita Karlova

The main information source for applicants is this website. 
For further information related to the admission process please contact Ms. Eva Masáková (eva[dot]masakova[at]fsv[dot]cuni[dot]cz).
You can also read FAQs.

Entrance exam dates

• The entrance exam to the Czech program will be held on June 13, 2023.
• There is no entrance exam to the English program. The admission committee will meet in May 2023 and will evaluate an applicant without her/his presence based on the submitted documents.
   

1) About the PhD in Economics and Finance

The PhD program concentrates on economic theory and its applications in economic and financial analyses. The program focuses on the modeling and analyses of economic processes and the behavior of economic agents, using modern microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, econometrics and finance. The doctoral program aims to prepare highly qualified and trained experts for academia, international organizations, the financial sector as well as for the other industries.

The PhD program provides excellent research training in both economic theory and applied economics. The essence of the program is economic research of your interest. Research papers accepted for publication during your PhD studies are the core requirement. The program further includes numerous opportunities for research seminars, teaching and research assistantships. Moreover, students have possibilities for a variety of research visits to the best universities in the world. The program usually takes four years to complete. Students are expected to work closely with their academic supervisors as well as other researchers.

2) Forms of the PhD in Economics and Finance

IES offers applicants two PhD programs in Economics and Finance (Czech and English), each in presence and distant form. The difference between presence and distant form resides in the requirements and stipends.

  2.1) Czech program

The Czech program is intended for Czech-speaking students. Students do not pay any tuition fee. In the application form, you need to select Czech as a language of instruction to apply to this program.

  2.2) English program

For international students, there is an English program for which you need to pay the tuition fee in case of the presence as well as in the distant form. The tuition fee is expected to amount to €500 per an academic year. However, in the case of the presence form, students can ask for relief after fulfilling the specific conditions (please consult the Handbook for doctoral studies). When applying to the English program, you need to select English as a language of instruction in the application form.

3) Requirements during the study

The requirements vary across the type of the study. All requirements contain publications, doctoral seminars, teaching, conferences, grant activities, presence at pre-defenses and defenses, supervising and referring bachelor and diploma theses (the detailed description about the requirements can be found here in the Handbook for doctoral studies).

  3.1) Czech program

In case of the Czech program, all requirements are demanded both in presence and distant form.

  3.2) English program

In case of the presence form of the English program, students fulfil all requirements. In case of the distant form of the English program, only certain (distant) requirements are demanded. These are publications, supervising and referring bachelor and diploma theses.

The table below summarizes the basic overview of possible varieties of the PhD program at IES.

4) Application

You can apply online here where you can upload all necessary documents (see below). All information provided in the online application must be correct and complete. There is no need to print the application form and send it in a paper form to the study department.

You need to pay a small application fee. The Faculty of Social Sciences charges 730 CZK for the costs of entrance exams. Applicants whose application form does not contain the documentation of a registration fee payment shall not receive an invitation to participate in the entrance exams. The fee is non-refundable, even if the applicant decides afterwards not to attend the entrance exams. The recipient is Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Smetanovo nábřeží 6, Praha 1. The bank is Komerční banka, Praha 1, the bank account 85033011/0100, the variable symbol is the number of the electronic application, constant symbol 0308.
The day of the deadline to submit your application is April 30, 2023.

5) Conditions for applicants 

For both programs, the applicant needs to meet the following conditions:

• Completion of a master program.

• A positive approval of the admission committee.

Required attachments are as follows:

• Certificates of graduate education.

• Transcript of undergraduate and graduate education (a list of courses taken and grades).

• Curriculum Vitae (structured, and with a list of publications).

• Evidence of advanced knowledge of English language (if available).

• Dissertation research project (min. 3 pages).

• Dissertation research project abstract (max. 200 words).

• In the case of the Czech program, evidence of knowledge of Czech language level C1 (not required for native speakers).

Highly recommended attachments:

• One recommendation letter of a prospective supervisor affiliated with the Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University.
  • Prospective supervisors non-affiliated with the Institute of Economic Studies will be considered only exceptionally, based on well-grounded reasons, and must be listed specifically as External Thesis Advisor in the following list.
  • When contacting prospective supervisors, students are specifically advised to contact only faculty members whose expertise is closely related to students' proposed research topics. Spamming faculty members across the board is strongly discouraged.

• One recommendation letter of an academician.

