Introduction to the SOAS-Wits Joint PhD in Applied Development Economics

The SOAS-Wits joint PhD in Applied Development Economics is a research-focused program that aims to push the boundaries of heterodox economics or political economy by anchoring the analysis explicitly in African realities and confronting particular conceptual frames with emerging empirical evidence. Upon successful completion of the program, students will be awarded a single co-badged certificate conferred by both SOAS and Wits.

Overview of the Program

The program seeks to strengthen analysis that is strongly theoretically grounded while empirically informed, in contrast to current trends in development economics to eschew theory in favor of an experimental and purely empirical knowledge base. The research program will also be explicitly decolonial, by critically querying existing research practices, by drawing on knowledge across Africa, and by explicitly situating contemporary phenomena in their historically evolved and regionally interdependent contexts.

Structure of the Program

The research degree embodies a core of training in research methods combined with a clear structure of progression thereafter. The duration and structure of the research degree will be as follows:

• Full-time research degree: 3 years plus 1 year writing up
  • Year 1: Research Training
  • Year 1: Literature review and Upgrade
  • Year 2-3: Research
  • Year 4: Write up

Year 1 - Research Training

Research training will be offered by the SOAS Economics Department and the SOAS Doctoral School and delivered in a blended fashion, providing the opportunity for remote attendance for the PhD students with Wits as their home institution.

Year 1 Literature Review and Upgrade

Students will normally be expected to set the foundations of their project through an extensive literature review and plan for the continuation of the research, and on this basis, pass an upgrade from MPhil to PhD status within 9 months of commencing the degree.

Year 2-3 - Research

Core research undertaken; primary and secondary data collection as appropriate, thesis chapters finalized. Students may also choose to undertake international mobility to and from their home institution.

Year 4 - Write Up

If necessary, a fourth year can be taken to write the final thesis. Examination of the thesis will take place after submission within the 4th year.

Supervision Arrangements

Each research project will be jointly supervised across SOAS and Wits. Remote access will be deployed to facilitate joint meetings. Students will have a supervisor at SOAS who will normally be located in the Economics Department and a supervisor at Wits who will usually be located in the School of Economics and Finance.

Career Opportunities

Graduates of this program will leave with a solid grounding in technical and statistical skills, research methods, and data collection, and an ability to think laterally, take a global perspective, and employ critical reasoning with a detailed insight into the context of African countries.

Curriculum

The program seeks candidates interested in conducting doctoral research on one of the following areas/projects:

• Project 1: Unemployment in South Africa
  • This project seeks PhD proposals that interrogate unemployment in post-apartheid South Africa, from either a political economy or micro-economic perspective.
• Project 2: The Social Reproduction of Economic Ideas in Africa
  • This project invites applications from prospective PhD students interested in analyzing the social reproduction of economic ideas in Africa.
• Project 3: Labour Process, Worker Organisation, and Social Policy in the Shadow of the Digital Age
  • This project welcomes PhD proposals that explore the distributional conflicts at the nexus of labor and citizenship, with a focus on the relations between capital, labor, and the state.

Entry Requirements

Students will need to meet the entry requirements of both institutions. For SOAS, this is a "good" Master's degree in (development) economics or any relevant discipline and a reference. For Wits, this is a Master's in Economics or in Applied Development Economics or any other suitable background.

International Mobility

All students will be offered the opportunity to undertake international mobility to and from SOAS or Wits during the PhD; however, it is not mandatory to complete this program.

University Application Process

Applications are handled centrally. Once the application is complete in terms of requested documentation, the application will be referred to the relevant School for assessment.

University Fees and Funding

The current average tuition fees are provided on the university's website. The Fees site also provides information about the payment of fees and closing dates for fees payments. For information about postgraduate funding opportunities, including the postgraduate merit award, please refer to the university's Postgraduate Funding portal.

Fees

• È4,157 per year (SOAS as the home institution)
• R95,416.56 per year (Wits as the home institution)

Please note that fees are subject to increases on a yearly basis.

Postgraduate Handbooks

The postgraduate handbooks provide comprehensive information on admission requirements, course structure, assessment policies, research requirements, and academic procedures.

Course Details

• Faculty: Commerce, Law and Management
• School: Economics and Finance
• Qualification: PhD
• Duration: 3 years
• Study Mode: Full-time
• Closing Date: 31 May
• Course Coordinator: Prof. Chris Malikane
• Course Code for Wits Application: CFADSOAS80 Doctor of Phi-joint (ApplDevE FOS CDA00)