Overview of the Ph.D. Program

The objective of the Ph.D. Program in finance is to provide students with the tools and techniques to push the frontiers of research in financial economics. To this end, the program is designed to equip students with a strong foundation in analytical and empirical analysis, and to educate them more generally about the research process in finance and related disciplines. The program is rigorous and technical. It is specifically aimed at students who have aspirations to become faculty members at leading universities and to contribute to the research discourse that takes place at these institutions. For example, in recent years, students trained and advised by the finance faculty at Duke have gone on to become faculty members at Princeton, Cornell, Wharton and UCLA. The Ph.D. program is not an advanced MBA, but an academically oriented degree with a reflective and analytical, rather than operational, viewpoint. Although a strong background in economics or business as well as an ease for college-level mathematics are desirable, they are not necessarily required.