Your complete guide to a PhD in Finance

Everything you need to know about studying a PhD in Finance

part of Business & Management

What is Finance?

Finance is the bedrock of the business world. As a student in Finance, you will explore the art and science of managing money, assets, and investments. Whether it's the intricate world of banking, stock markets, or personal wealth management, experts in this discipline aim to optimise resources and maximise returns, keeping risks in check.

Finance Specialisations

The world of finance is vast, and you have plenty of specialisations to choose from. Some of these include:

  • Corporate Finance: The heart of any business, focusing on capital investment and budget strategies.
  • Investment Banking: Delving into the high-octane world of stock markets and mergers & acquisitions.
  • Financial Planning: Helping individuals and businesses optimise their wealth and achieve their financial goals.
  • Risk Management: Analysing and mitigating potential financial setbacks.
  • Financial Engineering: The fusion of finance with mathematical tools and programming.

You can find both Bachelor's and Master's programmes in Finance, but the latter provide deeper, more specialised knowledge base in your areas of interest. The most common specialisation in Finance is often Corporate Finance due to its broad application in the business world.

What will you learn during a Finance programme?

By choosing a Finance degree, you'll:

  • Understand the principles of financial markets and instruments.
  • Be able to analyse financial statements to gauge a company's health.
  • Master the art of investment strategies to grow wealth.
  • Understand the complexities of global financial systems.

Top courses often encountered include:

  • Financial Modelling: Building representations of a company's financial performance.
  • Portfolio Management: Crafting and managing an array of investments.
  • Corporate Valuation: Assessing the worth of businesses.
  • Financial Risk Management: Identifying and tackling financial vulnerabilities.
  • International Finance: Navigating the complexities of global financial markets.

Finance is a good degree for those aiming to develop their analytical thinking, risk assessment, and strategic planning skills. In fact, these are invaluable in many sectors, from entrepreneurship to consultancy.

Skills required for a degree in Finance

A knack for numbers, analytical prowess, and a strategic mindset are vital. Aspiring finance professionals should also be comfortable with uncertainty, given the ever-fluctuating nature of markets. Meeting the Finance degree requirements often entails showcasing these qualities and a commitment to understanding the financial mechanisms that drive the world.

What can you do with a Finance degree?

Here are some rewarding career paths once you graduate a Finance degree:

  • Financial Analyst: Interpreting financial data to guide business decisions.
  • Investment Banker: Raising capital and guiding mergers & acquisitions.
  • Risk Manager: Minimising financial uncertainties for organisations.
  • Financial Planner: Helping individuals meet their financial objectives.
  • Treasurer: Overseeing an organisation's financial goals, policies, and cash management.

The jobs you can get with a Finance degree are many and spread across industries. If in doubt about a Finance degree being worth it, remember that in a world driven by capital, finance professionals will always be in demand.

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View all PhDs in Finance. Keep in mind you can also study an online PhDs in Finance.

