EDHEC Business School believes that academic research has a vital role to play in promoting innovation and constantly raising professional standards. With a century-long tradition of serving the needs of the community, it has defined a ‘Research for Business’ orientation and has spelled out its educational credo as ‘professional development through research-based excellence.’ The PhD in Finance organised by EDHEC-Risk Institute is the culmination of this ambition.

The purpose of this programme is to help outstanding individuals become autonomous researchers and lifelong innovators by enabling them to develop the scientific background and skills required to define, conduct and complete research projects that advance knowledge and practices in the financial industry.

This unique programme offers both a residential track for high-potential graduate students who will hold part-time research or teaching positions at EDHEC Business School, and an executive track for high-level practitioners in full-time jobs.

The programme is taught by an exceptional team of international scholars who not only hold prestigious qualifications, distinctions, and appointments but, more importantly, have also made significant contributions to the field of financial economics, furthering theory and impacting practices through research, consulting, and executive education.

The EDHEC-Risk Institute PhD in Finance at a Glance

Rationale

Enabling the efficient allocation of resources across time and space, the financial industry is the lifeblood of the global economy and at the forefront of the evolutions which are dramatically reshaping the world. Its fast-paced, cosmopolitan, and intellectually stimulating atmosphere attracts some of the best and most ambitious minds in science and business.

Advancing the frontiers of knowledge and practices in such a competitive environment demands professionals who are able to combine well-honed critical thinking, extensive field expertise, and outstanding analytical and research skills to exert thought-leadership and introduce radical innovation.

Since undergraduate degrees, professional experience and the MBA may develop this set of competencies only partially, those who aspire to higher intellectual levels should consider pursuing the foremost academic and professional qualification, the Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD).

Programme objectives

The PhD in Finance offered by EDHEC-Risk Institute is a research-oriented programme which trains participants to serve as the architects of the asset management and investment banking industries. The programme is designed to prepare talented and hard-working individuals for careers requiring an integrated view of the inner-workings of financial markets and institutions, a thorough understanding of financial decision-making and its modelling (in the context of corporate finance, investment management, and asset pricing problems), and the ability to autonomously identify, analyse, and research questions to propose and implement creative solutions.

One programme, two tracks, three locations

The programme has two tracks: a “residential track” for high-potential graduate students and young professionals who will hold part-time research positions at EDHEC-Risk, and an “executive track” for high-level practitioners who will keep their full-time jobs. Executive track participants undertake the PhD in Finance as a critical development step towards senior positions in the financial industry or, when they already hold such positions, to steer their organisations in new directions. Residential track participants typically complete doctoral studies to access academic careers in leading research and educational institutions.

The programme is offered in Asia—from Singapore—and in Europe—from Nice and London.

A well-structured and rigorous curriculum

The EDHEC-Risk Institute PhD in Finance implies an intense personal commitment and is designed to be completed over three years. Its structure includes core courses, electives, research workshops, and the dissertation. Core courses equip participants with sound training in financial theory, and state-of-the-art analytical and research methods. Elective seminars and workshops expose PhD candidates to the latest advances in specific fields of their choice. The dissertation allows participants to work individually with programme faculty on topics selected for their academic and industry relevance and according to each candidate’s research interests and professional goals.

A rich learning environment

By concentrating core courses and elective seminars into residential weeks, opening elective seminars to PhD candidates from different entering classes, extending the classroom over the Internet for research workshops, and adapting dissertation supervision to individual circumstances, the programme creates a rich collaborative environment amongst all the participants and close working relationships between PhD candidates and faculty.

Outstanding faculty

Programme faculty consists of world-class specialists in finance, asset management, and economic and financial modelling; it brings together EDHEC Business School’s senior economics and finance scholars and affiliate professors from top research institutions around the world. Faculty members have an outstanding track record of publications in and editing for the most respected scientific journals in financial economics. Their experience in PhD candidate supervision, senior-level engagements with large corporations, international institutions and governments, as well as their teaching awards and prestigious appointments with leading universities worldwide, are an equally outstanding record of achievement.

The support of a leading research centre

The programme draws upon the considerable resources and exceptional industry reputation of EDHEC-Risk, Europe’s premier centre for applied financial research. In the framework of six industry-sponsored research programmes and ten corporate-endowed research chairs, the Centre’s team of 53 carries out a wealth of projects around asset allocation and risk management and implements a multifaceted communications policy towards asset managers and institutional investors.

A life-changing investment

The key benefits of the PhD in Finance offered by EDHEC-Risk Institute are its outstanding faculty, its balanced structure, its supportive research environment, its talented and diverse participant body, and the first-rate industry relationships and global impact of EDHEC-Risk. These combine to create the best opportunities for participants to hone their research expertise and prepare to shape the future of the financial industry.