College of Business and Economics

Selections

MA / PhD in Economics: photo of the globe and numbers.

Mentor System

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Research Mentor System for Economics PhD Program

Every September (and January when applicable), the economics graduate coordinator will assign to each new PhD student a faculty research mentor. Students are encouraged to shop around for a different research mentor for any reason, such as (but not limited to) a shared interest in a research area. Eventually when a dissertation advisor is chosen he/she will serve as the research mentor.

The research mentor will (i) provide general advice; (ii) serve as a research role model by letting the student observe the research process and by explaining how the process works; and (iii) provide advice on how to choose a dissertation area and dissertation advisor and eventually a dissertation topic.

The research mentoring process provides one of the three key out-of-class contact points for the student, the other two being the economics graduate coordinator (for course scheduling and general advice) and the professor to whom the student is assigned (when applicable) as a graduate teaching assistant (for teaching mentoring).