Interesting programmes for you

Best Universities for Finance on PhDPortal

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Universities Location Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ranking (2017) TopUniversities Ranking (2018)
New York University New York City, United States 1 10
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, United States 2 6
University of Chicago Chicago, United States 3 7
Harvard University Cambridge, United States 4 1
Columbia University New York City, United States 5 13
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Cambridge, United States 6 2
London School of Economics and Political Science London, United Kingdom 7 5
Tilburg University Tilburg, Netherlands 8 51
University of Toronto Pickering, Canada 9 28
University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia 10 11
University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom 11 4
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, United States 12 26
University of Texas at Austin Austin, United States 13 31
University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, United States 14 8
Stanford University Stanford, United States 15 3
The Ohio State University Upper Arlington, United States 16 51
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, United States 17 51
Cornell University Ithaca, United States 18 25
Indiana University Bloomington Bloomington, United States 19 51
Duke University Durham, United States 20 36
London Business School Camden Town, United Kingdom 21 12
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Urbana, United States 21 45
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shatin, Hong Kong (SAR) 23 23
Erasmus University Rotterdam Rotterdam, Netherlands 24 51
City, University of London London, United Kingdom 25 51
University of Washington Seattle, United States 26 51
Melbourne Business School Melbourne, Australia 27 14
University of Southern California Los Angeles, United States 28 51
Northwestern University Evanston, United States 29 34
The University of Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom 30 19
City University of Hong Kong Kowloon, Hong Kong (SAR) 31 49
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 32 17
National University of Singapore Singapore, Singapore 33 18
Monash University Clayton, Australia 34 26
The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 35 28
University of Georgia Athens, United States 36 -
Washington University in St. Louis Saint Louis, United States 37 151
Boston College Newton, United States 38 101
University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, United States 39 151
University of Maryland College Park, United States 40 101
University of Minnesota Twin Cities Minneapolis, United States 41 -
Princeton University Princeton, United States 42 22
University of Notre Dame South Bend, United States 43 151
Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore 44 21
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Los Angeles, United States 45 16
Pennsylvania State University State College, United States 46 51
University of Sydney Sydney, Australia 47 20
National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan 48 51
University of Warwick Coventry, United Kingdom 49 32
Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi Milano, Italy 50 33
Aarhus University Aarhus, Denmark 101 101
Bangor University Bangor, United Kingdom 101 -
Brigham Young University Provo, United States 101 151
Cardiff University Cardiff, United Kingdom 101 51
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Madrid, Spain 101 51
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, United States 101 51
ESSEC Business School Cergy, France 101 51
Florida International University Miami, United States 101 -
George Mason University Fairfax, United States 101 -
Georgetown University Washington, D. C., United States 101 151
Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, United States 101 51
INSEAD - The Business School for the World Fontainebleau, France 101 42
Laval University Québec, Canada 101 -
Macquarie University Sydney, Australia 101 51
Massey University Palmerston North, New Zealand 101 101
McGill University Montréal, Canada 101 51
National Chengchi University Taipei, Taiwan 101 101
University Paris Dauphine Paris, France 101 101
Peking University Beijing, China 101 30
Renmin University of China Beijing, China 101 151
Rice University Houston, United States 101 151
Rutgers University New Brunswick, United States 101 -
Seoul National University Anyang, South Korea 101 43
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai, China 101 51
Southern Methodist University Dallas, United States 101 -
Sungkyunkwan University Seoul, South Korea 101 51
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland 101 -
Syracuse University Syracuse, United States 101 -
George Washington University Washington, D. C., United States 101 151
The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, United States 101 -
University of Glasgow Glasgow, United Kingdom 101 51
University of Reading Reading, United Kingdom 101 151
Tsinghua University Beijing, China 101 39
Université Catholique de Lille Lille, France 101 -
University at Buffalo Buffalo, United States 101 -
University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada 101 51
University of Birmingham Birmingham, United Kingdom 101 51
University of California, Davis Davis, United States 101 101
University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, United States 101 -
University of Essex Colchester, United Kingdom 101 -
University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, United States 101 -
The University of Iowa Iowa City, United States 101 -
University of Kansas Lawrence, United States 101 -
University of Missouri - Columbia Columbia, United States 101 -
University of Navarra Pamplona, Spain 101 50
University of Nottingham Nottingham, United Kingdom 101 101
University of South Carolina Columbia, United States 101 -
University of St. Gallen (HSG) St. Gallen, Switzerland 101 51
University of Utah Salt Lake City, United States 101 -
Vanderbilt University Nashville, United States 101 -
Athens University of Economics and Business Athens, Greece 151 151
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milano, Italy 151 151
Central University of Finance and Economics Changping, China 151 -
Charles University Prague, Czech Republic 151 -
Concordia University Montréal Montreal West, Canada 151 151
DePaul University Chicago, United States 151 -
Durham University Durham, United Kingdom 151 101
EDHEC Business School Lille, France 151 -
Feng Chia University Taichung, Taiwan 151 -
Fudan University Shanghai, China 151 51
Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, United Kingdom 151 -
Humboldt University Berlin Berlin, Germany 151 101
Iowa State University Ames, United States 151 -
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, United States 151 151
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Daejeon, South Korea 151 51
La Trobe University Melbourne, Australia 151 151
Lingnan University Tuen Mun, Hong Kong (SAR) 151 -
Loughborough University Loughborough, United Kingdom 151 -
National Central University Taoyuan City, Taiwan 151 -
National Sun Yat Sen University Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 151 -
Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom 151 -
Northeastern University Boston, United States 151 -
Old Dominion University Norfolk, United States 151 -
Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, Australia 151 101
RMIT University Melbourne, Australia 151 101
Technical University of Munich München, Germany 151 101
Texas Tech University Lubbock, United States 151 -
University of Adelaide Adelaide, Australia 151 51
University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand 151 37
The University of Texas at San Antonio Helotes, United States 151 -
The University of Western Australia Perth, Australia 151 51
UCL London, United Kingdom 151 51
University of Arkansas Fayetteville, United States 151 -
University of Bath Bath, United Kingdom 151 151
University of Bologna Bologna, Italy 151 -
University of Bristol Bristol, United Kingdom 151 101
University of Central Florida Orlando East Mobile Home Park, United States 151 -
University of Cologne Köln, Germany 151 151
University of Connecticut Storrs, United States 151 -
University of Geneva Genève, Switzerland 151 -
University of Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom 151 151
University of Leicester Leicester, United Kingdom 151 -
University of Oklahoma Norman, United States 151 -
University of South Australia Adelaide, Australia 151 101
University of Southampton Southampton, United Kingdom 151 151
University of Strathclyde Glasgow, United Kingdom 151 151
University of Turku Turku, Finland 151 -
University of Vienna Vienna, Austria 151 -
Xiamen University Xiamen, China 151 -
Yuan Ze University Taoyuan City, Taiwan 151 -
Arizona State University Tempe, United States 51 151
Boston University Boston, United States 51 51
CUNY Baruch College New York City, United States 51 -
Copenhagen Business School (CBS) Copenhagen, Denmark 51 45
Deakin University  Burwood, Australia 51 101
Emory University Atlanta, United States 51 101
Florida State University Tallahassee, United States 51 -
Fordham University Manhattan, United States 51 -
Georgia State University Atlanta, United States 51 -
Michigan State University East Lansing, United States 51 51
Purdue University West Lafayette, United States 51 51
Singapore Management University Singapore, Singapore 51 51
ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, Switzerland 51 51
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 51 51
University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 51 51
University of Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom 51 9
University of Florida Gainesville, United States 51 101
University of Houston Houston, United States 51 -
University of Mannheim Mannheim, Germany 51 51
University of Montreal Montréal, Canada 51 51
University of Technology Sydney Sydney, Australia 51 51
University of Wisconsin Madison Madison, United States 51 51
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 51 151
Yale University New Haven, United States 51 14
York University Toronto, Canada 51 101
Drexel University Philadelphia, United States 76 -
HEC Paris Jouy-en-Josas, France 76 39
Korea University Seoul, South Korea 76 47
KU Leuven Brussels, Belgium 76 51
Lancaster University Lancaster, United Kingdom 76 51
Maastricht University Maastricht, Netherlands 76 101
Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Shanghai, China 76 151
Stockholm School of Economics Stockholm, Sweden 76 51
Temple University Philadelphia, United States 76 -
Texas A&M University College Station, United States 76 51
Australian National University Canberra, Australia 76 23
Imperial College London London, United Kingdom 76 38
The University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, United Kingdom 76 48
University of Queensland Saint Lucia, Australia 76 39
The University of Arizona Tucson, United States 76 101
University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada 76 34
University of California, Irvine (UCI) Irvine, United States 76 -
Goethe University Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main, Germany 76 -
University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands 76 101
Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich München, Germany 76 -
University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, United States 76 151
University of Rochester Rochester, United States 76 51
University of Virginia Charlottesville, United States 76 151
University of Waterloo Waterloo, Canada 76 101
University of Zurich Zürich, Switzerland 76 101
The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan - 44
Aalto University Helsinki, Finland - 101
Auckland University of Technology Auckland, New Zealand - 101
Chulalongkorn University Bangkok, Thailand - 101
Hitotsubashi University Kunitachi, Japan - 101
Lund University Lund, Sweden - 101
HSE University Moscow, Russia - 101
Oxford Brookes University Oxford, United Kingdom - 101
Queen's University Kingston, Canada - 101
Tecnológico de Monterrey Monterrey, Mexico - 101
The University of Exeter Exeter, United Kingdom - 101
University of Waikato Hamilton, New Zealand - 101
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Lisbon, Portugal - 101
Panthéon-Sorbonne University Paris, France - 101
Frankfurt University of Applied Science Frankfurt am Main, Germany - 101
University of Barcelona Barcelona, Spain - 101
University of Canterbury Christchurch, New Zealand - 101
University of Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland - 101
University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 101
University of Minnesota Minneapolis, United States - 101
University of Otago Dunedin, New Zealand - 101
University of St Andrews St Andrews, United Kingdom - 101
Waseda University Shinjuku, Japan - 101
WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business) Vienna, Austria - 101
Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China - 101
American University Washington DC Washington, D. C., United States - 151
Aston University Birmingham, United Kingdom - 151
Autonomous University of Madrid Alcobendas, Spain - 151
Curtin University Perth, Australia - 151
Hanyang University Seoul, South Korea - 151
Keio University Minato, Japan - 151
Kyung Hee University Seoul, South Korea - 151
Nanjing University Nanjing, China - 151
National Cheng Kung University Tainan, Taiwan - 151
National Chiao Tung University Hsinchu, Taiwan - 151
Osaka University Osaka-shi, Japan - 151
Pompeu Fabra University Barcelona, Spain - 151
Stockholm University Stockholm, Sweden - 151
The City University of New York New York City, United States - 151
Complutense University of Madrid Madrid, Spain - 151
University Kebangsaan Malaysia Semenyih, Malaysia - 151
MARA Technological University Seremban, Malaysia - 151
University Utara Malaysia (UUM) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 151
University College Dublin Dublin, Ireland - 151
University of Aberdeen Aberdeen, United Kingdom - 151
University of Indonesia Depok, Indonesia - 151
University of Padua Padua, Italy - 151
University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa - 151
University of Wollongong Wollongong, Australia - 151
University Putra Malaysia Kampong Baharu Balakong, Malaysia - 151
WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management Vallendar, Germany - 151
Bologna Business School Bologna, Italy - 51
University of California, San Diego San Diego, United States - 51
University of Chile Lo Prado, Chile - 51
University of Sao Paulo São Paulo, Brazil - 51
University of Western Ontario London, Canada - 51
Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand - 51
Yonsei University Seoul, South Korea - 51
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