Master & PhD in Economics
Institut Polytechnique de Paris

Master / PhD Track in Economics

Institut Polytechnique de Paris and HEC Paris offer a two-year research-oriented program in economics entirely taught in English, that offers advanced training in economics through coursework and supervision by faculty. It is aimed at students who want to become professional economists working in government, central banking, international organizations, consulting, finance or in academic research.

The program heavily relies on advanced quantitative methods for both theoretical and empirical analysis. During the first year, students take advanced core courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics. They also engage in research projects under the supervision of faculty and acquire a first hands-on contact with research. During the second year, students can specialize within subfields of economics. By the end of that year, they should be at the research frontier within their main area of specialization and have gained successful research experience. They also write a first research paper for their PhD thesis.

A small subset of students may enter the program as "PhD Track" students. This program is aimed at students with a strong desire for research in quantitative economics who intend to continue towards a PhD in Economics at CREST and IP Paris.

At the end of the second year, students who has achieved sufficiently good grades, have written a research proposal and found a potential PhD supervisor within CREST may progress to the dissertation period (three years) of the PhD program. Progress is conditional on securing funding and IP Paris and CREST will do their best to help candidate to obtain such funding (e.g., IP Paris provides a limited number of three-year doctoral fellowships). During the second year of the program, students who specialize in financial economics or economic theory and decision sciences may also apply to the PhD program at HEC Paris. Students who entered the Master program may also progress to the research phase of the PhD program.

Language of instruction: English
ECTS: 120
Oriented: Research
Duration: 2 years
Courses Location: IP Paris – Ecole polytechnique and ENSAE - and HEC Paris


Educational objectives of the track/M1/M2

The goal of this program is to provide an advanced training in economics at the highest international level with a strong emphasis on advanced quantitative methods for both theoretical and empirical analyses.

In the first year, students get acquainted with the most important analytical techniques used in economics. The training is mostly devoted to acquiring the most important tools in microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics through a complete core course training, as well as completing a research internship.

During the second year, students can specialize within a sub-area of economics. Fields of excellence and potential areas of specialization, include:
- Econometric theory,
- Environmental and development economics,
- Finance,
- Game and decision theory,
- Industrial organization and digital economics,
- International economics,
- Labor economics,
- Macroeconomics,
- Public economics.

Throughout the second year, students conduct a research project and write a master’s dissertation under the direction of a faculty member.


Involved IP Paris Labs: CREST

Career prospects:
The wide variety of courses, seminars, projects and internships proposed during the master offers the possibility, for every student, to build his/her own curriculum in economics. There are many job opportunities available immediately after the master, for instance in government agencies, international organizations, consulting, finance. Students may join PhD programs in international universities.

Institutional partners: HEC Paris

Industrial partners: The internship program at the end of the first-year gives students an opportunity to apply their quantitative skills and knowledge to real-life problems at well-known national and international institutions, companies, and organizations. Examples of such institutions having hired interns in the past include BNP-Paribas, EDF, Lafarge, the IMF, the World Bank, the OECD, DG Trésor, etc.

Fees and scholarships

Fees for 2024-2025 are:
  • EU/EEA/Switzerland students: 4783€
  • Non-EU/EEA/Switzerland students: 7037€
  • Engineer students enrolled in one of the five member schools of Institut Polytechnique de Paris (Ecole polytechnique, ENSTA Paris, ENSAE Paris, Télécom Paris and Télécom SudParis): 164€
  • Special cases: please refer to the "Cost of studies" section of the FAQs

Students admitted to the PhD track are exempted from the annual fees and only pay registration fees. They may also receive funding through the Ecole Universitaire de Recherche (EUR) Data Science for Economics, Finance and Management program and IP Paris ). More details on https://www.ip-paris.fr/en/education/scholarships.

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