Matching with a thesis supervisor

First year of the program

In the first year of the program, students are encouraged to check out several options before choosing a specific research direction. Tinbergen Institute allows students to explore the research groups of three faculties in economics before they commit to work on a thesis with a specific advisor. Students who need assistance or advice are invited to contact the Director of Graduate Studies for help.

Second year of the program

Ideally, second-year students match up with a thesis supervisor before the end of December in the second year of the program. The three faculties have fully paid PhD employment positions available for students who successfully complete the TI research master program. Students are advised to check with their thesis supervisor under what conditions they can transfer to a paid PhD position with that same supervisor.

Tinbergen Institute cannot guarantee that all students find a match and a PhD position within the three faculties. For distributional reasons it may be harder to transfer with one supervisor in one departmental research group than with another supervisor in another group. Therefore, students are also encouraged to investigate externally funded PhD opportunities available at the schools. To facilitate this, potential supervisors present their externally funded PhD projects to TI students.

> Transfer to PhD