Applications for admission open every September.
The School of Accounting, Finance and Economics at the University of Greenwich is pleased to offer PhD supervision as part of the Economics Pathway within the UBEL Doctoral Training Partnership.
Supervision is provided by selected staff from the Greenwich Business School. This document introduces the training route and our capacity to supervise within it. Potential applicants need to apply through the UBEL website and should read carefully the guidance given there.
Please Note: Some AFE staff are also available to supervise within the Climate, Environment and Development route as part of the International Development Pathway and Intersectional Gender Inequalities route as part of the Gender and Sexuality Pathway.
This training route supports students interested in researching topics such as:
- Ecological economics
- Income, wealth, gender and regional inequalities
- Social mobility and poverty alleviation
- The care economy
- Green finance
- Macrofinancial stability
- Decentralisation, democratic institutions and citizen participation
We offer:
- Direct entry to a 3.5-year PhD programme, building on our existing Economics PhD
- A 1+3.5 pathway starting with our MSc in Economics
- Advanced training through our summer school, covering econometrics, environmental modelling and qualitative methods.
We are delighted to announce our latest partnership with Blue Earth Summit Ltd, who run industry-leading and impactful events that deliver positive change for both people and planet. United by a commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility, this partnership will strengthen our existing efforts to promote sustainable practices, address climate change, and achieve net zero carbon.
This year’s Blue Earth Summit, taking place from 16 – 18 October at Woolwich Works, will bring together inspiring thought leaders and changemakers, all dedicated to driving sustainable change. As part of this, Simon Goldsmith, Head of Strategic Sustainability at the university will be a featured speaker at the Summit.
This partnership supports our aspirations to develop relationships that meaningfully impact our society and our students. It brings a unique opportunity for students to benefit personally and professionally in the sustainability space, supporting them to build knowledge and skills, presenting early conversations for potential paid employment opportunities, and promoting knowledge exchange opportunities.
Simon Goldsmith, Head of Strategic Sustainability said:
I’m delighted that the university has entered into partnership with Blue Earth Summit Ltd. This partnership is further evidence that the university is committed to impactful change.
Importantly this partnership and conference will inspire our students themselves to become the sustainability leaders of tomorrow.
Will Hayler, CEO of Blue Earth Summit said:
We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with the University of Greenwich, an institution deeply committed to sustainability and a planet-positive future. It’s truly inspiring to collaborate with a university that shares our vision for a more sustainable world. Through our partnership and the Bursary scheme for students, we’re looking forward to working together to drive positive change and empower the next generation of leaders.
This year’s Blue Earth Summit, taking place from 16 – 18 October at Woolwich Works, will bring together inspiring thought leaders and changemakers, all dedicated to driving sustainable change. As part of this, Simon Goldsmith, Head of Strategic Sustainability at the university will be a featured speaker at the Summit.
For more information about Blue Earth Summit, visit their website.
Research Environment
The team has expertise in ecological economics, economics of gender, labour economics, international economics, development economics, agricultural economics, economics of innovation and technological change in addition to the core areas of macroeconomics, microeconomics, econometrics, quantitative and qualitative research methods, economic history, finance, and governance.
We have a vibrant community of current and former PhD students working in topics related to the Economics of Social and Ecological Sustainability at University of Greenwich.
Supervision is provided through two key research centres:
Centre for Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA) – Based in Greenwich Business School, an interdisciplinary centre with expertise in economics, finance, accounting, and gender studies. PEGFA has developed specialisms in quantitative methods (time series and panel data econometrics, nowcasting, input-output analysis, meta-analysis, treatment-effect and program evaluation methods, single-state and multiple-state event history models, Bayesian predictive probability models, agent-based models, stock-flow consistent models) and qualitative methods. The strands of research include greening the economy and finance; the care economy; causes and consequences of inequalities; productivity and innovation; finance, governance; globalisation; development, employment and work. PEGFA hosts two annual PhD student-led conferences , one internal and one international.
Natural Resources Institute (NRI) – An interdisciplinary research institute with a focus on global food security, sustainable development and poverty reduction. NRI’s economic research includes quantitative approaches to social mobility, farmer behaviour and its outcomes under climate risk, and AI-assisted food insecurity monitoring.
Supervision
We have a large pool of potential supervisors. Some of these, especially Onaran, Nikolaidi, Ugur, Iversen are experienced supervisors having supervised multiple PhDs to completion. Others listed may be newer to PhD supervision, but have highly relevant research experience and interests. Under University of Greenwich regulations, each research student is supervised by a team of three supervisors, so more experienced staff may act as co-supervisors. Further details of potential supervisors are given below, please follow the links to their webpages for a more detailed account of their research interests.
For discussion on proposed projects for a UBEL application, please contact at most two of the named supervisors below, following the guidance on the UBEL website.
For more general queries, please contact Professor Ozlem Onaran:o.onaran@greenwich.ac.uk
Supervisor | Indicative Research Interests |
Distribution (income, wealth and gender), growth regimes, employment, equality-led development, sustainable development, care economy, green economy, fiscal policy, public finance, globalisation, financialization | |
| Ecological macroeconomics, sustainable development, climate finance, the links between climate policies and gender equality |
Innovation and employment; income distribution; creative destruction and wellbeing; economics of governance and institutional quality | |
Impact evaluation techniques, mixed methods, behavioural experiments, social mobility in developing countries, local democracy in low-income contexts, gender norms | |
Environmental/ecological economics, Agricultural economics, Water economics, water governance, water justice, Indigenous Peoples’ food/water/knowledge systems, Biodiversity economics, Biocultural heritage and conservation | |
Distribution of income and wealth; non-response in household (income and wealth) surveys; tax revenue micro simulation models; distribution and heterogeneity in macroeconomic models | |
Panel data econometrics, firm productivity, growth, foreign direct investment, multinational firms | |
Urban and regional economics, economic statistics | |
Development economics, green economy, care economy, income distribution | |
labour economics, income distribution, unemployment, global imbalances, microeconometric analyses of firm-level data | |
Subordinate financialisation and its impact on stability and sustainability; feminist and ecological approaches to monetary policy; history of economics of gender, race and environment | |
Feminist economics, income and wealth distribution, taxation, labour productivity | |
| SMEs financing and investing in the global economy; the financing of innovation adoption for sustainability; the adoption of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) tools in SMEs and the role of policymaking |
Portfolio diversification strategies, Integration of stock markets, financial stability, time-series econometrics | |
| Climate, environment, and their interlinks with development economics, sustainable agriculture, food security/poverty reduction in developing countries, the socio-economic effects of environmental policies, the economics of the extraction industries |
Public services, energy economics, global networks, political economy of Ukraine | |
Applied microeconomics, development economics, experimental economics | |
| Complexity economics, behavioural economics, Bayesian econometrics, renewable energy and finance, bounded rationality, bargaining |
Income distribution, technological development, patterns of trade specialisation | |
| Labour economics, income distribution, applied economics, microeconometrics, causal inference, industrial relations |