PhD in Economics

The department offers a PhD program in seven academic disciplines (Economics, Literature, Linguistics, Philosophy, Policy, Psychology, and Sociology). The PhD program consists of both full time and part-time students.

Who can apply?

Eligibility: M.A./M.Sc (2 years)/M.Com/M.B.A/M.Phil or B.Tech/BE/B.Sc Engg. (4 years) or M.Tech/ME/MS Research (2-3 years)/M.D/ D.M./M.S/M.DS

Minimum qualifications: 60% marks or 6.00 CGPA on a 10-point scale and qualified GATE/ CSIR/ UGC-NET or JRF/ICAR/ICMR/ DST - INSPIRE Fellowship (check the prospectus of the current admission cycle for details about the exemptions and clarifications.)

Application process: Eligible candidates can apply for the programme at PG Admission Portal .

PhD under UQ-IITD Academy of Research (UQIDAR)

The University of Queensland (UQ), a top 50 global university, and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD), an Institute of Eminence, have joined forces to create a joint PhD program that will allow scholars to deliver global impact.

All successful UQIDAR PhD applicants will be offered a scholarship to enable students to focus on their research.

Read more: https://uqidar.org/

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Best Doctor of Philosophy (Economics) College in Punjab, India

Chandigarh University's University School of Business presents a PhD program in Economics, delving deeply into economic theory, advanced empirical analysis, and policy implications, with a strong foundation in Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Data Analytics, and Public Policy. This program offers specialized tracks in Econometrics and Public Policy & Governance, providing rigorous training and hands-on research experience. Unique courses include Advanced Econometrics, SPSS, R, and Excel for Data Analysis, along with specialized topics such as Gender Economics and Behavioural Economics. This comprehensive program fosters the development of professional economists, preparing them for impactful careers in academia, research, and policymaking.

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Chandigarh University PhD. in Economics Eligibility & Fee Details

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PhD. in Economics Scholarships

Chandigarh university has welcomed students from more than 50 countries.

With more than 100+ Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral programs to choose from, CU is one of the highly preferred destinations for International Students.

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Sign up or Register for CUCET with basic details (Name, Email ID, Mobile No., State, Gender and Password). Your Email ID will act as your Username for the portal while the password will be set by you upon registration.

On successful registration, you will receive the confirmation message on your registered contact number and Email. Use the Username and Password to Login to your CUCET Account.

Step 2 - Apply

After successfully creating your candidate profile for CUCET, you can proceed with choosing the Date for your examination. Complete your profile by logging into your CUCET account and choose an examination date as per your convenience and preference.

Step 3 - Submit

You become eligible for admission into Chandigarh University after clearing the CUCET examination. Following your attempt at CUCET, the result will shortly be intimated, based on which you can submit your application for admission and avail merit-based scholarship.

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UGC’s proposal to permit part-time PhD degree: What is it and how does it work?

A look at eligibility criteria, specification, and provisions of the proposed programme.

part time phd economics india

The University Grants Commission is finalising the UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of Ph.D. Degree) Regulations draft that it proposed in March this year. With the amendments, working professionals will be able to pursue part-time PhDs programmes .

Part-time PhD programmes aren’t entirely new to India and are common in the IITs.

part time phd economics india

With the UGC’s proposal, more higher educational institutions across the country will offer the programme, which will help professionals who cannot afford to take long leaves to pursue their research.

We explain the eligibility criteria, the requirements for the supervisors and its other provisions:  

What will be the eligibility criteria for enrollment?

The eligibility conditions are the same for both full-time and part-time candidates. The work will also be assessed in the same way as done for the full-time PhD students. In addition to meeting the regular criteria, however, the part-time PhD candidates will also have to produce a No-Objection Certificate or NOC from their employer.

Festive offer

 “Such part-time PhD programmes are very useful to professionals who cannot take long leave for doing PhD,” UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar told The Indian Express .

What are the specifications of the NOC?

Apart from stating that the prospective part-time PhD candidate and employee is permitted to pursue the programme on a part-time basis, the NOC will have to spell out that they will be given sufficient time for research work. 

  The workplace will be required to establish facilities in the employee’s field of research as a doctoral scholar and the organisation will also have to make a submission saying that the employee will be relieved from duty to complete the requisite coursework if required.  

Offices rarely offer facilities for research and there is a requirement for “facilities in the employee’s field of research at the place of work”.  Isn’t the policy too restrictive?  

Prof Kumar said that the proposed part-time PhD policy – with NoCs that are required to be submitted by part-time PhD applicants – is in tune with the best institutions in India such as IITs.  

 “Most industries involved in manufacturing, scientific research  or the IT sector do have some facilities for research such as prototyping, testing and measurement. Such applicants can use the facilities in their place of work and also in the University where they register for part-time PhD.”

He added: “In IITs, students usually work during weekends to use the facilities at the institutions. A similar thing can be done in Universities. Students can also access library e-resources and online computing facilities using secure VPN connection from outside the campus, depending on the IT usage policy of the University.”

Who will guide the part-time PhD candidates?

The part-time PhD student will largely work independently but will work on his or her subject in consultation with the supervisor. At least six months of course work will have to be attended by them full-time. Once they complete the course work, they can carry out research under the guidance of a supervisor using the research facilities either in their own organisations or the research facilities in the universities.

Who will the supervisors be?

Permanent faculty members with a PhD working as Professor/Associate Professors, with at least five research publications in peer-reviewed or refereed journals may be recognized as research supervisors. 

Permanent faculty members working as Assistant professors with a PhD degree and at least three research publications in peer-reviewed or referred journals can also be supervisors under the proposed norms.

Which institutions can offer part-time PhD programmes?

 The PhD regulations shall apply to every University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act, or a State Act, as well as every college and higher educational institution declared by a notification in the Official Gazette by the Central Government under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956.

How will the quality of the part-time programme be ensured by the UGC?

Citing the example of the IITs, where part-time PhDs are common, Kumar says that “they have not seen any degradation in the quality of doctoral work”.

Kumar added that every semester, the part-time PhD candidates would be “required to make presentations and submit progress reports” to the research advisory committee, which is “mandated to make sure that the PhD students carry out research of high standards”.

Can people who have completed an M Phil in the past and are currently employed as working professionals also apply for the programme?

Under the proposed revised regulations, one can join PhD programmes either after a four year UG programme or after a two year Master’s degree. The M Phil programme is being phased out from the  2022-23 academic session. However, if one has an M.Phil degree, the research advisory committee may recommend only 12 credits of course work and not more.

“Their research experience during M.Phil would be helpful just as in the case of the four-year UG honours with research who gain some research experience. In fact, many from scientific research organisations may have some kind of research experience already. That would certainly help them in their part-time PhD programme. Such applicants would also bring a diversity in research problems being studied in the university system,” Prof Kumar said.

Can a techie working with an IT firm apply for a part-time PhD?

Anyone can apply as long as they are regular full time employees, their workplace or organisation is recognised by the concerned University, the applicant submits the required NOC, and fulfils the eligibility criteria for PhD admissions.  

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Minimum Qualifications for admission to Part-time and Sponsored (full-time) PhD Programmes

The following eligibility conditions apply for the Part-time and sponsored full-time programmes.

Only employees of Public Sector Undertakings or Government Departments or Research and Development Organizations or Private Industries (approved by Faculty Boards) are eligible for admission to these programmes.

The minimum full-time experience required after obtaining the qualifying degree and as on date of registration, is given below in Table 2:

Minimum qualification for these candidates is the same as for full-time candidates, except that the requirement of qualifying in a national examination is waived.

For part-time candidates from outside NCR (or at a radial distance of more than 50 km from IIT Delhi), there is a minimum residency requirement of 6 months. DRC/CRC/SRC may specify a higher residency requirement based on the courses recommended as well as the background.

Sponsored (full-time) candidates seeking admission to a Ph.D. programme on the basis of study leave, must submit a “Sponsorship Certificate” on a proper letter head from the appropriate authority in the organization clearly stating the following:

Part-time candidates are required to submit a “No Objection Certificate” (NOC) on a proper letter head from the appropriate authority in the organization clearly stating the following:

he/she will be fully relieved from duty and permitted to reside at the Institute for the period of required residency that is essential for completing the course work (this is not a requirement for candidates who are working in NCR or organizations located within a distance of 50 km from the Institute);

that his/her official duties permit him/her to attend required classes as per the Time Table of IIT Delhi;

that his/her official duties permit him/her to devote sufficient time for research;

facilities for research in the candidate’s field of research are available at the candidate’s place of work, in case the proposed Ph. D. research plan requires him/her to use these facilities when the candidate is physically present at this place of work.

Template of this NOC is available on the IIT Delhi PG admissions website. Kindly note that lack of confirmation and clarity on one or more of the above points in the NOC may make prevent the applicant’s application being processed, even if he/she qualify in the interview/screening.

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Ph.D Economics

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A research programme designed to provide students who are looking to expand their expertise in the Economics and explore new avenues in the field.

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The Economics Area engages in research, teaching, external engagements, and media and policy outreach in a wide range of fields. These include Behavioral Economics, Development Economics, Game Theory, Industrial Organization, International Trade, Labour Economics, Monetary Economics and Public Economics.

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IIM Bangalore's PhD program in Economics is widely recognized for its academic excellence. As a part of the PhD program, the Economics area offers a wide range of courses that are of international standards, helping students build a strong foundation in research and teaching.

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I am Muneer Kalliyil. My research interests include the Economics of Education and Development Economics in general. My current research investigates some crucial and topical issues in education economics. Currently, I am working on various factors affecting the establishment and positioning of new private schools in India. Through this project, I am trying to answer various questions such as how the private schooling market responds to existing government schools and private schools, and whether the timing of private school entry is linked to that of big infrastructure development projects

I am a doctoral student in the Economics area. My research interests lie at the intersection of behavioural and development economics, with a special focus on education outcomes. I am currently working on how civil conflicts affect education outcomes and how post-conflict reconciliatory pogrammes can address the negative impacts of conflict

I study the decision to invest in human capital. I take the case of organisations and propose a flexible approach to measure the inefficiency in one of the human capital assets of an organization, which is its management

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BITS Pilani is a Deemed to be University, offering on-campus programs to more than 18,500 students across its campuses in Pilani, Goa, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Dubai.It has been recognized as an Institute of Eminence by the Ministry of Education, Government of India in 2020.

QS World University Subject Rankings 2024 has ranked BITS Pilani globally at

  • 101-150 in Pharmacy and Pharmacology
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In ǪS Asia University Rankings 2024, BITS has been ranked 215th in Asia and at 22nd in India. Further, BITS Pilani has been ranked among the top 300 in ǪS World University Graduate Employability Rankings 2022 and within top 6 in India.

