Main features and aims
A short presentation of the PhD program is available here: Presentation.

The program provides methods of scientific research leading to an advanced profile in the fields of economics and finance. The program aims to train academic and professional figures able to autonomously perform research in economics and finance. PhD graduates are endowed with critical and problem-solving skills, in which to matter are the ability to identify and frame a problem in a general context, analyze it, manage and process data through a statistical approach, interpret the findings and communicate concrete suggestions.
The program is four years long and each cycle offers at least four scholarships. Students have access to a dedicated room and other facilities of the Department of Economics, in addition to personal research funds. Training activities, divided in two separate tracks (“Economics” and “Mathematics and Data Analytics for Finance”), are entirely held in English and described below.

Moreover, the program co-organizes on a regular basis workshops, winter and summer schools as educational activities and interaction opportunities for students. The list of recent activities is available here: List of workshops. The program also encourages thesis co-supervision agreements with foreign universities and research bodies as well as professional doctorates; please see the guidelines (in Italian). The program also promotes the visit of external PhD students from foreign universities. Details on the available options are reported in this document: Information for external PhD students.

The University of Verona is among the top hundred world universities with less than 50 years in the rankings of the Times Higher Education. The Department of Economics is permanently among the first Italian departments for scientific production in the CUN 13 Area of Economic Sciences and Statistics. In the ranking produced by RepEc, the Department ranks in the top 10% of the Italian distribution and in the top 25% of the world distribution of research departments and institutions in economics. It was recently awarded by MUR as “Excellence Department 2023-2027”.

For further information, please contact the program coordinator, Prof. Alessandro Bucciol (alessandro.bucciol@univr.it).

Training and research plan
In the first year, PhD students attend advanced courses, offered in collaboration with the University of Padua, both compulsory on general topics and elective on more specific topics. The list of courses offered is available here: List of courses. In the second year, PhD students start working on their thesis and are encouraged to shape a personalized study curriculum based on their research interests, also attending courses offered outside from the PhD program. In the third and fourth years, PhD students mainly devote themselves to research activities with the support of the supervisors. A study and research stay in a foreign university or research institution for a period of six-twelve months usually takes place in this period. The experience abroad is financially supported with a 50% raise in the scholarship.

The research areas in the Departmenf of Economics are reported here.

The final thesis must contain original scientific production, able of reaching publication of at least three articles in highly reputable scientific journals and this way contribute to create a competitive curriculum vitae according to the most rigorous international standards.

Professional profiles and employment opportunities
PhD graduates in Economics and Finance may undertake positions at universities, research institutes, consulting firms, further public and private companies working in the industrial, credit and insurance sectors. Students close to complete the program benefit from the support of a tutor advising them on the most appropriate path to undertake.

Having been created in 2021, the program does not have statistics on the employment opportunities of the PhD graduates yet. Graduates from the predecessor program in “Economics and Management” have covered top job positions, choosing in 70% of the cases the academic career (e.g., Harvard Business School, London School of Economics) and in the remaining 30% of the cases the business world (e.g., Cattolica Assicurazioni, GSK Italia).