EDHEC-Risk Institute PhD in Finance - FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are your admission requirements?
- What are your residency requirements?
- What are the language requirements of the programme?
- Do you require GMAT or GRE test scores?
- I have not yet sat for the GMAT/GRE. Can I apply for the PhD and sit the GMAT/GRE subsequently?
- What information do I need to provide as part of the application?
- What is the cost of the PhD?
- Do you offer financial aid to PhD candidates?
- Do you have an online application system?
- Can I submit my application by email?
- What are the deadlines?
- What is the profile of the entering PhD in Finance class of 2009?
- What courses are required for the degree?
For further details about the EDHEC-Risk Institute PhD in Finance programme, please refer to the "Contact & Information Sessions" section. |
1. What are your admission requirements?
Admission to the EDHEC-Risk Institute PhD in Finance programme is highly selective. Normal entrance requirements include: a master’s degree (or equivalent) from an accredited school, college, or university (business management, economics, science, and engineering degrees are preferred); academic excellence; superior scholastic potential (certified by GMAT or GRE scores); and English proficiency.
2. What are your residency requirements?
Residential requirements are kept to a minimum—some 40 days over three years—by concentrating core courses into four separate weeks, delivering elective seminars over three consecutive days in weekly blocks, and using EDHEC Business School’s state-of-the-art virtual classroom for monthly research workshops. Core courses are given every year so that missed modules may be made up, and the portfolio of electives offered over the second and third years of the programme allows doctoral candidates to select seminars that fit their professional objectives and constraints.
3. What are the language requirements of the programme?
English is the sole medium of instruction in the EDHEC-Risk Institute PhD in Finance. The programme demands a very good command of oral as well as written English. English proficiency test scores are part of the application package for non-native speakers. We accept TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS and UCLES.
Average score requirements are:
- TOEFL 603(PBT)/250(CBT)/100(IBT)
- TOEIC 900
- IELTS 6.5
- UCLES: Certificate in Advanced English - Pass.
4. Do you require GMAT or GRE test scores?
EDHEC Business School requires GMAT or GRE test scores for admission to the PhD in Finance programme.
EDHEC Business School's GMAT institutional code for the PhD in Finance programme is 3QQ-WQ-32.
EDHEC Business School's GRE institutional code for the PhD in Finance programme is 4242.
5. I have not yet sat for the GMAT/GRE. Can I apply for the PhD and sit the GMAT/GRE subsequently?
A candidate may request the Admission Committee to review his/her application pending GMAT/GRE scores provided his/her application is filed before the 1st application deadline. Candidates who choose to do so may lose the opportunity to increase the perceived quality of their applications through outstanding scholastic aptitude test scores. For candidates who are positively considered for admission, the Committee will set minimum GMAT scores to be met as a part of the conditions of their final admission into the programme; the GMAT score reports must be received before the 2nd application deadline. We expect the average accepted candidate to have total GMAT scores of 680 or GRE scores of 680 in the verbal reasoning section of the test and of 800 in the quantitative reasoning section.
6. What information do I need to provide as part of the application?
The complete application file consists of the application form, two forms/letters of recommendation, transcripts from undergraduate and any graduate programs, copies of diplomas, GMAT or GRE scores, proof of English proficiency (e.g. test scores), a writing sample or proposal for a doctoral thesis, a personal résumé, a copy of passport/birth certificate and a recent identity photograph.
7. What is the cost of the PhD?
Tuition fees for PhD candidates (European cohort) are €25,000 for 2010/2011 academic year, €27,500 for 2011/2012 and €30,000 for 2012/2013. Fees do not include travel and accommodation expenses.
Tuition fees for PhD candidates (Asian cohort) are SGD52,500 for 2011 academic year, SGD57,500 for 2012 and SGD63,000 for 2013. Fees do not include travel and accommodation expenses.
8. Do you offer financial aid to PhD candidates?
Residential track participants will work as research assistants in Singapore, Nice, London, or Paris. In return for their part-time duties with the School, residential track participants will receive full-tuition waiver plus competitive compensation. Six research assistant positions are offered for PhD in Finance candidates in the entering class of 2010/2011; these positions will be filled as early as possible.
