Program Start October 1st, 2025

Up to eight fully funded positions are available for outstanding graduate students wishing to obtain a PhD in any area of economics. Application Deadline March 24th, 2025

Combining Expertise

RGS Econ’s PhD Program in Economics draws on and leverages the expertise, research infrastructure and networks of three universities and a leading economic research institute.

Generating Opportunities

RGS Econ’s unique combination of university and policy-oriented research environments generates creative, relevant, and high-quality dissertation research and gives our students a head start in their careers.

State-of-the-Art-Courses

Comprehensive advanced first-year core courses in micro, macro and econometrics together with an extensive offering of field courses ensure that our students can undertake frontier research in all areas of economics.

Research Focus

In our qualification program, we ensure targeted dissertation guidance and research engagement from the get-go by matching incoming students to primary supervisors based on interests and expertise.

Fostering Collaboration

Early-career conferences, workshops, and short courses taught by prominent international researchers connect our students both internally and externally and often lead to collaborative dissertation projects.

Secure Funding

With admission to the no-tuition program, students generally receive scholarships during their first year, followed by research and teaching assistant positions in their primary supervisors’ research teams.

The Ruhr Graduate School in Economics (RGS Econ) offers a PhD program in Economics, complying with the highest international standards. RGS Econ is part of the Research Academy Ruhr and combines the expertise of four economics departments in the Ruhr Valley Area (UA Ruhr): Ruhr-Universität Bochum, TU Dortmund University, and the University of Duisburg-Essen; with that of the RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, one of Germany‘s leading economic research institutes.

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Prof. Dr. Astrid Krenz joined the RGS Senior Faculty

Prof. Dr. Almut Balleer joined the RGS Senior Faculty

Prof. Dr. Steffen Altmann joined the RGS Senior Faculty

Welcome to the New Cohort!

Prof. Dr. Michael Lamla joined the RGS Senior Faculty

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Current Courses

Core and elective courses

RGS Econ offers a broad range of dedicated PhD-level courses in Economics. View the current schedule of core and elective courses.

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