7 Economic Development PhD Degree Programs

This doctoral program provides a double continuity: first, to the previously existing doctoral program, and secondly to the Official Master's Degree in Regional Development and Economic Integration, which provides the teaching period. It deals with a rigorous, transversal program with the participation of multiple areas of knowledge, seeking interdisciplinarity in the analysis rather than the excessive specialization that occurred in some of the doctoral courses of a more formalistic nature, scarcely intensive and with hardly any orientation to the research training.

This program is designed for students who wish to pursue an advanced degree in the broad area of urban studies, with research focusing on urban policy and governance, urban environment and resource management, urban data and analytics, environmental sustainability, and urban sustainability. It aims to strengthen students’ knowledge in related subjects and train them to conduct interdisciplinary analysis and independent research, with critical and creative capability.

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. The programme equips you with the theory, skills, and methodologies crucial for addressing private sector challenges. As the highest academic qualification, earning a PhD will enhance your career prospects in both business and academia. Whether you aspire senior leadership roles, a transition into academia, or becoming a recognised thought leader, this programme provides the knowledge and research capabilities to help you achieve your goals. In addition, you will make an original contribution to your field of interest by developing novel insights and practical solutions to contemporary management challenges. The MSM Executive PhD programme emphasises empirical research, high ethical standards, and critical reflection, ensuring that your work meets academic rigor while having a real-world impact. Throughout your journey, you will benefit from the guidance of leading scholars and expert supervisors, who will support you in conducting research that is both theoretically robust and managerially relevant. By joining the programme, you will become part of the stimulating and challenging research community of Maastricht University School of Business and Economics (SBE) and Maastricht School of Management (MSM).

Doctoral study in the speciality "Economics": provides elite preparation of specialists of the highest scientific qualification of the international level for scientific, scientific-pedagogical, production, and innovation spheres of activity; expands possibilities of your career development; guarantees that you will become the most demanded specialist with a systemic vision of economic problems.

It is supposed that the graduate masters the theoretical foundations of the study area, the basic methods of scientific work in the field of study and the basic forms of permanent collection of worldwide knowledge in the field of study for lifelong learning. Graduates are supposed to be able to design descriptive and normative economic models of economic processes at the macro and microeconomic level and collect relevant documents needed for their formalization. Furthermore, the ability of generalization of scientific knowledge into the form of economic laws is assumed together with their application in the interpretation of specific economic tasks to promote sustainable development.

The International Development Doctoral (IDV) is dedicated to providing a hybrid doctoral program that encompasses the content and academic rigor of a traditional on-campus program, yet in a flexible delivery format. Our curriculum includes majors and minors in Economic Development, Political Development, Security Studies, and Social/Cultural Development.

The Ph.D. offered by the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics consists of 72 credits plus a substantial work of original research in the form of a dissertation.