Doctoral Program in Finance

The Geneva Finance Research Institute (GFRI) at the University of Geneva offers annually up to three fully funded doctoral positions in a five-year Ph.D. program for excellent students with research aspirations. The program covers the cost of living in Geneva with a stipend of 30,000 CHF in the first year and a salary of around 68,000 CHF in years two to five.

In 2024, the GFRI ranks in 1st place in Europe and 4th place worldwide for finance research published in the top-tier journals during the period 2013-2023 according to a new global research ranking.

The Ph.D. program in Finance is integrated into the PhD program of the Swiss Finance Institute. The Swiss Finance Institute is a private foundation, which unites Switzerland’s banking and finance community and the leading Swiss universities.

The Ph.D. program is structured in two phases: 

• In year one, a total of ten finance course are taught over three trimesters in Geneva and Lausanne (Léman Campus). Successful completion qualifies for years two to five.
• In years two to five, students work on their thesis projects and prepare for the academic job market. 

The SFI doctoral program has an excellent international reputation. During the last two years, SFI students have been recruited as Assistant Professors at the following universities: Carnegie Mellon, Rochester, McGill, London School of Economics, Boston University, HEC Paris, University of New South Wales, HEC Montreal, Bocconi, University of Copenhagen, etc.

Applications should be received before January 15th, 2025 and are processed through the SFI application platform. You select the Léman Campus with the University of Geneva as the sponsoring institution. Contact: Professor Fabio Tojani or Professor Harald Hau.