Training Structure
Doctoral students follow a three-year track. They will go through program structured as follows:
Winter Term
The winter term (September to March) of the first year includes advanced-level micro- and macroeconomics and an advanced econometrics course. These courses are held 4 hours per week (2 hours lecture, 2 hours exercise). They will be completed by passing a written examination. The internships in Berlin are in institutions close to the political decision process such as ministries, industrial associations or offices of members of parliament. The internships in Washington DC are located at social and economic research institutes.
Summer Term
In the summer term (April to July), doctoral students choose an advanced course in either microeconometrics or time series analysis. Additionally, they take two more courses out of a variety of fields in which the DIW Berlin Graduate Center offers specialization (see Courses). The DIW Seminar instructs students in how to read scientific papers and how to extract the main results. It will also help students find their own research fields. The seminar will be spent reading a variety of research papers connected to the students’ research fields. Additionally, each student will present his or her structured research agenda for discussion. Members of different research departments of DIW Berlin will be invited to present their research projects. Students must take a practical course on research project management to learn how to apply and how to manage research projects. Management proficiency is a precondition for a successful top level career within international research institutions.
Second Year
To begin the second year, doctoral students must pass all first-year examinations. This is a precondition to continue the program. A supervisor covering the chosen research field will be assigned, and doctoral students will join one of the seven research departments of DIW Berlin. They will participate in research projects either on a regular basis (if they are offered a research position) or within an internship (see Tuition/Finance).
In the winter and summer term, a bi-weekly seminar will be held in which initial research results are presented. The written and oral presentation of a paper to the other participants will be required.
The completion and presentation of a research paper will be mandatory. The second year will end with a workshop in which one paper by each student will be presented to all supervisors involved in the research fields. In this phase, submissions to international conferences should become part of the postgraduate students’ research careers. Students will also be required to complete a short contribution to DIW’s “Weekly Report”, which will be published.
Third Year
The third year will be devoted to the completion of the PhD thesis, while still working on research projects with the departments. Two bi-weekly seminars (one in the winter term and one in the summer term) will be offered to keep the doctoral students integrated into an interactive research network. The completion of two research discussion papers as part of the PhD thesis will be mandatory. Again students will be required to write one “DIW Weekly Report” which will be published. The third year will require more intensive coaching of the students, especially by the supervisor and the personnel officer.
Doctoral students who major in socio-economic research with the goal of a doctoral dissertation in sociology share part of the program, as part of a sociological curriculum offered in collaboration with the Freie Universität Berlin.
