Overview of the Department of Economics

The Department of Economics is one of four disciplines that make up the Business School. It organises research activity in Economics and coordinates undergraduate teaching in Economics. There are 15 full-time and 3 part-time faculty members in Economics (8 full, 5 associate, and 5 assistant professors) (as of May 2012). The Head of Economics is Dr John Skatun.

The Department of Economics has a well-established tradition of research in applied economics, particularly in the areas of labour economics and energy economics. There are also research interests in macroeconomics, the economics of health and wellbeing, and experimental economics. In the Research Assessment Exercise results of 2008, 100% of Economics research, was judged to be of international quality.

The Department of Economics coordinates the teaching of students on the four-year Scottish undergraduate MA Economics programme. In the first two years, students study introductory and intermediate courses in Economics alongside courses chosen from other disciplines within the MA programme. In the final two years students are able to choose from a wide range of Economics honours courses, and write a dissertation on a topic of their choice. Economics graduates go on to careers in business, government, education, or private research and consulting. They are highly employable and gain relatively high earnings compared to other disciplines.