Having pioneered several curricular and pedagogic attributes, BITS Pilani has a vision to be amongst the top research-led Institutes in the country. The qualities of innovation, enterprise, commitment to excellence, adherence to merit, and transparency, have characterized the Institute during its inexorable march to eminence.

The Institute has secured over Rs 398 crores as external research funding in the last 5 years. State of the art facilities have been developed to support cutting edge research, led by students and about 930 faculty members, leading to a Scopus h-index of 156, with 221 patents filed so far, and 41 patents granted. Currently, there are 14 BITSian Unicorns and 1 Decacorn. There are over 7500 BITSian founders and co-founders of enterprises.

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List of Candidates shortlisted for Ph.D. Admission Test and/or Interview is now available

Admissions portal open 01st march 2024.

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List of Candidates shortlisted for Ph.D. Admission Test and/or Interview is now available.

  • CLICK HERE to know the Result.

Department preference with regard to the full-time and part-time Ph.D student admission is given in the table below.

Yes – A Department intends to admit students under the specified mode. No – A Department does not intend to admit students under the specified mode.

Minimum Eligibility Qualifications

ME / MTech / MPharm / MBA / MPhil (minimum of 60% aggregate)* MSc/BE/BPharm or an equivalent degree (minimum of 60% aggregate)* For admission into Humanities and Social Sciences, MA degree (minimum of 55% aggregate)* For part-time applicants, a minimum of one-year experience in the related field of study is required

[*In the Qualifying Degree examination]

In addition, Departments may set specific admission criteria for shortlisting. Meeting the minimum eligibility qualifications does not guarantee admission into the PhD program. Shortlisted candidates will have to appear for an admission test, which may comprise a written exam and/or interview. Information on specific Departments and related research activities is available on the Department homepage of respective campuses.

Full-time students

Preferably individuals who would like to pursue PhD in-house, residing on campus.

Part-time students

Preferably individuals who are working in organizations providing basic facilities and an environment for research.

Financial Assistance

Full-time PhD students admitted into the PhD program are eligible to be considered for an Institute fellowship of Rs. 34,000 or Rs. 37,000 per month in the first year based on their qualifications at the time of admission. Students admitted with M.E./M.Tech./M.Pharm./MBA/M.Phil. or an equivalent Degree are eligible to receive an Institute fellowship of Rs. 37,000/-. Students admitted with M.Sc./B.E./B.Pharm. or an equivalent degree are eligible to receive an Institute fellowship of Rs. 34,000/-. These students on successful completion of coursework will receive Rs. 37,000/- from the Semester following the one in which the course work was completed Higher fellowship may be made available in subsequent years. Consideration for Institute fellowship will be as per Institute norms. It will be obligatory on the part of every admitted full time student to undertake 8 hours (per week) of work as assigned to him/her by the institute.

Important Dates

The Institute reserves the right to change the above deadlines. Candidates will be informed in advance should there be such a change.

Department Brochures

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Economic Sciences

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Slide background

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Program

With an ever-increasing emphasis on a technology-driven economy, interdisciplinary economic research has become the key to global economic prosperity. IIT Kanpur’s Department of Economic Sciences – the first among all IITs – is a pioneer in economic research, teaching and outreach activities. With its rigorously trained and proficient faculty, the department is fast emerging as a prominent center for India's economic research.

The Ph.D. program in Economic Sciences was introduced at IIT Kanpur in 1974, in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur. Students in our program do research in various economics areas, including microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, development economics, health economics, and financial economics. Our department provides intense training both in theoretical economics and in applied and empirical economics. The Ph.D. program is primarily designed for students interested in pursuing a career in teaching and research within academia. It is also useful for students interested in certain positions within governments, research organizations, or private businesses.

Course Structure:

  • Five-years program, with a set of courses and high-quality research opportunities.
  • The first year consists of two-semester coursework, followed by a comprehensive examination.
  • After the first year, students devote most of their time to their own research under the supervision of faculty advisors.

The two-semester Ph. D. coursework will consist of compulsory courses in the following fields:

  • Advanced Microeconomics.
  • Advanced Macroeconomics.
  • Quantitative Methods.
  • Econometrics.

Moreover, the students will be asked to choose a set of elective courses. In recent years, the following elective courses have been offered:

  • Applied Econometrics
  • Bayesian Econometrics
  • Contract Theory
  • Development Economics
  • Efficiency and Productivity Analysis
  • Financial Econometrics
  • Foundations of Finance
  • Game Theory
  • Labour Economics
  • Law and Economics
  • Mathematical Analysis for Economics
  • Monetary Economics
  • Topics in Economic Growth

part time phd economics india

Home » Ph.D in Development Studies

  • Ph.D in Development Studies

The Ph.D. programme is designed to create academic researchers as well as professionals who are capable of conducting policy analysis, relating to national and global economic and development issues, from a quantitative and inter-disciplinary perspective. While an interdisciplinary approach is encouraged, the programme lays somewhat larger emphasis on economics to provide an integrated framework within which various development issues can be addressed. Ph.D. students are expected to submit their dissertations within four years of joining the Institute. Ph.D. programmes involve successful completion of course work as well as submission of dissertation. M.Sc., stream students who would like to register for a Ph.D. degree need to pass the oral comprehensive examination in the form of proposal cum evaluation seminar and fulfil prescribed course and minimum grade requirements.

Admission Eligibility

Minimum qualification for admission to the Ph.D. programme include one of the following degrees or their equivalents :

M.A./M.Sc. in Economics/M.Stat./M.Sc. (Physics or Mathematics or Environmental Science or Operations Research)/M.B.A./M.Tech./M.E./B.Tech./B.E. with at least 55% aggregate marks for Economics discipline and 60% aggregate marks for other disciplines. The applicant must have studied mathematics at the higher secondary or higher level.

Course Structure and Duration

Ph.D. students are required to take fourteen courses (four compulsory and ten optional), which they are expected to complete in two years, students are required to take the course on Research Methodology and the course on Seminar Series.

The compulsory courses for Ph.D. students are Microeconomics-I, Macroeconomics-I,Econometrics-I, Energy and Environment-I.Ph.D. students have to choose their optional courses such that they include (i) any two courses from Microeconomics – II, Macroeconomics – II, Econometrics – II and Energy and Environment – II, (ii) one Major Field of Specialisation consisting of four optional courses in a related field, (iii) one Minor Field of Specialisation consisting of two optional courses in a related field, and (iv) two other optional courses that may be from un-related fields. The optional courses /fields of specialisation offered by the Institute are similar to those listed under the M.Sc. programme.

For continuation in the Ph.D. programme, the student has to pass an Oral Comprehensive Examination in the form of a Proposal cum Evaluation Seminar and is expected to write a Ph.D. dissertation within the stipulated time frame and fulfil prescribed course and minimum grade requirements.

Ph.D. students need to pay a tuition fee of Rs.16,000/- per semester and a hostel fee, which is 8% of their fellowship amount per month, plus water and electricity charges as per actual. The tuition fee may be revised from time to time.

Financial Assistance

Ph.D. students will receive a monthly stipend of Rs.31,000/- in the first two years. Those students, who fulfill the terms and conditions for Ph.D. registration, will receive a monthly stipend of Rs.43,750/- after Ph. D. registration in the third year. Students are required to provide part time research or teaching assistantship from their second year onwards.

In the past, Ph.D students from IGIDR have been placed in the corporate sector – a selected list of companies is provided in the section on past recruiters. Some of our students pursue their doctorates, either at IGIDR or abroad. In the last five years, our students have got admission with financial support from renowned universities abroad like Iowa State University, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, and University of California, Irvine.

Related Links:

  • M.Sc. in Economics
  • Admission-2024

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Institute type, gender diversity.

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UGC recognized University | NAAC 'A' Grade | Merit & need-based scholarships available

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North India's Largest Educational Group | NAAC A+ Grade | Highest Package 1 Cr | Scholarships upto 100% | Last date : 30th Apr'24

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  • Fees : ₹ 3.50 Lakhs

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  • Fees : ₹ 4.01 Lakhs

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  • Fees : ₹ 92 K
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Admission to Ph.D. programme

MADRAS SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS (Behind Govt. Data Centre), Gandhi Mandapam Road, Chennai – 600 025

Admission to Ph.D. Programme

Madras School of Economics (MSE) is a centre of advanced studies in teaching and research and is recognised as a centre for research leading to Ph.D in Economics by the University of Madras. Applications are invited for the doctoral programme (Full Time/Part Time) in Economics. Candidates interested in working in the areas of Environment Economics, Energy Economics, International Economics, Capital Markets, Urban Economics, Labour Economics, Industrial Economics, Applied Econometrics, Development Economics (Nutrition, Health, Poverty) and Public Economics, may apply. About 5 Full time/Part time vacancies are available. Qualification: M.A. or M.Sc. in Economics from any University in India or abroad recognized by the UGC with minimum of a 55% in the qualifying examination or equivalent. Preference will be given to candidates who have qualified under the UGC-JRF. Kindly refer to University of Madras website http://www.unom.ac.in/ for other details on qualifications/eligibility. Fellowship: Selected full time candidates who do not have any other source of stipend will receive a scholarship of Rs. 4500 per month in the first year. After successfully completing the course work in the first year, this may be increased by an addition of Rs. 500/- per month in every successive year. Candidates standing first and second in the entrance examination of Ph.D. will receive a special fellowship of Rs. 8000 per month in the first year. This may be increased to Rs. 9000 in the second year onwards. After the end of each year, performance will be reviewed and fellowship will be continued only on satisfactory performance. In all cases, maximum period for which fellowship can be availed is four years. Application Procedure: 1. Application forms can be had from University of Madras, the University Enquiry Office, University Centenary Building, Chepauk, Chennai-600 005 on payment of Rs.500 by Account Payee Demand Draft from any Nationalised Bank drawn in favour of ‘The Registrar, University of Madras, Chennai-600 005’ along with requisition letter. Self addressed stamped envelope for Rs.55/- should accompany the requisition for application form through post. Filled in application should be sent to ‘The Director, Madras School of Economics, Gandhi Mandapam Road, Chennai-600 025’. Last date for issue and receipt of application is June 30, 2010. 2. Candidates should send along with the Bio-Data a 3-5 page research proposal on the research that they wish to undertake to the Director, Madras School of Economics. 3. Candidates meeting the minimum qualifications will be called by MSE for written examination and interview to be held in July/August 2010. Further details about Madras School of Economics can be obtained from the web-site:(www.mse.ac.in) or Madras School of Economics, Behind Govt. Data Centre, Gandhi Mandapam Road, Chennai – 600 025. Tel: Off – 22352157, 22300304, 22300307. Fax : 22352155, 22354847, E-mail : [email protected]

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APPLICATION PROCEDURE 

It is the responsibility of the candidate to verify that she/he fulfills all the eligibility requirements for admission to the PhD program of IIT (ISM) Dhanbad. Please consult the information brochure.

