Research and Course Schedule for Finance PhD Students |
Year 0: Before you start the program
Prior to arrival, incoming Finance Ph.D. students are given a syllabus to read up on (a) MBA level finance topics: corporate finance, derivatives, investments, and fixed income, and (b) Introduction to research methods. A “Background Qualifying Exam” based on this material is administered as part of Fin 600 – Theory of Finance course.
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Fall
Spring
Summer |
Year 1 |
Courses |
1. Theory of Finance (Fin 600) 1. Corp. Fin. I (Fin 610)
2. Capital Mkt. Seminar 2. Microeconomic Theory I
(Fin 581a)
(611)
3. Microeconomics (500) 3. Economic Statistics (615)
4. Econometric methods (502) 4. Pedagogy |
Reasearch |
Replicate a published empirical “First Year Paper”
paper in Fin 581a
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Exam |
“Background Qualifying Exam” |
Year 2 |
Courses |
1. Topics in Investments (Fin 630) 1. Corp. Fin. II (Fin 620)
2. Microeconomic Theory II (612) 2. Applied Econometrics (617)
3. Econometrics (616)
3. Elective |
Research |
“Second Year Paper” |
Exams |
1. Micro Economics field exam
2. “Finance Qualifying Exam” |
Year 3 |
Research |
Form dissertation committee, and defend the proposal by the end of summer. |
Other |
Focus on gaining teaching experience. Have the job application packet ready by end of summer. |
Yeat 4 |
Research |
Complete the dissertation, and be ready to graduate by the end of the fourth year. |
NOTES:
1. At the present time, BU/SOM provides funding support for a maximum of four years, subject to making satisfactory progress. This funding support requires recipients to work as a teaching / research assistant or teach courses, for 20 hours every week. SOM policy does not permit funding recipients to take on any other work (paid or otherwise), unless approved by the finance Ph.D. coordinator, the SOM Ph.D. program director, and the SOM Dean. This includes Fall, Spring, and Summer of every year. Failure to abide by these rules may result in dismissal from the Ph.D. program. Additional SOM and BU Graduate School guidelines may apply.
2. Satisfactory completion of the items in bold letters within the time frame is required for a student to be considered making satisfactory progress and hence is required for continuation in the program.
3. “Background Qualifying Exam”: Students have two chances to take the exam and get a passing grade by the end of first summer.
4. “First Year Paper”: Present to faculty by the end of first summer. The paper should have original work and not merely replicate prior work.
5. Micro Economics field exam: Administered by the Economics Department, BU
6. “Finance Qualifying Exam”: Includes both a written test and the “Second Year Paper”. The exam will be administered at the end of the second year. Students have a second chances to take the exam and get a passing grade (independently pass both the written test and the “Second Year Paper”) by the Fall semester of the third year.
7. “Second Year Paper”: Present a completed paper to faculty. This paper is part of the finance comprehensive exam and must be “journal ready”, i.e., be of a quality that can be submitted to a journal.
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