Overview of the pathway
Economics is one of the most important of the social science disciplines. The pathway brings together the distinctive expertise and track record of research excellence in three institutions – Cardiff, Bangor and Swansea.

As well as breadth across the whole discipline, quantitative economics is an area in which Cardiff enjoys a particularly high national and international reputation, further enhanced by its membership to the Quantitative Economics Doctorate (QED) network. QED is an international network of Economics PhD programmes (including U. Alicante, U. Amsterdam, U. Bielefeld, U. Cardiff, U. Copenhagen, U. Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, U. Padua, U. Vienna) that organizes jamborees, facilitates research visitings and scientific exchange as an integral part of the doctoral training. Bangor is an international research leader in Financial Economics and hosts the Institute of European Finance (IEF), the research centre which conducts topical and innovative cutting-edge research in economics, banking, finance, accounting, and data analytics. Swansea has a particularly strong research record in macroeconomics, applied microeconomics, energy economics and regional economics, and serves as a key partner in the pan-institutional Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD), and the department is home to the Centre for Research in Macroeconomics and Macro-Finance (CReMMF), which brings together leading academics in this field from across the UK and beyond.

Environment for doctoral research and training
The pathway offers a rich research environment for its students across the locations, including presentations at weekly PhD workshops; attendance of/presentations at regular faculty research seminars; frequent external speaker seminars; access to research-oriented events; Wales-wide research colloquia held at Cardiff Business School such as the annual Welsh Postgraduate Research Conference (WPGRC) in Business, Management and Economics. Bangor sponsors the International Accounting and Finance Doctoral Symposium providing research students and early career researchers the opportunity to present their work to leading international academics in a supportive yet demanding environment. Swansea University’s CReMMF hosts an online seminar series in Macroeconomics as a forum for discussions with external academics affiliated with the Centre.

Knowledge exchange and careers 
The pathway involves a common two-year taught part comprising: (i) a common MSc Economics degree in year one, and (ii) a common MRes in Advanced Econ degree in year two. Both are delivered at Cardiff Business School. During the first two years in Cardiff, Bangor and Swansea staff will keep in contact with students with regular visits to discuss research plans, and all students will be encouraged to attend seminars and other research activities at their home institutions. After successful completion of the two-year (or equivalent part-time) programme, students are based at their respective home institutions (Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea) for their supervised research study. We will encourage and facilitate joint supervision across institutions where appropriate. Cohort-building is supported via a wide range of scientific and developmental activities such as the Job Market of Economists developmental programme focusing on post-phd placement in academic institutions, public bodies, think tanks, international policy organisations, private sector/industry (banks, insurances, consultancies, corporations, utility provides, NGOs).

Contacts
Cardiff University – Dr Tommaso Reggiani – ReggianiT@cardiff.ac.uk 
Swansea University – Dr Ansgar Wohlschlegel – a.u.m.wohlschlegel@swansea.ac.uk
Bangor University – Prof Yener Altunbas – y.altunbas@bangor.ac.uk