Economics – (M.Sc.)

Programme Director: Professor Catarina Roseta Palma

This Masters course is recommended for students who wish to obtain a rigorous and intensive training in economic theory and policy, at the graduate level, as currently practiced in top universities.
We cater for two common student profiles: those who wish to become successful academics at universities and research institutions, and those who wish to proceed to careers as professional economists, working for central banks, the banking industry, government institutions or as economics and finance consultants.

Organization

The Masters degree consists of one year of full-time coursework, plus one year for research and writing a dissertation. In the first year, the two semesters are focused on providing strong foundations on the core subjects (microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics), while allowing students to choose four additional courses in field subjects (two in economics or finance, and the other two in political economy). In the final two semesters, students are expected to undertake research under the supervision of a faculty member, with the support of a seminar course in economic research.

There are five compulsory components of the coursework that should be highlighted. Students are required to:

1. Attend a one-week preparatory course in mathematics and statistics;
2. Take two compulsory modules in each of the three core areas;
3. Choose four elective modules from a list of additional courses;
4. Attend a seminar course in economic research in the third semester;
5. Write a dissertation of up to 10,000 words.

Continuing on to the Ph.D.

The MSc in Economics is designed to suit the interests both of students who wish to obtain a Masters qualification before embarking on careers as professional economists, and also of those who want to proceed in their academic studies by moving on to the Ph.D. program. For those students, the completion of the first year of the Masters coursework allows them to step into the Ph.D. program with a relevant advantage. They only have to attend six extra courses (one compulsory, 5 elective) in order to complete the coursework of the Ph.D. program, before starting full-time research for the dissertation.