EDHEC-Risk Institute and EDHEC Business School do not offer scholarships to executive track participants in the PhD in Finance programme. Executive track participants are usually either selffinanced or company-sponsored. As human capital development and R&D-related expenses, tuition fees and associated costs may, in some jurisdictions, be eligible for specific public or collective funding schemes.
The EDHEC-Risk Institute PhD in Finance is one of the approved programmes under the Doctorate Scholarship Programme supported by the Singapore Financial Sector Development Fund (FSDF). Applicants to the programme may be eligible for funding support on a case-by-case basis. Preference will be given to candidates who are Singapore citizens or permanent residents. Interested applicants should contact the FSDF Secretariat for further.
9. Do you have an online application system?
EDHEC-Risk Institute does not offer an online application for the PhD in Finance programme. If you are interested in the PhD in Finance programme, please request the application form by email to Ms Maud Gauchon: executive track form, residential track form.
10. Can I submit my application by email?
You will need to send your documents by surface mail but you may send an electronic version of your application package to expedite its processing.
11. What are the deadlines?
- Executive track (European cohort):
The deadlines for application for October 2010 admissions are December 11, 2009, and May 14, 2010.
- Executive track (Asian cohort):
The deadlines for application for January 2011 admissions are December 11, 2009, May 14 and September 17, 2010.
- Residential track (European cohort):
The deadlines for application for October 2010 admissions are January 29, and March 31, 2010.
- Residential track (Asian cohort):
The deadlines for application for January 2011 admissions are January 29, March 31 and May 14, 2010.
12. What is the profile of the entering PhD in Finance class of 2009?
The more experienced practitioners joining the executive track of the programme usually embark on the PhD in Finance to take a step towards senior positions in finance or, when they already hold such positions, to help them steer their organisations in new directions. As they complete the stimulating academic curriculum and work with leading specialists on research of particular relevance to their organisations, they will learn to leverage their expertise and insights to make contributions at the frontiers of financial knowledge and practices.
The seventeen professionals joining the programme have an average age of thirty-nine, and sixteen years of experience. Four of them are chief executives and/or chairs, one is principal, five are heads of units, four are senior directors or managers, and three are portfolio or risk managers. These professionals work in Europe (53%), North-America (29%) and East Asia (18%). They work in asset management (47%), investment banking and capital markets (18%), private banking and wealth management (17%), international institutions (6%), and industrial corporations (6%). Most work for large international corporations (Bank of America, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ING, UBS, and so on), but also represented are large companies specialised in a line of business or a region and boutiques.
These practitioners have solid academic backgrounds. They have undergraduate degrees in science and engineering (29%), mathematics and physics (23%), finance (12%), economics (12%), business and management (12%), and philosophy or international relations (6%). They have graduate degrees in finance (53%), business and management (29%), sciences and engineering (24%), economics (24%) and European Politics & Policy (6%). These degrees are from such institutions as Columbia, Duke, London Business School, University of Chicago (Booth), and SDA Bocconi. All admitted applicants hold master’s degrees and the median GMAT score of the newly entering PhD in Finance candidates is 705 (20-80% range: 670-730).
The three doctoral students joining the residential track of the programme have an average age of twenty-nine and come from Latin America (Brazil) and Europe (Italy). They have master’s degrees in engineering, finance and economics awarded by the Coppead Graduate School of Business (Brazil), Bocconi University (Italy), and Politecnico di Milano (Italy). They have acquired initial work experience in investment banking, financial services, and academe. These PhD candidates will work three days a week as research assistants at EDHEC-Risk or the EDHEC Economics Research Centre and, as such, will enjoy significant financial aid, all while contributing, in synergy with their dissertation, to work at the heart of the concerns of the finance industry. Generally, these students undertake the doctoral programme to prepare for academic careers in leading research and educational institutions.
13. What courses are required for the degree?
The EDHEC-Risk Institute PhD in Finance requires four core courses (Financial Economics, Corporate Finance, Continuous-Time Financial Economics, and Empirical Methods in Finance) and a minimum of five elective seminars. All courses are evaluated and the cycle of core courses is followed by a comprehensive examination. PhD candidates also participate in research workshops and presentations, and work closely with faculty and alongside the EDHEC-Risk Institute.
