RIEM offers 7 PhD's programs, Including categories such as economics, management. The programs lasts for 4 years, with the 2 years dedicated to coursework and the 2 years to writing the thesis.

Program Objectives

The PhD program at RIEM is primarily modeled on the economics and management doctoral training programs of world-class universities, with instruction delivered in either bilingual or fully English formats. Leveraging the overseas academic backgrounds of its faculty while remaining rooted in local contexts, the program aims to cultivate high-caliber research-oriented talents who possess systematic knowledge of economics and management and are capable of applying modern economic analysis methods to study and solve practical problems.

1. To cultivate academic research talents with a solid and broad theoretical foundation aligned with mainstream international economic research practices, who are proficient in writing professional academic papers in English, capable of communicating in English at international academic conferences, and able to publish in renowned Chinese and English academic journals.

2. To cultivate high-level, creative talents with systematic and in-depth professional knowledge, who are qualified to teach in relevant disciplines at high-level domestic universities, possess a deep understanding of China’s national conditions, and can apply their theoretical expertise to analyze and address practical issues.

Program Cultivation Mode

1. Full-time study. The program is implemented under a credit system. Students are required to complete the course credits and the thesis.

2. Supervisor System

Students are supervised by their supervisors or co-supervisors. A supervisory committee is formed to assist the advisor in guiding students. Full initiative is encouraged among supervisor, supervisory committees, and doctoral students, fostering collaboration between teachers and students to enhance training quality through mutual learning.

3. Course Teaching

Course Teaching emphasizes the cultivation of students’ initiative and creativity. Flexible teaching methods such as heuristic, seminar-based, and debate-oriented approaches are adopted based on course characteristics, with a focus on developing students’ research and presentation skills. Students are encouraged to read extensively, particularly to engage with cutting-edge literature and materials in relevant international research fields, thereby strengthening their theoretical foundation.

Length of Studies

SWUFE has a flexible academic system. It takes students a minimum of four years and a maximum of six years to obtain a doctor degree.

The maximum length of study includes the time of suspension and retention of student status. Students who exceed the maximum length of study will not be registered in SWUFE.

Mid-term evaluation

Students must complete all coursework and participate in all required midterm registration and examinations.

Academic Research Training

Training methods of scientific research ability include attending weekly lecture,8 lectures per semester in the second, third and fourth semesters, and completing the course of Research Methodology and Writing，Research Methodology and Practice. Writing monographs, course papers, projects application, attending domestic and foreign advanced academic conferences, etc. Research Methodology and Writing is for all doctoral students, and Research Methodology and Practice is mainly for students entering the thesis research stage. The scientific research ability training principle is "scientific research first, teaching second", focusing on students' initiative and creativity in learning and research.Enhance cooperation with domestic and foreign colleges and universities, let students participate in work of project development and project research, cultivate students' scientific research ability and innovation ability, and improve the training quality.

Literature Review and Proposal Report

Thesis Proposal Requirements (1) Complete the mid-term assessment; (2) Complete the thesis proposal, outline of the dissertation, topic demonstration report, and literature review, with the literature review containing 20,000 to 30,000 words.

2. Thesis Proposal Defense Meeting The college will carefully and strictly organize the dissertation proposal defense meeting according to the classification of first-level disciplines. The focus will be on reviewing the topic selection, the rationality of the thesis structure and framework, and the discipline characteristics of the thesis.

Academic Degree Dissertation

Time and Workload: After earning enough credits, doctoral students (under the guidance of their respective advisors) will conduct literature reviews and thesis proposals. They should complete these literature reviews and thesis proposals during their third year. The literature reviews and thesis proposals are worth 2 credits while the dissertation is worth eight credits. The literature review and thesis proposal must be submitted at least 12 months prior to the student’s preliminary thesis defense.

Requirements for the Thesis Topic: The topic of the thesis should focus on pioneering academic, international research and be closely linked with practical problems.

Thesis Proposal: Papers must have preliminary conclusions (hypotheses). After completing their preliminary reports, doctoral students can engage in actively receiving feedback. The student becomes a doctoral candidate after passing the preliminary report review. In principle, a doctoral candidate only focuses on writing his or her doctoral thesis and no longer takes elective courses. The College Graduate Training Committee will assemble a committee to review the doctoral dissertation as well as be present for the student’s dissertation defense. The doctoral dissertation defense committee is composed of three or four RIEM professors in addition to two outside experts.

Dissertation Writing: The doctoral thesis should be completed individually and in a timely fashion; additionally, it should be completed under the guidance of the student’s advisor. The thesis should reflect the author’s solid theoretical foundation, skilled application of professional knowledge, and potential to creatively contribute in his or her field of study.

A doctoral thesis can discuss several topics in the same field, or can encompass a variety of themes (provided that they are all relevant to the research). Students can separate the topics by using a chapter format, or by having distinctive, separate sections. Quality papers, in principle, have a minimum of 40,000 words.

For specific dissertation formatting, please reference the “SWUFE Graduate Student Dissertation Formatting Requirements.”

Dissertation Detection: The dissertation should be submitted to the “Academic Misconduct Detection System” for plagiarism detection and be submitted for review after it has been qualified.

Dissertation Review: The dissertation should be reviewed by at least five reviewers. After passing review, students can participate in the defense.

Dissertation Defense:Details information reference relevant regulations. The defense process should follow the announcement from RIEM’s academic office. It’s required to reach HSK3 level before final defense.