  • Before applying please complete the registration step.
  • After your registration is complete, you will receive an email on your registered email-id for verification. Please verify your email.
  • Use your Registration Number to login to the application portal.
  • Read the instructions carefully.
  • Start your application using the “Apply” tab.
  • Fill in all the details. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.You may write "NA" if you are not able to provide the corresponding data. Please keep pdf files for all documents for your credentials like marksheets, degree certificates, category certificates, etc. ready. They are required to be uploaded before completion of the submission.
  • Please complete the submission by clicking submit.
  • Please save a PDF copy of your completed application. It will be required during the admission process.

(i) Image files of your recent passport size photograph and signature.

(ii) Qualifying Degree Marks-Sheet of final semester / final year (7 th semester / pre-final year marks-sheet for the ‘appearing candidates’ whose final semester / final year results are pending).

(iii) Valid GATE score card as indicated in the application form (for GATE-candidates).

(iv) 2-year’s experience certificate for candidates of Tech. in Mining Engineering/Opencast Mining (wherever applicable)

(v) Caste certificate/EWS income certificate to avail seat reservation under respective reserved category. (The OBC(NCL) certificate as per Annexure I and issued on or after April 1st , 2020 ).

(vi) Persons with Disability (PwD) are required to upload a certificate of disability from the authorized medical board attached to one of the following - Vocational Rehabilitation Centre (VRC) for Physically Handicapped persons/ Special Employment Exchange for Physically Handicapped/ Government Hospital (District and State level).

(vii) Endorsement certificate from the present employer ( for Sponsored candidates ).

(viii) Salary Bank Account statement/Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) statement( for Sponsored candidates working in private firms/organizations )

The admission of selected candidates through online counselling will be provisional after the payment of admission fee.

The candidate is to Report in-person at IIT(ISM), Dhanbad on the scheduled date, time and venue for completing his/her admission. If the candidate fails to report at the admission venue in-person along with the requisite documents in original by that date and time, he/she will not be considered afterwards for admission.

For more details, please read the Information brochure carefully.

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part time phd economics india

Econ PhD (U.S. & India)

Last updated in April 2024

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & OTHER RESOURCES

I would like to thank Dr. Somdeep Chatterjee , under whose able guidance I got the opportunity to experience the entire application procedure for Econ PhD. The information provided in the following sections is mostly due to him.

Would also like to thank Lakshya Narula for giving me the permission to link below, as a complement to my guide to PhD Economics, the following document prepared by him and his co-authors : Chakravorty et al. (2021): Applying to PhD Programs in Economics: An Extensive Guide

Another useful resource for understanding the context of and procedure for applying to PhD Economics in the US in the American Economic Association's webpage on 'Preparing for Graduate School' . You can read this resource in parallel with my blog post below and Chakravorty et al (2021) above. 

The final and probably most diverse resource is EconGradAdvice which is a webpage that features several resources for PhD Econ aspirants and students all the way from applications to developing research ideas to getting on to the job market.

Why Econ PhD?

Presumably, you have completed your masters in economics and have realized that research in the discipline is your calling. Or you do not have a background in economics at all, but have a keen interest in research in the same. And now you are contemplating pursuing a PhD. A standard PhD in economics begins with mandatory coursework whose duration varies from 6 months to 2 years, followed by a dissertation period of about a couple of years (or more), at the end of which the candidate needs to defend their thesis. What the programme equips you with is sophisticated tools for in-depth analysis in specific questions in economics. If this sounds interesting to you and if you have the perseverance to survive the entire duration of the programme, then PhD is definitely the way to go. The job prospects after this degree include mostly academics (you would begin with the Assistant Professor title at universities/institutes), but a good proportion of graduates also join the industry as consultants in consulting firms like BCG and Deloitte. Some people even join the government or its agencies in the area of economic advisory and consultancy. 

From where and why?

The best place to pursue a PhD in Economics would be a good university in the U.S.A. (United States of America). There are several reasons for that, and they are listed below. If you have constraints because of which you can not leave India, your best bets would be the top 6 I.I.M.s (Indian Institutes of Management) and I.S.B. (Indian School of Business, Hyderabad). If you do not have a constraint, the best strategy would be to apply to some universities in the US, along with the IIMs and ISB as back-up.

The f ollowing are the reasons why it is advisable to pursue an Economics PhD from universities in the U.S. or from the IIMs/ISB in India:

SOP v/s RP - Most universities in India, Europe, and Australia would ask you to submit a Research Proposal (RP) at the time of applying for PhD. This is a detailed written piece documenting your intended area of research, literature review, research gap, and research question(s). This is something that most aspirants are not well-versed with or have almost no idea about. Besides, having zeroed-in on a topic at the outset restricts one's possibilities. What if you change your mind after the course-work? Or what if you realize later on that the data required for your area of research is difficult to lay hands on? In the US and in the IIMs/ISB on the other hand, one is required to submit a Statement of Purpose (SOP) instead, which tells the admission committee as to why you wish to join the programme and why you might be a good fit for their department. This is something that is easier to write for aspirants who have no inkling of how to conduct research. At the end, the admissions committee simply wishes to judge your 'potential for PhD', rather than wanting to judge your 'choice of research topic'. You get to choose the topic once you complete the course-work. 

Course-work - The course-work at the places I recommend would be rigorous, optionally inter-disciplinary, and would span about 2.5 long years (which means you get to learn in-depth, which is the primary aim of a PhD) as opposed to just 6 months or a year in India, Europe, or Australia.

Advisors - In the US and at the IIMs/ISB, you get to choose your advisors only after completing your course work. This means that you first get to know all faculty members in your department really well before requesting some of them to be your mentors. As opposed to this, most universities in India, Europe, and Australia (and some institutes in India like the IITs) ask you to choose your advisors right at the beginning, which means that if later on you do not strike a chord with them at any level, it could get really difficult.

Funding - If you get accepted to universities in the US, it is almost certain that your PhD would be funded entirely (a full tuition-waiver) by the economics department of that university (this is the case for almost all international applicants). Given that tuition is really expensive in the US, this is a great incentive to apply there (however, you would still be required to pay some student fees, which are around $1500 per semester as of June 2019). If you get accepted at the IIMs/ISB, it is 100% certain that you would be funded by the institute. On the other hand, admission to most universities (and even some institutes like the IITs) in India is conditional upon external funding (like the UGC's Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), for which one has to take a separate exam called the National Eligibility Test). In the case of Europe and Australia, it is difficult to get tuition waivers, without which the PhD is not financially feasible. 

Teaching Assistantship and stipend - If a university in the US offers you a PhD admit with full funding, it would most probably come with a Graduate Teaching Assistantship offer that pays you a stipend. This means that along with completing your course work and attending classes, you would be working as a teaching assistant for the economics department, and would be earning an income that is anywhere between $1300 - $1900 per month (it is always indexed to the living cost of the city where the university is situated). This easily covers your living expenses and your student fees. The tasks at the job would include grading papers and assignments of undergraduate students, maintaining their attendance records, taking tutorials/holding discussions, and teaching some lectures. So you get to study for free and also get to earn! However, you might not get a GTA offer at all the IIMs. Regardless, if you get an admit at an IIM, you would be paid a fellowship (a transfer made to you every month without any work conditions) in the range of Rs. 25000 - Rs. 35000 per month, and the same for ISB is around Rs. 48000 per month (as of June 2019).

Eligibility Test - Universities in the US require you to submit your GRE and TOEFL scores as a pre-requisite for considering you for admission. The IIMs/ISB accept any one out of GRE/CAT/GMAT scores. This means that even if you apply to all of these places put together, this can be accomplished with taking just two tests, i.e the GRE and the TOEFL . On the other hand, most universities and other institutes (including the IITs) in India hold separate entrance tests that quiz you on different types of economics (mainstream/heterodox/mathematical/Marxist/etc.), which means that you would have to prepare for each one of them separately. That's a bummer.

Admission Criteria - In the US and at the IIMs/ISB, your entire profile would be considered before you are offered an admit. The dimensions include: (a) your work experience, (b) prior research work, (c) recommendation letters, (d) the SOP, and (e) past academic performance. Above all, you do not need to attend a dreaded interview for admission to the US (however, the IIMs and ISB do have this requirement)! As opposed to that, most other universities and some institutes in India judge your competence based only on your performance in their entrance test and interview, and the content written in your RP. Though I do not condemn this procedure, it surely reduces one's chances of landing an admit, given the extant fierce competition in India . As far as Europe and Australia are concerned, one usually needs to convince a professor in the department of their calibre and capabilities even before they can apply. This takes time and effort, and the final judgement would be based on a single professor's viewpoint.

Publications - Universities in the US and the IIMs/ISB do not expect you to have published papers in any journal before you apply for a PhD in economics. Most Indian universities and some Indian institutes, on the other hand, give preference to those candidates who fulfil this criterion. Most Indian journals (where most candidates try to publish), with all due respect, are not part of category A journals . If at all, you could try publishing a paper in category A or A* journals with the help of your mentor(s) and/or professors. Publishing initially in any journal with a lower rank would amount to jeopardising your career in the long run. However, it is not a requirement to do so if you apply to the US and the IIMs/ISB. As far as Europe and Australia are concerned, I am not informed of their stand on the topic.

Reputation - A PhD from any university in the US or from the IIMs/ISB is reputed world over and valid in every country. The research methods taught there are cutting-edge and the most contemporary ones. This reason in itself should be enough to convince you!

As of June 2019, the IIMs and ISB offer an FPM (Fellow Programme in Management) degree rather than a PhD degree. This is a doctoral-level programme that is valid in B-Schools across the world, but not at universities. This means that after attaining an FPM degree, you would be able to apply for the Assistant Professor position only at B-Schools, but not at universities or other institutes. If you are OK with this caveat, go ahead by all means. Otherwise, if you still can not leave India and would require a full-blown PhD degree, you can have a look at a list of all institutions that offer PhD Economics in India here . UPDATE FEB 2020 : IIM Ahmedabad , IIM Bangalore , IIM Calcutta , and IIM Kozhikode now offer full-time PhD degrees rather than FPM degrees . This is good news! However, some of the other IIMs still offer FPM degrees. Please check the institutes' respective websites for updates on the same, or contact their admin via a phone call to confirm.

