The number of applications for admission to EDHEC’s doctoral programme rose by more than 60% year-on-year, making admissions even more competitive. PhD candidates joining the programme in 2009/2010 have outstanding academic and professional credentials.
The EDHEC PhD in Finance is a three-year programme that enables participants to acquire the knowledge and ability to undertake research projects that will make possible true innovation in finance.
The programme relies on a well-structured and rigorous curriculum and on faculty members renowned worldwide for their expertise in financial economics, asset management, and quantitative methods; it is enriched by the resources and industry partnerships of the EDHEC Risk and Asset Management Research Centre. The members of the teaching faculty are EDHEC researchers and affiliate professors from major research universities (including the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Princeton University, Columbia University, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Duke University).
With its residential and executive tracks, and its teaching conditions, dissertation direction, and financial aid tailored to each participant, the programme is suitable both for recent university graduates and for established professionals.
The number140and the high quality of the applications made 2009 admissions extremely competitive. The acceptance rate was less than 20% (against 25% in 2008). As with the inaugural class, the entering class of 2009/2010 will bring together exceptional individuals with outstanding academic and professional backgrounds.
The four doctoral students joining the residential track of the programme have an average age of twenty-nine and come from Latin America (Brazil) and Europe (Italy [two], France). They have master's degrees in engineering, finance and economics awarded by University Pierre and Marie Curie (France), ENS Lyon (France), the Coppead Graduate School of Business (Brazil), Bocconi University (Italy), and Politecnico di Milano (Italy). They have acquired initial working experience in investment banking (SGCIB, JPMorgan), financial services, and academe.
The doctoral students on the residential track will work three days a week as research assistants at either the EDHEC Risk and Asset Management Research Centre or the EDHEC Economics Research Centre and, as such, will enjoy significant financial aid, all while contributing, in synergy with their dissertation, to work at the heart of the concerns of the finance industry. Generally, these students aim for academic careers in leading research and educational institutions.
More experienced practitioners joining the executive track of the EDHEC PhD in Finance usually embark on the PhD in Finance to take a step towards senior positions in finance or to help them steer their organisations in new directions. As they complete the stimulating academic curriculum and work with leading specialists on research of particular relevance to their organisations, they will learn to leverage their expertise and insights to make contributions at the frontiers of financial knowledge and practices.
The twenty professionals admitted to the programme have an average of sixteen years of experience. Six of them are chief executives and/or chairs, two are partners or principals, five are heads of units, four are senior directors or managers, two are portfolio managers, and one is a risk manager.
Six continents and fifteen nationalities are represented. These professionals work in Europe (45%), the Americas (33%) and East Asia (22%). They work in asset management (56%), investment banking and capital markets (17%), private banking and wealth management (17%), retail banking (5%), and international institutions (5%). Most work for large international corporations (Bank of America, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ING, UBS, and so on), but also represented are large companies specialised in a line of business or a region and boutiques.
These practitioners have solid academic backgrounds. They have undergraduate degrees in science and engineering (34%), mathematics and physics (22%), finance (11%), economics (11%), business and management (11%), humanities and law (11%). They have graduate degrees in finance (56%), business and management (33%), economics (22%), and sciences and engineering (22%). These degrees are from such institutions as Berkeley, Columbia, Duke, Northwestern (Kellogg), London Business School, University of Chicago (Booth), and SDA Bocconi.
All admitted applicants hold master's degrees and their average GMAT is 691.
Student interview: Rachid Lassoued
[More: EDHEC PhD in Finance]
Written by NICOLAS DEGAND
Date of update August 19, 2009
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