• Any additional relevant documents. These might or might not be considered by the admission committee.

Specification for the academic letters of recommendation:

• Both recommendation letters should be attached to the application and also sent via email to the Director of the Graduate Studies at the Institute of Economic Studies Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, Prof. Evžen Kočenda  (evzen[dot]kocenda[at]fsv[dot]cuni[dot]cz), and in a copy to the administrator of the application process, Klára Kantová (klara[dot]kantova[at]fsv[dot]cuni[dot]cz).

• The letter of a prospective supervisor should confirm the willingness of the preferably IES-associated academic economist to be the applicant’s supervisor in case of a successful application. Please see the lists of current faculty and external lecturers for inspiration.

• The second letter should be written by an academician that can provide an academic and professional evaluation of an applicant.

Specification for the dissertation research project:

• The dissertation research project (as well as the abstract) addresses the PhD dissertation thesis proposal.
• For inspiration visit personal web pages of our current PhD students and inspect their study plans, or see an example here.

6) Admission procedure

  6.1) Czech program

The entrance exam is part of the admission procedure. The entrance exam is held in English, and it consists of two parts completed in one day. The written tests account for 50 % of the overall score. The remaining 50% points are allocated to the interview. The maximum amount of points that can be earned during the exam is 100. In the written part of the entrance exam, each question is assessed by a certain given amount of points, and only completely correct answers are awarded by a full amount of points (otherwise 0). The applicant can obtain 50 points in the written part. The remaining 50 points can be obtained during the interview. The committee evaluates the quality of the submitted dissertation project (max. 20 points) and the ability of an applicant to present and defend the intended research interest (max. 15 points). An applicant can also obtain points for his/her pro-active attitude to consult the research proposal with his/her prospective supervisor including the prospective supervisor's agreement to become applicant's supervisor in case of a successful admission (max. 15 points). The committee arrives at the final score by summing the points in both parts of the entrance exam.

The point limit for accepting applicants is set by the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, taking into account the number of applicants and the capacity of the faculty.  

  a) Written tests

• The applicant selects two tests out of four available options which are: econometrics, finance, macroeconomics and microeconomics. Applicants have 120 minutes to complete these two tests.

• The recommended literature for the entrance exam includes those recommended in the respective master-level courses taught at the IES: microeconomics (JEM003), macroeconomics (JEM004), econometrics (JEM005), finance (JEM 032, JEM034, JEM035, JEM036).

  b) Interview

The interview with an examination committee is intended to evaluate applicants’ research abilities, including an assessment of the proposed dissertation research project submitted by the applicant, and a review of the applicant's previous research. The candidate's motivation and overall maturity is considered as well. The interview also serves as an oral exam of the English language testing the applicant's understanding of economic English. Very good knowledge of English is required for admission.

  6.2) English program

There is no entrance exam as a part of the admission process. It is assumed that the applicant possesses professional knowledge at the level of a graduate of the IES master program. The admission committee leads a technical debate about the quality of an applicant. The committee evaluates documents submitted by an applicant, especially the quality and the topic of the research proposal (max. 50 points). The committee also evaluates the motivation and overall preparation of an applicant for research (max. 25 points) and his/her pro-active attitude to consult the research proposal with his/her prospective supervisor including the prospective supervisor's agreement to become applicant's supervisor in case of a successful admission (max. 25 points). An applicant can receive max. 100 points. The admission committee can ask for additional documents if necessary.

The point limit for accepting applicants is set by the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, taking into account the number of applicants and the capacity of the faculty.

7) Other

Methodology teaching seminar for PhD students

Please note that all first-year students of the presence form of PhD studies are obliged to complete a methodology teaching seminar for doctoral students. This special seminar will be held in September, one week before the beginning of the semester (TBC). Therefore, students admitted to the PhD programme should plan their activities accordingly.

GEOCEP research visits

All PhD students are eligible for receiving financial support for at least 1-month long research visit to a variety of the best universities from USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Singapore and Chile. The research visit will be supported through the GEOCEP project. The profiles of the students seconded within the project can be found here.

Center for Doctoral Studies 

The Center for Doctoral Studies (CDS) has six paid positions and helps to organize PhD in Economics at IES. Currently, we are looking for three new colleagues. Prospective as well as current PhD students of the Czech form of the PhD program can apply for positions at the CDS. More information can be found here.