Qualifying the comprehensive exams at the end of the first year (after the second semester) of the PhD programme is mandatory at any university in the US. You are given two attempts to qualify them, failing which you are not allowed to continue in the PhD programme . Some Economics departments allow you to get a masters degree in Economics after not being able to qualify comps, but you would have to check that before applying. Qualifying comps is required in the US across PhD programmes in other disciplines as well, but to the best of my knowledge, no other programme apart from Economics requires students to do so at the end of the first year itself (most of them have that requirement at the end of the second year). This makes PhD Econ a tad more difficult, at least in the sense of this requirement. The comps are extremely difficult and require loads of preparation. They are that difficult for two reasons: (1) The difficulty level of questions asked is way above what you would encounter during semester exams. (2) You don't get a score (or 'marks') on comps. The professors try to judge whether you can 'understand problems and set them up in a way they can be solved' and either pass or fail you in a binary manner. 

If you wish to apply for PhD Economics in the US and are looking for professional guidance along with work-ex and an academic certificat ion , you should consider applying to the one-year long Economics Pre-Doctoral Programme at IIM Bangalore . The programme exempts you from all tuition and fees and also pays you a monthly stipend of Rs.25000 (as of June 2021). It requires the student to complete PhD-level courses (subjects/papers) in order to get prepared for a doctoral degree in the US and to work under the supervision of faculty members for conducting research work and to narrow down thesis topics. It also exposes you to several individuals who have obtained doctoral degrees from the US and provides guidance on the entire application procedure. This is a one-of a kind programme available in India as of 2021 and I would recommend that you look into it if you are serious about applying to the US. 

You could also check out predoctoral positions with Aaditya Dar (Faculty member at ISB Hyderabad)

If you do not wish to be a part of another academic programme before joining a PhD programme in the US, y ou can (and should) apply to MIT's Economics Application Assistance and Mentoring Program that provides free advising from MIT and Harvard Econ PhDs re g arding the application process, funding, and life as an Econ PhD student in the US.

That said, the information that follows would still be useful for you.

An indicative matrix of requisite funds for the application and transition procedure is displayed below (approximate costs mentioned as of June 2019). If you are applying to both universities in the US as well as to the IIMs/ISB, you would need to spend some money in Indian Rupees, and if you finally go to the US, some amount in USD. It is always good to be aware of the total amount of funds required for PhD applications beforehand. I wish somebody had presented this spreadsheet to me before I had begun with the procedure!

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*Correction: Vaccinations for the US = 10,000

*Addition: Doctor's prescription and medicines = 5000

part time phd economics india

Addition: Smart Phone = 300

Though the total cost of all this would turn out to be around INR 8-9 Lacs (if you apply to around 15 universities in the US and 7 institutes in India), there are three things to consider: 

One, you would not be undergoing as massive a debt as bachelors and masters students in the US do (which runs into tens of lacs and sometimes around a crore). 

Two, the return on investment in these expenses is extremely high, given that you would earn really well after a PhD from the US or from the IIMs/ISB (this is essentially a small investment in your human capital which has a huge payoff in the long run). 

Three, you would most likely be able to recover these costs as savings out of the stipend that you would receive as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) while pursuing your PhD in the US (but only if you can manage your resources well and account for uncertainty in the future; in a nutshell, only if you are a good economist!).

Application and Transition Procedure

Find a Mentor - This might be much easier said than done, but it really, really helps to have a mentor who has had experience of pursuing an Economics PhD in the US. They can guide you through every step, which is a humongous relief. This is almost imperative because unlike popular masters programmes such as computer science, one cannot even rely on private (Study Abroad!) consultants who can help you with the application procedure (and even if you do find one, I would strongly advise against availing their services because the PhD application procedure is highly specific and requires academic rigour). Although I had found my mentor while working as a Research Associate at IIM Lucknow at a time when, honestly, I wasn't even looking for one, I realized later that many people apply for such jobs with the purpose of getting guidance from their superiors and to also convince them to provide recommendation letters for their PhD applications when the time arrives. Hence, applying for RA jobs for projects that are headed by eminent faculty members at reputed institutes like the IIMs/ISB or the IITs would be a good strategy. You can find resources for applying to such positions here . However, do not, ever, make this intention of yours explicit to any of your potential employers during the hiring process. Faculty members are well aware of these intentions but it leaves a really bad taste in the mouth if the applicant spills the beans, and it reduces your chances of getting hired manifold.

Timeline - Session begins in the US in August each year, and the application portals for the same open almost a year before. At the IIMs and ISB, session begins around June. Let us suppose you wish to join the PhD programme in year (t). Then, you would need to begin the entire process (starting with making the list of universities and starting prep for the GRE) by March (t-1) - April (t-1). Any later than that would not be advisable. Take the GRE (as many attempts as it takes to get the desired score; most people obtain it by the second attempt) by the end of August (t-1), and take the TOEFL as well (you should be able to score well on this one on the first attempt itself). Start working on your SOP right after the GRE. It could take months to perfect the SOP. Application portals for uniersities in the US would have opened by then. Apply to the schools of your choice in the US latest by the end of December (t-1). If you are applying to the IIMs and ISB as well, complete those applications by then too, because their application portals would have opened in November (t-1). Your admits should begin to be offered between mid-March to mid-April of year (t) (interviews for the IIMs would be taking place around the same time, and admit offers would reach you about a week after the interview dates). In the event that you do not receive any good offers from the US, you must accept an offer from the IIMs/ISB, if you receive any. If you do receive offers from the US, you must accept the best among them (along with the GTA offer) by the beginning of May (t). By mid-May (t) you would receive a document called he I-20 which would be issued by your university, on the basis of which you can apply for a US visa. You should be done with your visa by end of June (t). And then finally, you fly off to the US in August (t).

Obtain your transcripts - You would need to submit transcripts during the application procedure. A transcript is an official score card (mark sheet) of your bachelors and/or masters degree(s) that is sealed in an envelope and stamped by the issuing university/institute. Obtaining these in India might take a long time, sometimes even months. So apply for these at your previous universities way ahead of time.

List of universities - Refer to rankings of economics departments from websites like US News , QS World , and Ideas Repec , and make an exhaustive list of universities in the US with details of each department and their accepted GRE scores. Reconcile these rankings with rankings based on perception with the help of your mentor(s) (commercial rankings are only indicative and not accurate when it comes to PhD). Based on the range of GRE scores that you think you can achieve, short-list some universities, but only tentatively at this point. You could also apply some subjective criteria for this purpose, like climatic conditions (in case you do not want to spend 5 years in extreme weather). And based on the approximate cost per US application mentioned previously, fix an approximate number of universities you can apply to according to your budget (this is an important parameter).

GRE and TOEFL - Prepare well for the GRE and for the TOEFL. The entire prep should not take more than 5 months at the maximum. For the GRE, you must score above the 80th percentile on quant and above the 75th percentile on verbal. Anything below this would require really, really strong recommendation letters to land you a university of your choice. The TOEFL is an easy test, but it is imperative for you to score above 27/30 in the Speaking section to be able to be considered for GTA (Graduate Teaching Assistant). Practise the Speaking section really well by recording your voice on your phone and listening to it in order to correct your errors. You should be done with both the tests and should have gotten desired scores by the end of August (t-1).

Re-jig the list of universities - Based on the GRE score you achieve, re-jig your list of universities for the last time. This could take some time, and here you would need help from your mentor(s). Try to keep an extra university in the list, in case the application criteria of one of the others do not suit your liking.

Talk to current Indian students - Visit the websites of each of the universities you have finalized and go to their economics department page(s). Search for Current Graduate/PhD Students, and look for Indian faces. Their email IDs would most likely be mentioned over there. Contact them over email and ask them questions regarding the department, the university, campus life, living costs, etc. This is an imperative step . You would be surprised to know that first, most of these people would actually reply to your mails, and that second, they might give you information based on which you might want to back off from applying to the university(s) in question.

Recommendation letters - This is where your mentor(s) and previous professors step in. Catch hold of your mentor(s) and your professors who know you really well from your bachelors and/or masters and request them to submit recommendation letters for your candidature (recommenders need to be academics). Allow them some time to prepare the letters. You would be required to send at least 3 recommendations per application, so be ready with the combinations of your recommenders for each university. When you prepare the online application, each of these persons would receive a link on their email IDs through which they can submit your commendation.

Write your SOP - This is one of the most daunting tasks. It is even more important than your GRE score, because this document tells the admission committee why you might be more fit for the PhD programme than all the other applicants. Basically, you need to weave your life's story around economics and, without lying (of course!), present it in a manner which portrays the fact that most of your choices and experiences in life have moulded and prepared you towards the Economics PhD. You also need to mention briefly your intended area of research and also need to include similar research work that faculty members in the department(s) you are applying to might be carrying out, along with telling them why you wish to join the very university you are applying to. You can look at sample SOPs on the internet to get an idea (some examples are available here ). This piece needs to be highly personalized and should be extremely unique, because this is essentially going to highlight your unique selling points. This document makes up for the fact that the application procedure does not include a technical interview. Take advantage of that, take as much time and as many revisions as needed, and produce the best ever version of your story on paper. Send your SOP to your mentor(s), to your professors, to your friends who might be studying in the US, and to your friends who are good at writing and editing. Ask for their inputs and include them in your edits. Do this multiple times before you freeze a version of the SOP. 

Get an International Transactions Debit/Credit Card - You would need a credit/debit card with international transactions switched on. It should not be anything other than Visa or MasterCard. You would need to make at least 3 transactions per application. It would also be advisable to open a savings account with a private bank if do not already have one, because dealing with public sector (government) banks for international transactions has a high opportunity cost in terms of time taken for grievance redressal. As of June 2019, Kotak Bank offers zero-balance accounts (called 811 accounts) which could be opened from your home (the representative comes to your place to verify all documents) and can be operated entirely from your smartphone or net banking (to the extent that I haven't ever visited my bank branch). Please be aware that this is not an endorsement ; it is mentioned here only because it is one of the very few convenient options that I am aware of. Depending on when you read this post, there might be several other options which might be equally good or better than the one mentioned here.

Apply - To be considered for GTA, you would need to complete your applications before an early deadline, which usually varies from 15th Jan to 15th Feb (t) for most universities (for some it is as early as 1st Dec (t-1), so keep a tab on it). For each (online) application, you would need to fill out a form, upload documents like your transcripts, CV, and SOP, send link to your recommenders, pay the application fee, and submit the application. Apart from that, you would need to report official GRE and TOEFL scores from their respective websites to each university you are applying to. Both of these together cost around USD 50, bumping up the average cost of each application to USD 100 - USD 120, which is roughly INR 10,000. Keep following-up with your recommenders regarding their recommendation submissions (professors are usually a busy lot and sometimes require humble but multiple reminders). The entire procedure of the actual application can take up to a month (or even more), given that each application portal is different and that each university has nuanced application requirements. If you are applying to the IIMs/ISB as well, get done with them simultaneously. Ideally, your target must be to complete all the applications by the end of December (t-1) so that you play safe.

