PhD in Economics

Learning Outcomes

1. Economists who can critically review existing theories of economic transformation of LDC economies and construct innovative approaches, models, and hypotheses that fit the contemporary challenges of globalization and localization of economic growth in LDCs.
2. Faculty and Ph.D. fellows participating in reforming economics to meet the challenges of the 21st century in consistence with the common good of mankind in both most and less developed countries.
3. New approaches and models for CED of least developed economies towards fair globalization and prosperity for all mankind.
4. Innovative approaches to economic policy management and economic governance at all levels of social action in the “global village society” in general and Africa in particular.
5. Improved knowledge of the structure and functioning of Africa’s/Uganda’s rural and urban economies and best policies and practices for transformation towards industrial middle income countries.

Objectives

1. The overall goal is to produce graduates who are able to address the challenges of the global economy of the 21st century and to participate in the ongoing economic theory reforms towards a people centered economics that addresses the challenges of economic transformation in rapidly globalizing national economies.

The specific objectives are that graduates will be able to:

1. Explore the various frontiers of economic thought, using relevant alternative paradigms, to address current socio-economic problems of the functioning and structural transformation of the economies.
2. Conduct comparative analyses of the global economies to draw lessons for appropriate economic reforms at various levels of the global economy or the regional and national economies.
3. Conduct robust basic and applied research for the management and economic transformation of Africa’s economies toward the status of the most developed industrial economies.

The minimum requirements for admission are the benchmark standards set by NCHE namely:

1)  Applicants to the programme should have a Master’s Degree in economics with a good grounding in micro-economics and macro-economics for policy analysis; or any other relevant master’s (business administration, public administration, development studies, social work, etc…) with adequate knowledge of economics.

2) Applicants shall submit a Ph.D. synopsis of 3-5 pages to the Director, Directorate of Graduate Studies, Research and Innovations. The synopsis will be presented to the Senate Graduate Committee for consideration and approval, and shall contain the following:

i)Title of the thesis

ii) A brief background to the research study

iii) Statement of the problem

iv) Objectives of the research

v) The theoretical and conceptual framework of the research

vi) A brief review of the literature

vii) A brief description of the methodology and a list of references

3) If the committee is not satisfied with the synopsis, the applicant may be required to re-submit the synopsis with the suggested corrections and amendments.

4) Following a provisional admission the applicant will be required to submit a research proposal within a period of six months and the student shall be officially registered

5) Applicants may be required to take corrective courses when found necessary

6) Students will be required to undertake the following crosscutting courses:

i) Philosophy of knowledge (Epistemology);

ii) Research methodology;

iii) Introduction Institution pedagogy;

vi) scholarly writing and publication;

vi) Computer applications in research. Full entry requirements

The Ph.D. thesis focuses on the subject matter of each candidate’s area of specialisation as approved by the Directorate of Graduate Studies, Research and Innovations on basis of the resource capacity of the faculty and collaborating arrangements. The initial research areas include;

• Social economics and community economic development (see Appendix A) 
• Public sector economics and economic policy management.
• Economic policy and planning
• Development economics.
• Environmental Economics
• Health economics
• Labour Economics

Course Code	Course Name	Module Status	LH	T/PH	CH	CU
PHDE 8101	Philosophy of social science	Core	30	30	45	3
PHDE 8102	Research Methodology	Core	30	30	45	3
PHDE 8103	Computer applications in research	Core	30	30	45	3
PHDE 8104	Economic theory seminar: Micro and macroeconomics	core	30	30	45	3
PHDE 8105	Scholarly writing and publication	Elective	30	30	45	3