Graduate Center of DIW Berlin

Welcome to the GC

Welcome to the DIW Berlin Graduate Center, the place where academic excellence meets the thriving stimulating environment of Germany’s largest economic think-tank.

The GC offers a 4-year program of in-depth training in economics and policy consultancy leading to a PhD from one of Berlin’s universities. It follows a dual training approach. On the one hand, the GC offers a high-level coursework curriculum during the first year. On the other hand, students are provided on-the-job training in DIW Berlin research projects during years 2-4.

The academic coursework meets highly demanding international standards. It is conducted in close cooperation with the Berlin Doctoral Program of Economics & Management Science (BDPEMS), ensuring that the participants receive an intense and broad academic training in economics and experience optimal supervision of their dissertations.

In order to effectively link academic research and real-life policy issues, the PhD education also includes internships at prestigious institutions outside of DIW Berlin at the student’s choice. A long list of cooperating institutions from different countries ensures a perfect match.

The GC also contains numerous activities for further education and research dissemination, like Masterclasses, research seminars and reading groups. Researchers from across DIW Berlin and many of its partnering institutions participate in these activities.

The academic research of doctoral students at DIW Berlin Graduate Center typically focuses on applied topics within economics and other related social sciences. Both the education and the research at the DIW Graduate Center have a strong empirical component.

The Graduate Center itself is not a degree-awarding body, but provides doctoral-level instruction and supervision leading to a doctorate at one of its partner universities Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, or Technische Universität Berlin, as well as universities outside of Berlin. Many of the university scholars are also members of DIW Berlin and closely connected to the Institute’s research work.

The location of the DIW Berlin Graduate Center offers a unique vantage point for young economic and social researchers with an interest in policy consultancy. DIW Berlin provides doctoral students with a wide array of opportunities to communicate with policy makers, enabling them to sharpen their proficiency in listening to the public debate and in presenting their scientific results for discussion with highly experienced research and policy professionals.

Graduates of the DIW Berlin Graduate Center are outstandingly qualified in the scientific analysis of economic and social policy issues: they will possess excellent methodological skills, in-depth experience in handling empirical data, and detailed institutional knowledge of the economic and societal structure of Germany and other countries, in addition to the crucial ability to disseminate their research results. They will be able to present their results effectively at international congresses, publish their scientific contributions in internationally renowned journals, and successfully manage large-scale research projects.

Come join the GC!