Offers - You should start receiving offers by mid-March (t). If your application was strong, most of these offers would include both a full tuition waiver and teaching assistantship with stipend (along with health insurance). Anything less than that would not be financially feasible. I suggest you use MIT's Living Wage Calculator to compare and see which of the offers would be financially best for you. However, don't forget to take into account the relative reputation of each of the departments you receive offers from. The procedure is that you first accept the GTA offer given by the economics department, then the Graduate School (admissions office) of the said university sends you a PhD admit offer with a full tuition waiver, and then you accept that. In case you receive multiple such offers, you can easily withdraw from one and accept a better one till 15th April (t) (this is a date agreed upon by the Graduate Schools Association of the US). Switching beyond this date involves risk. While switching, you simply need to send a mail to the department as well as the Grad School of the university mentioning the change in your plan. If you have to do this, try doing it before 15th April (t), not after the date. While accepting and/or choosing among offers, try to ascertain that you would be able to cover these costs from the offered stipend amount (for this, contact current PhD students at the universities and ask them those details). Be wary of universities that give you an M.A. + PhD offer (which means that your initial visa would be for an MA degree, that you would be an MA student for the first year, and that you would be given PhD student status only from the second year for which you would have to apply for a visa again). Be specially wary of schools that make this clarification only after you accept the GTA offer . This had happened with me, and it had led to a lot of administrative confusion; thankfully I had received a couple more offers which were much better than that one. In case you do not receive a good offer from the US, you must attend the interviews at the IIMs and ISB and try to crack them. For that, you must be prepared well with micro, macro, international econ, econometrics, and current affairs in the Indian economy.

ISFS Document - Once you have finalized and accepted an offer, the Grad School of the respective university would ask you to fill out a document called the International Student Financial Statement (ISFS). This is simply a declaration of the fact that you are capable of paying the student fees (not the expensive tuition, which would be waived for you). This is somewhere around $3000 per year. Although you would actually be paying this out of your stipend, the Grad School still wants proof of your capability to pay it for the first year. Fill up that form, and send it to them along with you bank statement with the requisite balance. Once the university accepts this form of yours, they will start processing your I-20 document.

I-20 Document - This is a document that is issued by the US Government along with your university. It states your purpose of being in the US, i.e. academics, and certifies you as a legitimate international student. A sample I-20 can be seen here . You need to be sure of the fact that under the FINANCIALS section of the document, the Scholarship and Teaching Assistanship field in the right hand column is not blank, and that the the Totals in both the columns are equal. The Personal Funds field in the right hand column denotes the amount of student fees that you would have to pay, so you would need to show proof of that much balance in your bank account during your visa interview (you would actually be paying that out of your stipend, but the American Embassy/Consulate doesn't consider future assistanship income as a source of funding). Depending on the university, they might or might not charge you a fee for shipping the I-20 document to you in India (usually between $50 - $100). You would receive this around 15 days after accepting the admit. Keep it safe and with utmost care, since this document is as important as your passport and visa. You would need to carry all these documents with you at all times when in the US. After receiving the I-20, you need to pay the SEVIS fee online (around $350), the link for which would be provided to you by your university.

Vaccination - Each and every state in the US has different vaccination requirements for incoming international students. As soon as you accept you offer, start inquiring with your university officials regarding the same. The entire procedure can take up to three months, since some vaccines are to be taken in multiple doses with a gap that ranges between 15 days to 3 months. Be particular about this, otherwise the same vaccines would cost you a fortune in the US. And without these certifications you would not be allowed to attend classes. Keep aside around Rs.10,000 for this purpose.

Practise cooking and living alone - Unlike in India, you wouldn't get inexpensive food from restaurants or wouldn't have it prepared for you by someone like a domestic help. Even the meals at the dining halls (the messes at the university campus) are expensive as anything. Same goes for household chores. Hence, you need to practise cooking for yourself and taking care of your household chores, and balancing all of this with academics and work. This kind of time management, unfortunately, is something we Indians are not used to, thanks to the extremely low labour wages of our domestic helps and campus employees. Thus, before you fly off to the US, stay alone and away from home for about 3 months and practise taking care of yourself. If you do not attempt this exercise, you would definitely have a hard time later on.

Indian Students Association - The next and one of the most important steps would be to get in touch with the Indian Graduate Students Organisation at your university. They are going to be your life line and support system in the US. Search for this organisation at your university's website and contact the current board members. Ask them all your burning questions. Ask them for help with housing and with transport from your arrival point in the US to the university campus. In case the university provides a bus service for the latter, the Indian Association would help you get access to it. And given that you would be entering a whole new country, it would be advisable to avail that service. Look at the dates at which the bus service is available and then book your flight ticket accordingly. The organisation's members (who are senior students at the university) would most probably be willing to host you initially, which is a breather because the alternative of staying at a hotel could be both costly as well as risky. Also, don't forget to ask them regarding Indian grocery stores in your town and how they procure Indian stuff on a regular basis, unless you plan to go entirely American in terms of your consumption!

Housing - Make sure that you sign a rent agreement (known as a lease in the US) for 12 months for the first year. This is because even though the academic year would end in 10 months (the duration of most leases in and around university campuses), you would need to take your comprehensive exams in the last two months and thus, would need housing for that duration as well. Trust me, you would NOT want to shift right before your comps, unless you wish to deliberately fail them. Ask current graduate students and representatives from the Indian Students Association of your university regarding when and how you should start looking for housing and what would be the appropriate time to sign a lease (i.e. before leaving India or after reaching the US). Also inquire regarding the type of housing that would be appropriate for you: (1) on-campus v/s off-campus; (2) leasing an entire house with your roommates' names on the lease with yours v/s leasing a room/bed without other people's names on the lease. These are important questions to ask and ponder on. I wish I knew about all this before coming to America! Caveat : Most current graduate students living in the US going from India are MS students whose preferences regarding housing maybe be starkly different from your needs and thus, they may provide their (honest) advice which may be not be appropriate for PhD students like you. So, it would be advisable to ask for peripheral information (like contacts of landlords/property managers etc.) from MS students, and for finer details (like choice of roommates and lease durations) from current PhD students at your university. In short, look for people who are likely to have utility functions similar to yours!

Dollars and ForEx/Travel card - You would need to carry a few thousand US dollars with you. Carry part of it as cash and the other part in a ForEx card. The latter is like a pre-paid coupon with some amount loaded on it and can be used as an ATM cum debit card without having a bank account in the US. Once you open a local bank account in the US, you can transfer the funds from the ForEx card to your bank account. You may want to add your ForEx card to your Uber, Lyft, Walmart, Amazon, etc. accounts before leaving for the US. It is better to be prepared than to be sorry!

Visa and Flight Ticket - PhD Students with full funding get a US visa with relative ease. Fill up the form called DS-160 with extra care, submit it, and book your interview appointment with the high commission/consulate (not any later than end of June (t)). You can find the detailed visa process here . The list of documents to be carried for biometrics can be found here , and that for the interview here and here (if you are applying for PhD and have received scholarship and a GTA offer, you would not require any documents related to loans or the CA). Attend the interview with a cool head . Once your visa is approved (which is on the same day as the interview), book your flight ticket to the US.

Doctor's prescription and medicines - Carry medicines for common ailments and for any other medical problems you might need medication for, along with valid prescriptions. These would come in handy during your travel to the US and during your initial months there till the time you get accustomed to the American healthcare system. Although you would most probably have access to health insurance thanks to your PhD offer, the American healthcare system is quite confusing and can take some time getting used to ( you can find general details on the American Health Insurance System here on the Stanford website ). Purchase only those medicines from India in the quantities that are prescribed by the doctor. You would need to show the prescription during immigration at your airport of arrival in the US. 

Communication - You would need your primary Indian phone number to be switched on throughout your travel and during your complete stay in the US, since most probably this number would be attached to several services like Aadhaar, banks, etc. Enquire with your carrier regarding how much it would cost you to keep your number working in the US on an annual basis such that you receive at least SMS alerts from India. During your flight to the US and for the initial period there, you might even require internet connection on your Indian SIM, so check that too. Once in the US, you would definitely need a local SIM card. However, be aware that purchasing communication services in the US is a little convoluted. Unlike in India, carriers in the US work only on certain phones. So you would have to check the compatibility and might have to even buy a new phone. Keep aside around $300 for that. Electronics in the US are cheaper than India and relatively easily accessible.

Stuff to pack - You could have a look at a couple of lists of things to pack here .

Surviving Econ PhD in the U.S.

Here is a good quick start guide on Econ PhD in the US: Shanjun Li's Phd Econ Resources

Here is an excellent website that provides free resources for PhD Economics: EconPhD.net

THE FIRST YEAR

One of my biggest observations was that apart from requiring good mathematical skills, the PhD programme consists of introducing 'uncertainty' in both microeconomics and macroeconomics in the first year. This is quite unlike undergrad or masters level economics. It makes sense because with an increase in the level of modelling the economy, economists try to get closer and closer to the real world which is full of uncertainty. This means that you need a good grip on probability and expectations and related concepts of statistics.

Here is some of my advice for acing the first year of PhD Economics in the US:

Study Carrel - Concentrating on your course-work or working in the shared office space provided to you along with your classmates is going to be pretty difficult because of all the chaos and distractions. Studying at home might also be troublesome because of noisy housemates. In the long-run, you need a place where you can study in peace and on your own terms. Try to find out if your university library has these small rooms called 'study carrels' which they can reserve for you. These are tiny rooms with desks and chairs that can house up to two persons. It is like a semi-personal office space that you an use for studying/working whenever you wish to throughout the day. You can also keep your personal belongings there since you are provided with a key to the carrel. And all of this is free of charge. But because this facility is usually limited, try to apply for it as soon as possible even though PhD students are given priority.

Consistency is key - Achieving excellence at any skill comes only with consistency. Acing microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics requires you to study them and solve problems every week with a pre-designed schedule. Being inconsistent has pretty high costs.

Focus on comprehensive exams - For the most part, your focus must be to qualify your comprehensive exams for microeconomics and macroeconomics. Most schools usually give you qualifying grades for the initial two semesters so that you can prepare well for the comps, but don't quote me on this. It depends on the culture of the school. So, inquire (off-records) with senior PhD students in your economics department. Regardless, qualifying the comps should be your primary goal.

