Resident PhD Fellowship

The Research unit of Danmarks Nationalbank invites applications for fellowships to support students enrolled or wishing to enrol in a PhD programme in economics or finance at a Danish university.

The position

As a resident PhD fellow, you will predominantly work on your PhD thesis. You have one or more academic advisers at the university where you are enrolled. These advisers are responsible for mentoring your academic progress in collaboration with academics of the central bank.

The research unit offers an environment with a young, active, and international team of PhD economists in macroeconomics, finance, household finance and labour economics. It has good connections to academic and policy institutions both in Denmark and internationally. It hosts regular visits from internationally renowned scholars.

You also benefit from the wide range of expertise of economists working in different areas of the bank and get exposure to policy discussions.

Moreover, the research unit offers an excellent data infrastructure. You can access a wide variety of microdata that the bank collects, and microdata hosted at Statistics Denmark through its general agreement with Statistics Denmark. We have large experience in working with microdata and strongly encourage you to use this data for your research projects.

Earlier resident PhD fellows subsequently found positions at NHH Bergen, DREAM, the Swiss National Bank, Danmarks Nationalbank, Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen University, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

To ensure that you benefit from the PhD fellowship, we expect you to be at the bank regularly and to participate in the Research Unit's activities. Moreover, instead of teaching at the university, you will work in on research projects in collaboration with your academic advisors. The workload is comparable to the teaching workload in a Danish PhD program.

You will receive office space and a monthly stipend equivalent to the PhD stipend offered by Danish universities (currently around DKK 26,000 or EUR 3,500 per month, see the latest agreement here).

Moreover, the bank provides health insurance, research funds, travel funds, covers university fees and provides computer equipment and software.

The typical duration of the fellowship is three years, conditional on the annual approval of a progress report. Past fellows that are interested in pursuing an international academic career have been able to extend their PhD thesis during a fourth year.

Your profile

You have a strong background in economics, proven by excellent grades in a relevant master's program. It is advantageous if you have experience handling large micro datasets or relevant programming experience. It is also beneficial if you are internationally mobile if you plan to pursue an academic position after completing your PhD.

Since the fellowship requires regular presence at the bank, this programme targets predominantly students enrolled or wishing to enrol at a university in the Copenhagen area. Students enrolled at more distant universities should specify in their application how they plan to engage in PhD coursework and faculty mentoring while also being at the bank regularly.

The University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen Business School welcome applications for their PhD programmes from Danmarks Nationalbank fellowship applicants. Please indicate in your application to these university programmes that you have also applied for funding to Danmarks Nationalbank.

Application procedure

If you are already enrolled or accepted for enrolment in a PhD programme, please submit the following:

1. A detailed CV

2. An official transcript of the courses attended.

3. A thesis proposal, describing your research project, including its problems, details of the theoretical and empirical aspects, and a discussion on how your PhD thesis creates new knowledge.

4. A timeline for your proposed PhD studies

5. One letter of reference from an academic, ideally from your main supervisor if available.

If you are planning to enrol in a PhD programme starting on or before September 2026, please additionally submit the following:

1. Evidence of fluency in English (official test results or equivalent)

2. A detailed list of the PhD programmes where you will submit an application

3. Any additional material you will submit to the school where you apply for your PhD studies (for example, GRE or similar admission test results, previous research work, etc.)

If you are a citizen of a country outside the Nordic countries or the EU/EEA, you must hold a residence permit in order to reside in Denmark during the PhD programme. Read more here:

For questions about the resident PhD student fellowship programme, please do not hesitate to contact Renato Faccini (

).

The deadline for applications is 15 January 2026.