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Current Graduate Research Students

UCD School of Economics runs a thriving PhD programme that offers rigorous training and expert supervision. The programme is designed to prepare students for top-level jobs in academia, institutions and the private sector. From day one, our PhD students are part of a vibrant research community at UCD and in the Greater Dublin Area. Currently, over 50 students from 16 countries are enrolled in the programme. 

Current Students

Emil Bandoni
Zhunming Ma
Chiara Litardi
Anita Jerotich

  Petru Calenici
Research Interests: Economics of Education, Gender Economics, Migration Economics
Thesis Title:  Migratory Background and Gender Differences in Education
Supervisor: Dr Margaret Samahita & Prof Christopher Jepsen
Funding: BDIC Scholarship
  Frederik Ledoux
Research Interests: 
Thesis Title: Central Banking, Monetary Policy, and Financial Stability
Supervisor: Dr Oana Peia
Funding: Central Bank
  Maria Sofia Liberati
Research Interests: Economics of Innovation
Thesis Title: Innovation and the Role of Public Policy
Supervisor: Dr Sarah Parlane & Prof Ron Davies
Funding: UCD School of Economics PhD Scholarship
  Katharina Richter
Research Interests: Health Economics, Gender Economics, Inequality
Thesis Title: Disparities in Health and Healthcare: Investigating the Role of Gender and Socio-Economic Status
Supervisor: Prof Orla Doyle & Dr James O'Mahony
Funding: UCD School of Economics PhD Scholarship

  Wanying Deng
Research Interests: 
Thesis Title:  The impact of monetary, non-monetary (financial and non-financial), mixed incentives and a cafeteria-style system on performance.
Supervisor: Dr Constantin Burgi
Funding: BDIC Scholarship
  Ciarán Murphy
Research Interests: Economics of education, labour economics, inequality, gender, applied microeconomics
Thesis Title: Inequality in Education and the Labour Market
Supervisor: Prof Paul Devereaux
Funding: UCD School of Economics PhD Scholarship
  Carolina Nunes
Research Interests: 
Thesis Title: Taxation and Inequality
Supervisor: Dr Nora Strecker
Funding: Ad Astra PhD Scholarship
Website:  (opens in a new window)https://sites.google.com/view/carolinanunes
  Hayk Tarverdyan
Research Interests: Monetary policy, bank capital regulation, financial stability, macro-financial linkages
Thesis Title: Essays in Monetary Policy, Financial Stability and Macro-Finance.
Supervisor: Dr Mengdi Song & Dr Oana Peia
Funding: UCD School of Economics PhD Scholarship
  Biniyam Gezahegn Worku
Research Interests: 
Thesis Title: Returns and Spillover Impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
Supervisor: Dr Ciara Whelan & Prof Ron Davies
Funding: BDIC Scholarship
  Bin Zhang
Research Interests: 
Thesis Title: International Trade and Global Value Chains
Supervisor: Prof Ron Davies
Funding: UCD School of Economics PhD Scholarship

  Haochi Chen
Research Interests:   Climate change, energy, sustainability, policy analysis
Thesis Title:  Family, Climate, and Sustainability
Supervisor: Prof David Madden
Funding: BDIC Scholarship
  Sam Deegan
Research Interests:  
Thesis Title:  Feedback Effects of Financial Distress: A Study of the European Banking Sector
Supervisor: Dr Constantin Burgi & Dr Yota Deli
Funding: UCD School of Economics PhD Scholarship
  Aditi Kharb
Research Interests: Development, gender, migration
Thesis Title: Disasters, Gender and Inequalities
Supervisor: 
Christopher Jepsen & Benjamin Elsner
Funding: UCD School of Economics PhD Scholarship
  Glenn McNamara
Research Interests:  
Thesis Title: Acceptance towards offshore windfarms and the community benefits payment scheme
Supervisor: Dr Margaret Samahita & Prof Lisa Ryan
Funding: NextSys
  Nadiya Saba
Research Interests: Energy, environmental economics, electric vehicle
uptake, decarbonisation of transport sector
Thesis Title: Factors influencing increased adoption of EV towards
Decarbonisation of Transport sector in Ireland and Internationally
Supervisor: Prof Lisa Ryan & Prof Aisling Reynolds-Feighan
Funding: NextSys
  Shreya Swarnakar
Research Interests: Health, gender, development, institutions
Thesis Title: A Detailed Analysis of Health Outcomes of Women
Supervisor: Dr Kanika Kapur & Dr Fabrice Kampfen 
Funding: UCD School of Economics PhD Scholarship
Yung-Shiang Yang (Jasmine)
Research Interests: Behavioural economics, experimental economics, public policy
Thesis Title: An Economist’s Approach to Understanding Motivation
Supervisor: Dr Vessela Daskolova & Dr Margaret Samahita 
Funding: UCD School of Economics PhD Scholarship

  Daire Crotty
Research Interests: Labour, education, and sports economics 
Thesis Title: Educational Attainment and Wage Structures 
Supervisor: Prof Paul Devereux 
Funding: UCD School of Economics PhD Scholarship   
  Francesca Eustacchi
Research Interests: Developing countries, development economics, Latin America 
Thesis Title: The Impact of Women Land Titles on Children's Well-Being
Supervisor: Dr Frank Walsh
Funding: UCD School of Economics PhD Scholarship 
  Kira Finan
Research Interests:  
Thesis Title: The Impact of China’s Outward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on Developing Countries in Africa and the Middle East
Supervisor: Dr Zuzanna Studnicka
Funding: BDIC Scholarship
Website: (opens in a new window)https://sites.google.com/view/kira-finan/home
  Olivia Finan
Research Interests:  
Thesis Title: Intergenerational Consequences of In-Utero and Early Life Conditions on Human Development Outcomes
Supervisor: Prof Orla Doyle
Funding: IRC Government of Ireland Scholarship
Website: (opens in a new window)https://sites.google.com/view/olivia-finan/home
  Sorcha Foster
Research Interests: Monetary policy, non-standard instruments, banking
Thesis Title: Essays in Monetary Policy 
Supervisor: Dr Karl Whelan
Funding:   Funded by Employer (Central Bank of Ireland)
  Beatriz Gietner
Research Interests: Education, labour, and growth
Thesis Title: Three Essays on Human Capital
Supervisor: Dr Kevin Denny
Funding: UCD School of Economics PhD Scholarship
Website: (opens in a new window)https://beagietner.github.io/webpage/
  Manvi Jindal
Research Interests: Applied microeconomics, inequality, labor economics, social economics, gender economics
Thesis Title: Essays on Inequalities Across Gender and Disabilities
Supervisor: Dr Benjamin Elsner
Funding: UCD School of Economics Scholarship
Website: (opens in a new window)https://sites.google.com/view/manvijindal/
  Kun Wu
Research Interests: Earnings Dynamics, Family Economics
Thesis Title: Earnings Dynamics and Intra-Household Risk Sharing
Supervisor: Prof Kevin Denny & Dr Tiziana Brancaccio
Funding: China Scholarship Council (CSC)
Website: (opens in a new window)https://kunslog.github.io
  Yishan Shi
Research Interests: Education economics, development economics
Thesis Title: Intergenerational Mobility in Education and Economic Transformation in Africa
Supervisor: Prof Kevin Denny
Funding: China Scholarship Council (CSC)

Contact UCD School of Economics

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