Grasp each instructor's psyche separately - Given that each course is going to be extremely instructor-specific, you need to really grasp every professor's thought process even before you attempt to understand their respective courses, especially for the ones that you would be taking comps for. Each of them would have a very different approach to the same material and would want you to learn a specific set of skills and techniques. Based on that, they frame and word questions on the comps. Don't be surprised to see radically different styles of questioning within the same comp if the component courses were taught by different instructors!

Study ahead - Trust me, the professors are going to be teaching at Godspeed, and you would definitely have 2-3 homework assignments to complete each week. And most of the problems on those assignments would be written by the professors themselves, so there would be no way to look for help from online resources. The only help provided to you would be by the TA of the course and the professor themselves. But do not approach them without attempting the assignments yourself or with general queries. Be as specific as possible so that they know that you have put in the effort to actually solve the problems. All this is going to be really hard. So make it easy by studying ahead. Contact your seniors before beginning the programme and ask for detailed course descriptions for each of the courses so that you can read prescribed texts beforehand and be ready for huge amounts of work being thrust in your face day in and day out.

Be reactive - Begin your homework and TA work as soon as it is assigned and finish it ASAP. These are the tasks that have deadlines that must be met. However, what is more important is your weekly (or rather, daily) review of all material including homework assignments, because this is the real deal; this is what  would help you master all course material. If you do not begin these urgent but relatively unimportant tasks (i.e. homework and, especially, TA assignments) as soon as you receive them, there is little time left for review, and before you know it, the comps would be upon you.

Fair it out - Once you submit your homework assignments, you would most probably receive solutions from your professors. Whether those solutions are lucid (the 'good' end of the spectrum) or excessively concise (the 'bad' end of the spectrum) depends entirely on the professor's teaching style and intent. Hence, it is imperative that you fair out each and every homework assignment after receiving its solutions. This is apart from attempting new assignments each week. This has two benefits. One, you get to correct your mistakes (trust me, there would be several). Two, having solutions to questions written in your own handwriting is extremely handy for revision/review right before exams. That is because many exam questions are based on homework assignments.

Previous exams - Your department would most probably make previous test papers (including all midterms, finals, and comprehensives) available to you at various points during coursework. If not, explicitly ask for those from your graduate director and keep reminding them until you actually obtain the test papers. Practise each previous midterm and final before the respective exams. And right after the first and second semesters end, dive in to previous comprehensive exam questions. Christmas break is a month-long and ideal break for you to cover comprehensive exam questions from the first semester. Do the same with the (relatively shorter) break after the second semester. Make sure to solve all of them to perfection. Be particular about this.

Get a Tutor from your Econ Department - Yes! Senior PhD students usually offer (paid) tutoring service especially for 1st year PhD students in economics. Apart from (or in retrospect, instead of) attending TA office hours in order to clarify queries that you may have, getting queries resolved with a personal tutor is highly recommended. This one is going to be the most effective tip when it comes to qualifying your comps. Of course you would need to budget for this purpose, but it would be an extremely healthy investment with a highly positive pay-off . You should contact the Grad Director of your economics department and ask for recommended tutors from the department. You could try out sessions with some of them before settling with a tutor who is most effective for your understanding. Holding weekly sessions with them throughout the first year would be the best. You could increase the frequency during breaks like Christmas and Spring. Often the problem isn't that you don't understand what is going on, but what and how each and every professor wants you to learn, especially from the point of view of the comps. Since grad school is highly instructor-dependent, having access to wisdom from a tutor who has survived the comps would be priceless. A caveat is that you shouldn't go for just any tutor in town but for one from within your department. 

Follow a routine - Doing household chores while pursuing a PhD is not an easy task. It is only through setting up a routine that you can decrease your workload. You don't want to be out of food right before an exam, or have no clean clothes to wear right before a discussion with your students. Try planning and preparing meals for the week (or for at least 3 days), and schedule laundry and cleaning so that you can be on autopilot and focus on the tasks that are more important.

Online groceries - It is a custom in the US (and many other Western nations) to buy groceries from supermarkets every week. Unlike in India, vegetables and fruits aren't sold in the US on carts on every street. It may be OK to buy packaged stuff once a month from supermarkets, but it costs a lot of time to make frequent visits to these stores to buy fresh fruits and vegetables (called 'produce' in the US) each week. This is because most of these supermarkets are massive and also because it is not certain that you would get a house near one of these stores. Thus, it would be costly (at least in terms of time) to make these frequent trips unless you own a car. The solution is to order everything online from options like Walmart, Amazom Prime Now, Instacart, etc. If you have a big chain Indian store like Patel Bros in your city, then you could even order Indian groceries online. Otherwise, you must try to strike a deal with your local Indian store for them to deliver to your doorstep. All this may cost a little more than usual in terms of money, but it would most probably fit your budget and would save you loads of time . Trust me, you will thank me later.

Cultural exchange - Try interacting with as many Americans as possible in order to better understand their culture. After all, if you join a PhD programme in the US, you would have to work according to the institutional setting of that nation for a long duration. One of the biggest challenges for international students (which, by the way, does hamper their academic performance) is accepting a completely different culture alongside studying and working as a TA in a new land. Search online for terminology and jargon used in American vernacular and try associating those terms with the words you already know, because this saves time in the long run. Sign up for something like a Family Friendship Programme of your university where they match you with a local American family for cultural exchange. You would be amazed at how much can be learned about a new culture even after several meetups. 

THE SECOND YEAR

Congratulate yourself - First of all, pat yourself on the back if you have made it to the second year of PhD Econ. Qualifying the comps is no joke and the devastating experience must be compensated for with at least a month's worth of break before the next semester begins!

Forget textbooks - Yep, now it's all about reading research papers, one after another. You will be bombarded with research articles to read each week in every course . This can be challenging because every author's writing style is different, and it takes a while to get a hang of it.

Choose electives wisely -  You may want to specialize in a sub-field of economics, but what matters more apart from your preference is whether the courses of your choice are on offer during your second and third years. This is when you will gain the tools required for conducting research in your specialization. In case your preferred courses are not on offer, you should have other preferences lined up so that you choose the second best option rather than the third or fourth best. Check out the course roster of your department and contact those professors whose PhD courses excite you. Ask them for their previous syllabi in order to gauge whether you would actually want to take those courses with those professors. And then, be clear about your preferences. Once you know which courses are on offer, it won't take you much time to finally choose. Inquire with your graduate director about how many specializations you are required to completed by the end of the PhD programme, what constitutes a specialization, and what paper work (if any) is required for it.

Technology - It would be extremely beneficial for you to invest in a really good quality laptop such as the Apple Macbook Pro (especially now that it comes with the highly efficient and world-leading M1 chip and its variants) for running heavy statistical analysis and a nice tab such as the Apple iPad Air/Pro for the purpose of note-taking and reading. It is perfectly fine if you prefer reading and writing on physical copies of books and journal articles, but be aware of two disadvantages: first, you would need to arrange for a printer to be able to frequently print material for yourself, and second, by the time you are done with your PhD, there would be much more physical material for you to carry and move around with than you actually can.

Statistical software - Arrange for yourself to learn some statistical software like R or Python (or STATA, but I would recommend the first two instead because they are open-source software) before you begin the semester. This is because none of the professors teaching economics courses would teach you how to use these software but will instead expect you to be experts at them. They will give you assignments that require several kinds of regressions to be run. If nothing works out, contact the Maths and Statistics department of your university and inquire if other graduate students are willing to tutor you. That should work well.

Research papers - Be ready to write full-fledged research papers in your 2nd year courses. Although the professors won't expect articles that can be submitted to journals right away, they want to push you into the river so that you can learn how to swim without a life jacket. 

Research questions -  You must practise coming up with new questions that every research article you read opens up. Try to list about 2-3 questions for each paper (with details such as the independent and dependent variables) and do some background research to see if the ideas are novel. Once you shortlist, try looking for datasets online that may be used for those research questions. Keep dumping these questions-cum-proposals into a document of some kind for future use. This will come in handy for writing papers for courses as well as will save time during your third year when you need to present a good quality paper and defend it in front of a committee.

Methods - Invest a good portion of your time learning methods that can help you establish causality in your research questions. A general causal question is something like, "How does changing X by one unit change Y?" One wishes to siphon off the effects of everything else on Y except that of X. Whether it is micro or macro that you are interested in, invest your time in not just learning these identification methods but also in looking for recent advances in them by searching for econometrics papers.

New Economics Papers - You can get email updates about new and exciting working papers about several sub-fields within economics using this wonderful (free) service from RepEc called New Economics Papers . Each list is curated by eminent researchers in their respective sub-field and they send a weekly update with a list of working papers in their area. This is a great way to keep abreast of the research going on in the sub-fields of your interest. I would highly recommend signing up for it.

Rapport - A part from learning research methods and methodology and reading tons of papers, the second year is for you to engage with faculty members from your department outside of classes. Discuss your ideas and their feasibility and other details with as many professors as you feel comfortable with. Be clear about how many academics are required for your advising: principal advisor, co-advisor(s), and advising committee members. Ask your graduate director if you can have any of these from not just outside of your department but also from anywhere around the world. If yes, it can open up a lot of possibilities for building relationships with good-quality mentors. By the end of your second year, have a rough idea about your advising committee so that you can finalize it in the third year.

#EconTwitter - If you haven't already, create a professional Twitter account ASAP in order to receive the latest developments in various sub-fields of economics via #EconTwitter ( click here to understand how hashtags work on Twitter ). This is one of the most indispensable resources out there for economists around the globe. For instance, I got to know about and attended some great and independently-organized lecture series only via this hashtag. The economics community on Twitter is much more vibrant than on any other social media platform. See Anne Burton's Guide to #EconTwitter here (also refer to various related resources on slide 60). Yo can start with first following this bot on Twitter that automatically retweets all #EconTwitter tweets, and then following individual people from this feed that are aligned with your specific interests. This is how you can easily grow your economics network on Twitter. This network will be useful when you are on the job market. So being on #EconTwitter is a long-term investment of a little bit of time and effort.

Your Website - It is time for you to create a website for yourself that can act as an online portfolio for other researchers, prospective employers, peers, and the general public to get information about you from. Being present on several social media and not having a personal website that collates it all and presents an intimate version of you can be quite detrimental in the long run. You need to start small. Initially, there won't be any content for you to put up on a website and the idea will seem pretty stupid, and you would want to wait for more content to come your way for you to create your website. But try not to get caught in that web, because there is almost never a perfect moment for you to take the first step. No researcher in the world had all the content they have on their respective websites today on the first day itself, and neither did I. It is all about taking small steps in that direction. You can look at several other economists' websites to get an idea about what pages and sub-pages would suit your personal website, and you could also use mine as a possible template. Most researchers, such as myself, usually create their websites on Google Sites just because it is simple, intuitive, doesn't charge for hosting, and also because it doesn't charge extra for connecting your domain name with the website. However, several economists are now making theirs on github.io as well, so you might want to look into that. If you are looking for a super-simple website-making experience, try Weebly (but be aware that Weebly is better-suited for businesses than researchers). You can start with any of these platforms at zero cost.

