A.     Curriculum Design
In the first three semesters (one year and a half) after the entrance, Ph.D. students will study math, microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, and programming in a series of fundamental courses. The courses are standardized and intensive. Required time input in order to learn the materials effectively is estimated to be 40 – 60 hours per week.
These classes aim to provide a solid foundation to Ph.D. students. Ph.D. students will be considered qualified researchers upon completing the courses with satisfactory performance, and passing the qualification examination.
 
Required Classes: Module 1-6

Time	Class	Textbook
Module 1	Math I	Morris(2017), Simon and Blume(1994)
Module 1	Statistics	Casella and Berger(2002), Wasserman (2004)
Module 2	Math II	Ok (2007)
Module 2	Dynamic programming	Stachurski (2009), Stokey and Lucas (2004)
Module 2	Microeconomics I	Kreps (2013), Mas-Colell et al.(1995)
Module 3	Math III	Ok (2007)
Module 3	Microeconomics II	Kreps (2013), Mas-Colell et al.(1995)
Module 4	Econometrics I	Stachurski(2016), Hansen and Sargent(2018)
Module 4	Macroeconomics I	Ljungqvist and Sargent (2018)
Module 5	Econometrics II	Stachurski(2016), Hansen and Sargent(2018)
Module 5	Macroeconomics II	Ljungqvist and Sargent (2018)
Module 6	Game theory	Fudenberg and Tirole
Module 6	Programming	Sargent and Stachurski (2017)

      
Selected Classes: Module 7 – 12

Time (Tentative)	Class
Module 7	Advanced macro
Module 7	Financial economics
Module 7	Econometrics III
Module 8	Applied micro
Module 8	International economics
Module 9	New Keynesian economics
Module 10	Contract theory
Module 10	Information theory
Module 11	Continuous-time stochastic process
Module 12	Advanced trade
	China study*

* China study is a required course for all Ph.D. students. It can be offered in any module. Student can take the class in either the second or third year.
 
Starting from the second semester of the second year, Ph.D. students can choose to take field courses according to interest. Students are expected to continue taking classes throughout their second and third years. In the last two modules of the second year, students should take at least two elective classes per module. And in the third year, students are expected to take at least one class per module. These requirements on elective classes are in addition to the required China Study class. Students are therefore required to take at least 7 classes after the qualification exam.
 
 
B.      Qualification Exam
Time: before the second semester of the second year
A written exam will be given based on the contents of the fundamental classes. Examination committee will be comprised of teachers of these class.
Students will be tested on Microeconomics (50%) and Macroeconomics (50%).
Students who failed the exam can apply to re-take the exams in three months. Students whose applications are denied or who failed the second exam will quit the program.
 
 
C.      Reading Groups and Third-year Paper
Reading Groups: Starting from the third year, students will attend reading groups in either Microeconomic or Macroeconomics, broadly defined. In these study groups, they will acquire skills of reading and presenting papers.
A student should present his or her own work in the reading group of choice at least once a year. Depending on the current standing of the student, the work presented can range from a simple literature review plus an idea for further research, to a close-to-completion thesis. This gives students the chance to present an unfinished work.
 
Third-year Paper: Students should contact their intended advisor no later than the beginning of the third year to report an intended topic to work on. The paper can be an applied paper that replicates and extends an existing, good research paper. It can start the student on the process of doing research. A passing grade on the paper means that the paper has sufficient quality to be included in the dissertation as a second or third chapter.
 
At the beginning of the third year, the Ph.D. committee will organize an introduction to research workshop to familiarize students with the process of starting an original research. Students are then expected to look for a research question to work on in a relatively independent manner.
 
A research proposal should be submitted to the Ph.D. committee by the beginning of the second module. Timely feedback on the research proposal should be given to students if the proposal needs improvement and modification.
 
Students are going to present preliminary results in a series of internal seminars in the third module. Slides of the presentation should be submitted by the beginning of the third module.
 
After getting feedback from the internal seminars, students should continue working on the paper in the Spring semester and over the Summer. The final draft should be submitted on September 1^st at the beginning of the fourth academic year.
 
Thesis Advisor: By the end of the third year, the student should commit to a primary research field of interest, and a thesis advisor in the field. Advisor may ask students to submit a research interest statement, a literature review, and/or a research proposal before deciding whether to accept the student.
 
 
D.     Thesis Advising Committee
Time: before the end of the fourth year
A Ph.D. student should start to write a Thesis under the guidance of the Thesis Advisor. A preliminary version of the paper should be presented to at least another two faculties to obtain their approvals.
In principle, faculties who endorse the paper, including the student’s Thesis Advisor, will form the Thesis Advising Committee for the student. In the process of writing the thesis, the student should periodically report to members of the Thesis Advising Committee and seek advice.
Students who cannot get enough approvals to form the Thesis Advising Committee should quit the program.
 
 
E.      Job market paper: The job market paper exemplifies the extent of knowledge and skill of the students, and should be publishable in a credible international journal. Students should devote the fourth and fifth year writing the job market paper under the guidance of the advising committee.
 
Presentation of the job market paper: Students should present preliminary results of the job market paper to faculty in relevant fields in the third module of the fourth year. In September of the fifth year, a presentation of the job market paper will be arranged to decide whether the student can go to the job market and graduate subsequently. If the student is going to the job market, then another mock job market presentation is going to be held in December of the fifth year.
 
 
F.      Extension of the Ph.D. Program
The standard length of the Ph.D. program is five years. A student should take no longer than eight years to complete the program. To remain in good standing, students in fifth year or beyond who do not go to market that year should submit a progress report to the Ph.D. committee at the beginning of the academic year. The Ph.D. committee can decide to terminate the students if progress made is insufficient.
 
 
References
Casella, George and Roger L. Berger. 2002. Statistical Inference, Second Edition. Pacific Grove, CA: Duxbury.
Hansen, Lars Peter and Thomas J. Sargent. 2018. Risk, Uncertainty, and Value. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Kreps, David M. 2013. Microeconomic Foundations, I: Choice and Competitive Markets. Princeton University: Princeton University Press.
Ljungqvist, Lars and Thomas J. Sargent. 2018. Recursive Macroeconomic Theory, fourth edition. Cambridge, Ma.: MIT Press.
Mas-Colell, Andreu, Michael D. Whinston, and Jerry R. Green. 1995. Microeconomic Theory. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Morris, Sidney A. 2017. Topology Without Tears. www.sidneymorris.net.
Ok, Efe A. 2007. Real Analysis with Economic Applications. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Simon, Karl P. and Lawrence Blume. 1994. Mathematics for Economists. New York: Norton.
Stachurski, John. 2009. Economic Dynamics: Theory and Computation. Cambridge, Ma.
Stachurski, John. 2016. A Primer in Econometric Theory. Cambridge, Ma.: MIT Press.
Wasserman, Larry. 2004. All of Statistics: A Concise Course in Statistical Inference. New York: Springer.