Applications for admission to the PhD programme in Economics for the academic year starting October 2025 are open from December 15th, 2024 until March 31st, 2025 23:59 CET.

Applications for admission to the EWI Fellowship Programme for the academic year starting October 2025 are open from December 15th, 2024 until March 31st, 2025 23:59 CET.

Late or incomplete applications will not be considered. Applicants who present a detailed competing offer by another doctoral programme may ask to reach an earlier decision (rolling admission).

We invite applications for the PhD programme in Economics to outstanding students who are close to finishing a master’s or bachelor’s degree in economics or a related discipline who count among the top 10% of graduates in their study programme. Admission is based on previous academic performance, research potential, expertise, and fit in terms of research interests.

Students with or close to (70%) a bachelor’s degree will enter the integrated graduate programme in the first stage, starting with the M.Sc. Economic Research. Applications should be submitted via the website https://wiso.uni-koeln.de/en/studies/application/master. Details, in particular, on the required documents for application to the M.Sc. Economic Research can be found here: https://wiso.uni-koeln.de/en/studies/master/master-economic-research/. With acceptance, students are members of the CGS and its PhD programme in Economics.

Application Documents

Students with or close to a related master’s degree (e.g. in economics, econometrics, finance, business administration, or math) attend one year of course-work before entering the second stage. Students holding a master degree that corresponds to our M.Sc. Economic Research can directly enter the second doctoral stage of the programme. For the application of all MSc students, the following documents are required:

1. CV
2. Letter of motivation explaining your reasons for being interested in the PhD programme at the CGS. Please discuss your goals and your research interests. Your statement should be in English.
3. School leaving certificate: A transcript from high school | A-levels | Abiturzeugnis for German residents is required.
4. Certificates of the university degrees already obtained: B.Sc. and M.Sc. or equivalent.
5. Academic transcripts (stamped and signed) showing coursework taken and grades received. Where feasible, transcripts should indicate cohort rank or distinction. If you have not yet finished your current degree, please attach a preliminary grade report.
6. GRE: All applicants are recommended to submit their General GRE's test taker's copy (quantitative score) in the online application.
7. Language Proficiency Certificate (TOEFL, IELTS or Cambridge): Please submit a copy of your language proficiency certificate in the online application proofing your English language skills at level C1. For all admitted proofs please see the the proof of English language skills that are valid for the M.Sc. Economic Research.
8. 2 Letters of recommendation by faculty members who are able to assess your academic ability and potential for original research. After you have registered the two indicated faculty members will receive an e-mail with a link to upload their letter of recommendation for you.

For any document not in English or German a translation is required. At this stage of the application process it is not necessary to notarize the translations. Conditional on acceptance, you will need to provide notarized translations.

Application Procedure

If you want to apply, please take the following two steps:

Step 1: Submit your registration form on the online application portal and submit all required documents. Please note that you will not be able to change your data once it has been submitted.

Step 2: Once you have completed your application, your referees will receive an automatically generated email with an upload link. Please make sure that your two reference letters are submitted by the application deadline.

The admission committee will review all complete applications and decide on who will be interviewed. Interviews will be conducted online via Zoom. We ask all applicants to refrain from asking questions about the status of applications until the beginning of May.