THE THIRD YEAR AND BEYOND

Dissertation Committee - In most probability, you would be required to select one principal advisor (henceforth, advisor) and at least two committee members for your dissertation committee. This is a matching process which takes and time, and also requires you to have backup options in hand. Given the bunch of rudimentary research questions/ proposals that you would have prepared in the 2nd year and the interactions that you would have had with several faculty members from your department, try to figure out candidates for your advisor (and possibly, co-advisors, if your department policy allows for it). The candidates should match the field of specialization your questions fall within and should also care about the specific outcome variables that constitute your research questions. Propose to those faculty members that you would like them to be your advisor, and if they politely disagree, move on to the next available option. This is an accepted practice so you should not feel bad about either being rejected or moving on to the next one. Follow the same procedure for selecting committee members too. A caveat: apart from being a good researcher, your supervisors should be good human beings to the extent that I would weight it slightly more than the former. This is because you need to have a close relationship with them for a good part of your PhD (and beyond) and also because they will be the ones pushing you on the job market. You don't want people who can't resolve small differences with a cool head to be there on your committee.

Collaborations - It is highly advisable to enter into collaborations with other researchers for working on projects that will finally be part of your dissertation (maybe even your job market paper; but make sure that your advisory committee members are OK with such a setup for you). Some people collaborate with their advisors, but depending on what amount of load they are ready to take on, this setting may turn out to be burdensome for you. The idea behind collaborations at this stage is for you to share the load and also learn coding in the context of your applied method. In such a scenario, there is only one type of people who fit the bill: your peers . But I'm not talking about your cohortmates or your juniors. In particular, I'm talking about senior PhD students (in your department or others) and recently graduated PhDs or Postdoc students (from your department or others). Hence, networking is key for this purpose. However, before you decide to coauthor with such a person, be sure of the fact that they are willing to help you out with coding if you get stuck; this is crucial because often, one gets stuck at several points while coding but doesn't really know how to solve it. From my experience, generative AI like ChatGPT Plus can be helpful at times in situations like this but not always, because it is not easy to explain the nuanced context of your research project to an AI. Hence, network with your peers . 

Third Year Paper  - Try categorizing the bunch of research proposals that you have been curating into high-payoff, low-payoff, and nascent ideas. An advantage of this is that you will know which ideas to prioritize based on the motivation of the question and the availability of the data. Talk to your supervisors regarding this and try to move questions across the 3 categories and to finally narrow down on an idea for your third year paper. Start working on this research project during Christmas Break so that you have at least some results to show your supervisors in the Spring semester, based on which they can suggest changes to fine-tune your paper. Try to be particular about this because you need to present this paper at the end of the Spring semester of your 3rd year.

Systems vs Goals - R ead this blog post by Paul Niehaus (an economist) and watch this video by Ali Abdaal (a productivity expert and a medical doctor) to understand the importance of following systems rather than running after goals. 

Teaching - Apart from being just a TA, seek out opportunities to become an Independent Instructor for different courses within your department. If not during the regular fall and spring semesters, at least teach one or two courses in the summer/winter terms in your entire PhD duration. You can also apply to other universities for teaching courses, which you may also find more lucrative than your department in terms of pay. The output that you need from these teaching stints are the evaluations your students would provide you with. Save these and your TA evaluations for when you get on the job market.

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Measurement and analysis of change in research scholars’ knowledge and attitudes toward statistics after PhD coursework

  • Mariyamma Philip 1  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  512 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Knowledge of statistics is highly important for research scholars, as they are expected to submit a thesis based on original research as part of a PhD program. As statistics play a major role in the analysis and interpretation of scientific data, intensive training at the beginning of a PhD programme is essential. PhD coursework is mandatory in universities and higher education institutes in India. This study aimed to compare the scores of knowledge in statistics and attitudes towards statistics among the research scholars of an institute of medical higher education in South India at different time points of their PhD (i.e., before, soon after and 2–3 years after the coursework) to determine whether intensive training programs such as PhD coursework can change their knowledge or attitudes toward statistics.

One hundred and thirty research scholars who had completed PhD coursework in the last three years were invited by e-mail to be part of the study. Knowledge and attitudes toward statistics before and soon after the coursework were already assessed as part of the coursework module. Knowledge and attitudes towards statistics 2–3 years after the coursework were assessed using Google forms. Participation was voluntary, and informed consent was also sought.

Knowledge and attitude scores improved significantly subsequent to the coursework (i.e., soon after, percentage of change: 77%, 43% respectively). However, there was significant reduction in knowledge and attitude scores 2–3 years after coursework compared to the scores soon after coursework; knowledge and attitude scores have decreased by 10%, 37% respectively.

The study concluded that the coursework program was beneficial for improving research scholars’ knowledge and attitudes toward statistics. A refresher program 2–3 years after the coursework would greatly benefit the research scholars. Statistics educators must be empathetic to understanding scholars’ anxiety and attitudes toward statistics and its influence on learning outcomes.

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A PhD degree is a research degree, and research scholars submit a thesis based on original research in their chosen field. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees are awarded in a wide range of academic disciplines, and the PhD students are usually referred as research scholars. A comprehensive understanding of statistics allows research scholars to add rigour to their research. This approach helps them evaluate the current practices and draw informed conclusions from studies that were undertaken to generate their own hypotheses and to design, analyse and interpret complex clinical decisions. Therefore, intensive training at the beginning of the PhD journey is essential, as intensive training in research methodology and statistics in the early stages of research helps scholars design and plan their studies efficiently.

The University Grants Commission of India has taken various initiatives to introduce academic reforms to higher education institutions in India and mandated in 2009 that coursework be treated as a prerequisite for PhD preparation and that a minimum of four credits be assigned to one or more courses on research methodology, which could cover areas such as quantitative methods, computer applications, and research ethics. UGC also clearly states that all candidates admitted to PhD programmes shall be required to complete the prescribed coursework during the initial two semesters [ 1 ]. National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) at Bangalore, a tertiary care hospital and medical higher education institute in South India, that trains students in higher education in clinical fields, also introduced coursework in the PhD program for research scholars from various backgrounds, such as basic, behavioral and neurosciences, as per the UGC mandate. Research scholars undertake coursework programs soon after admission, which consist of several modules that include research methodology and statistical software training, among others.

Most scholars approach a course in statistics with the prejudice that statistics is uninteresting, demanding, complex or involve much mathematics and, most importantly, it is not relevant to their career goals. They approach statistics with considerable apprehension and negative attitudes, probably because of their inability to grasp the relevance of the application of the methods in their fields of study. This could be resolved by providing sufficient and relevant examples of the application of statistical techniques from various fields of medical research and by providing hands-on experience to learn how these techniques are applied and interpreted on real data. Hence, research methodology and statistical methods and the application of statistical methods using software have been given much importance and are taught as two modules, named Research Methodology and Statistics and Statistical Software Training, at this institute of medical higher education that trains research scholars in fields as diverse as basic, behavioural and neurosciences. Approximately 50% of the coursework curriculum focused on these two modules. Research scholars were thus given an opportunity to understand the theoretical aspects of the research methodology and statistical methods. They were also given hands-on training on statistical software to analyse the data using these methods and to interpret the findings. The coursework program was designed in this specific manner, as this intensive training would enable the research scholars to design their research studies more effectively and analyse their data in a better manner.

It is important to study attitudes toward statistics because attitudes are known to impact the learning process. Also, most importantly, these scholars are expected to utilize the skills in statistics and research methods to design research projects or guide postgraduate students and research scholars in the near future. Several authors have assessed attitudes toward statistics among various students and examined how attitudes affect academic achievement, how attitudes are correlated with knowledge in statistics and how attitudes change after a training program. There are studies on attitudes toward statistics among graduate [ 2 , 3 , 4 ] and postgraduate [ 5 ] medical students, politics, sociology, ( 6 – 7 ) psychology [ 8 , 9 , 10 ], social work [ 11 ], and management students [ 12 ]. However, there is a dearth of related literature on research scholars, and there are only two studies on the attitudes of research scholars. In their study of doctoral students in education-related fields, Cook & Catanzaro (2022) investigated the factors that contribute to statistics anxiety and attitudes toward statistics and how anxiety, attitudes and plans for future research use are connected among doctoral students [ 13 ]. Another study by Sohrabi et al. (2018) on research scholars assessed the change in knowledge and attitude towards teaching and educational design of basic science PhD students at a Medical University after a two-day workshop on empowerment and familiarity with the teaching and learning principles [ 14 ]. There were no studies that assessed changes in the attitudes or knowledge of research scholars across the PhD training period or after intensive training programmes such as PhD coursework. Even though PhD coursework has been established in institutes of higher education in India for more than a decade, there are no published research on the effectiveness of coursework from Indian universities or institutes of higher education.

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of PhD coursework and whether intensive training programs such as PhD coursework can influence the knowledge and attitudes toward statistics of research scholars. Additionally, it would be interesting to know if the acquired knowledge could be retained longer, especially 2–3 years after the coursework, the crucial time of PhD data analysis. Hence, this study compares the scores of knowledge in statistics and attitude toward statistics of the research scholars at different time points of their PhD training, i.e., before, soon after and 2–3 years after the coursework.

Participants

This is an observational study of single group with repeated assessments. The institute offers a three-month coursework program consisting of seven modules, the first module is ethics; the fifth is research methodology and statistics; and the last is neurosciences. The study was conducted in January 2020. All research scholars of the institute who had completed PhD coursework in the last three years were considered for this study ( n  = 130). Knowledge and attitudes toward statistics before and soon after the coursework module were assessed as part of the coursework program. They were collected on the first and last day of the program respectively. The author who was also the coordinator of the research methodology and statistics module of the coursework have obtained the necessary permission to use the data for this study. The scholars invited to be part of the study by e-mail. Knowledge and attitude towards statistics 2–3 years after the coursework were assessed online using Google forms. They were also administered a semi structured questionnaire to elicit details about the usefulness of coursework. Participation was voluntary, and consent was also sought online. The confidentiality of the data was assured. Data were not collected from research scholars of Biostatistics or from research scholars who had more than a decade of experience or who had been working in the institute as faculty, assuming that their scores could be higher and could bias the findings. This non funded study was reviewed and approved by the Institute Ethics Committee.

