Department of Finance

Thesis Proposal

A PhD student in Finance is required to present a thesis proposal to a Finance faculty committee of three by April 15th of his or her third year in the PhD program. The thesis proposal will be based on a completed academic research paper on a topic of the student’s choice.

A completed paper will at a minimum include the following:

• A clear description of the research question being answered
• A survey of the relevant literature
• If an empirical paper,
  • a summary of the hypotheses and empirical predictions
  • description of the data
  • discussion of the empirical methodology
  • empirical analysis on a sample of the data
• If a theoretical paper,
  • a clear discussion of the assumptions
  • discussion of the methodology used to derive the results
  • derivation of the theoretical results
  • discussions of testable empirical implications of the theoretical results
• Discussion of planned agenda to turn the proposal into a job market paper

The Thesis Proposal Committee will vote on whether the student passed or failed the thesis proposal. If a student receives a grade of “fail,” he or she has the opportunity to present a new thesis proposal to the Thesis Proposal Committee by November 15^th of his or her fourth year in the PhD program but will receive reduced funding until he or she passes the proposal. If a student receives a grade of “fail” on the second attempt, the Thesis Proposal Committee reserves the right to ask the student to withdraw from the program.