Instruments

Knowledge in Statistics was assessed by a questionnaire prepared by the author and was used as part of the coursework evaluation. The survey included 25 questions that assessed the knowledge of statistics on areas such as descriptive statistics, sampling methods, study design, parametric and nonparametric tests and multivariate analyses. Right answers were assigned a score of 1, and wrong answers were assigned a score of 0. Total scores ranged from 0 to 25. Statistics attitudes were assessed by the Survey of Attitudes toward Statistics (SATS) scale. The SATS is a 36-item scale that measures 6 domains of attitudes towards statistics. The possible range of scores for each item is between 1 and 7. The total score was calculated by dividing the summed score by the number of items. Higher scores indicate more positive attitudes. The SAT-36 is a copyrighted scale, and researchers are allowed to use it only with prior permission. ( 15 – 16 ) The author obtained permission for use in the coursework evaluation and this study. A semi structured questionnaire was also used to elicit details about the usefulness of coursework.

Statistical analysis

Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, number and percentages were used to describe the socio-demographic data. General Linear Model Repeated Measures of Analysis of variance was used to compare knowledge and attitude scores across assessments. Categorical data from the semi structured questionnaire are presented as percentages. All the statistical tests were two-tailed, and a p value < 0.05 was set a priori as the threshold for statistical significance. IBM SPSS (28.0) was used to analyse the data.

One hundred and thirty research scholars who had completed coursework (CW) in the last 2–3 years were considered for the study. These scholars were sent Google forms to assess their knowledge and attitudes 2–3 years after coursework. 81 scholars responded (62%), and 4 scholars did not consent to participate in the study. The data of 77 scholars were merged with the data obtained during the coursework program (before and soon after CW). Socio-demographic characteristics of the scholars are presented in Table  1 .

The age of the respondents ranged from 23 to 36 years, with an average of 28.7 years (3.01), and the majority of the respondents were females (65%). Years of experience (i.e., after masters) before joining a PhD programme ranged from 0.5 to 9 years, and half of them had less than three years of experience before joining the PhD programme (median-3). More than half of those who responded were research scholars from the behavioural sciences (55%), while approximately 30% were from the basic sciences (29%).

General Linear Model Repeated Measures of Analysis of variance was used to compare the knowledge and attitude scores of scholars before, soon after and 2–3 after the coursework (will now be referred as “later the CW”), and the results are presented below (Table  2 ; Fig.  1 ).

figure 1

Comparison of knowledge and attitude scores across the assessments. Later the CW – 2–3 years after the coursework

The scores for knowledge and attitude differed significantly across time. Scores of knowledge and attitude increased soon after the coursework; the percentage of change was 77% and 43% respectively. However, significant reductions in knowledge and attitude scores were observed 2–3 years after the coursework compared to scores soon after the coursework. The reduction was higher for attitude scores; knowledge and attitude scores have decreased by 10% and 37% respectively. The change in scores across assessments is evident from the graph, and clearly the effect size is higher for attitude than knowledge.

The scores of knowledge or attitude before the coursework did not significantly differ with respect to gender or age or were not correlated with years of experience. Hence, they were not considered as covariates in the above analysis.

A semi structured questionnaire with open ended questions was also administered to elicit in-depth information about the usefulness of the coursework programme, in which they were also asked to self- rate their knowledge. The data were mostly categorical or narratives. Research scholars’ self-rated knowledge scores (on a scale of 0–10) also showed similar changes; knowledge improved significantly and was retained even after the training (Fig.  2 ).

figure 2

Self-rated knowledge scores of research scholars over time. Later the CW – 2–3 years after the coursework

The response to the question “ How has coursework changed your attitude toward statistics?”, is presented in Fig.  3 . The responses were Yes, positively, Yes - Negatively, No change – still apprehensive, No change – still appreciate, No change – still hate statistics. The majority of the scholars (70%) reported a positive change in their attitude toward statistics. Moreover, none of the scholars reported negative changes. Approximately 9% of the scholars reported that they were still apprehensive about statistics or hate statistics after the coursework.

figure 3

How has coursework changed your attitude toward statistics?

Those scholars who reported that they were apprehensive about statistics or hate statistics noted the complexity of the subject, lack of clarity, improper instructions and fear of mathematics as major reasons for their attitude. Some responses are listed below.

“The statistical concepts were not taught in an understandable manner from the UG level” , “I am weak in mathematical concepts. The equations and formulae in statistics scare me”. “Lack of knowledge about the importance of statistics and fear of mathematical equations”. “The preconceived notion that Statistics is difficult to learn” . “In most of the places, it is not taught properly and conceptual clarity is not focused on, and because of this an avoidance builds up, which might be a reason for the negative attitude”.

Majority of the scholars (92%) felt that coursework has helped them in their PhD, and they were happy to recommend it for other research scholars (97%). The responses of the scholars to the question “ How was coursework helpful in your PhD journey ?”, are listed below.

“Course work gave a fair idea on various things related to research as well as statistics” . “Creating the best design while planning methodology, which is learnt form course work, will increase efficiency in completing the thesis, thereby making it faster”. “Course work give better idea of how to proceed in many areas like literature search, referencing, choosing statistical methods, and learning about research procedures”. “Course work gave a good idea of research methodology, biostatistics and ethics. This would help in writing a better protocol and a better thesis”. “It helps us to plan our research well and to formulate, collect and plan for analysis”. “It makes people to plan their statistical analysis well in advance” .

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the existing coursework programme in an institution of higher medical education, and investigated whether the coursework programme benefits research scholars by improving their knowledge of statistics and attitudes towards statistics. The study concluded that the coursework program was beneficial for improving scholars’ knowledge about statistics and attitudes toward statistics.

Unlike other studies that have assessed attitudes toward statistics, the study participants in this study were research scholars. Research scholars need extensive training in statistics, as they need to apply statistical tests and use statistical reasoning in their research thesis, and in their profession to design research projects or their future student dissertations. Notably, no studies have assessed the attitudes or knowledge of research scholars in statistics either across the PhD training period or after intensive statistics training programs. However, the findings of this study are consistent with the findings of a study that compared the knowledge and attitudes toward teaching and education design of PhD students after a two-day educational course and instructional design workshop [ 14 ].

Statistics educators need not only impart knowledge but they should also motivate the learners to appreciate the role of statistics and to continue to learn the quantitative skills that is needed in their professional lives. Therefore, the role of learners’ attitudes toward statistics requires special attention. Since PhD coursework is possibly a major contributor to creating a statistically literate research community, scholars’ attitudes toward statistics need to be considered important and given special attention. Passionate and engaging statistics educators who have adequate experience in illustrating relatable examples could help scholars feel less anxious and build competence and better attitudes toward statistics. Statistics educators should be aware of scholars’ anxiety, fears and attitudes toward statistics and about its influence on learning outcomes and further interest in the subject.

Strengths and limitations

Analysis of changes in knowledge and attitudes scores across various time points of PhD training is the major strength of the study. Additionally, this study evaluates the effectiveness of intensive statistical courses for research scholars in terms of changes in knowledge and attitudes. This study has its own limitations: the data were collected through online platforms, and the nonresponse rate was about 38%. Ability in mathematics or prior learning experience in statistics, interest in the subject, statistics anxiety or performance in coursework were not assessed; hence, their influence could not be studied. The reliability and validity of the knowledge questionnaire have not been established at the time of this study. However, author who had prepared the questionnaire had ensured questions from different areas of statistics that were covered during the coursework, it has also been used as part of the coursework evaluation. Despite these limitations, this study highlights the changes in attitudes and knowledge following an intensive training program. Future research could investigate the roles of age, sex, mathematical ability, achievement or performance outcomes and statistics anxiety.

The study concluded that a rigorous and intensive training program such as PhD coursework was beneficial for improving knowledge about statistics and attitudes toward statistics. However, the significant reduction in attitude and knowledge scores after 2–3 years of coursework indicates that a refresher program might be helpful for research scholars as they approach the analysis stage of their thesis. Statistics educators must develop innovative methods to teach research scholars from nonstatistical backgrounds. They also must be empathetic to understanding scholars’ anxiety, fears and attitudes toward statistics and to understand its influence on learning outcomes and further interest in the subject.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the participants of the study and peers and experts who examined the content of the questionnaire for their time and effort.

This research did not receive any grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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This study used data already collected data (before and soon after coursework). The data pertaining to knowledge and attitude towards statistics 2–3 years after coursework were collected from research scholars through the online survey platform Google forms. The participants were invited to participate in the survey through e-mail. The study was explained in detail, and participation in the study was completely voluntary. Informed consent was obtained online in the form of a statement of consent. The confidentiality of the data was assured, even though identifiable personal information was not collected. This non-funded study was reviewed and approved by NIMHANS Institute Ethics Committee (No. NIMHANS/21st IEC (BS&NS Div.)

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Philip, M. Measurement and analysis of change in research scholars’ knowledge and attitudes toward statistics after PhD coursework. BMC Med Educ 24 , 512 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05487-y

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  20. What programme type are you looking for?

    Due to steep spike in infection cases in India and adhering to the central government's guidelines to safeguard health and safety of candidates, conduct of physical test is postponed for now, so currently LPUNEST for Ph.D. would be conducted in online mode only i.e. remotely proctored online LPUNEST from home will be conducted.

  21. Doctoral

    Executive Fellow Programme in Management. Research programme taught in an executive format, designed for industry professionals and academics without a doctoral degree; aimed at syncing theory and practice. Duration: 3 Years. Work Experience: 10-15 YRS. Location: Hyderabad.

  22. Economics (part time) PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships

    The part-time Executive PhD programme in Private Sector Development (preferably for Emerging Economies) allows working professionals and researchers with full-time or part-time jobs to combine their careers with obtaining a PhD. Read more. Self-Funded PhD Students Only Netherlands PhD Programme. More Details.

  23. Ph.D. in Economics Course, Eligibility, Career, Salary ...

    IFMR - Institute for Financial Management and Research. The average tuition fee for Ph.D. in Economics ranges between INR 80,000 to 6 Lacs for the span of 3 to 5 years. Admissions to Ph.D. in Economics courses are on the basis of counseling after clearing entrance tests depending on the colleges. Some of them are:

  24. Measurement and analysis of change in research scholars' knowledge and

    Knowledge of statistics is highly important for research scholars, as they are expected to submit a thesis based on original research as part of a PhD program. As statistics play a major role in the analysis and interpretation of scientific data, intensive training at the beginning of a PhD programme is essential. PhD coursework is mandatory in universities and higher education institutes in ...