Department of Economics

The Economics Department of the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Cologne is characterised by academic excellence. Central components of Economics in Cologne are the Cluster of Excellence "ECONtribute: Markets and Public Policy" and the Center for Social and Economic Behaviour (C-SEB).

ECONtribute is a joint Cluster of Excellence of the University of Cologne and the University of Bonn. Since 2019, ECONtribute: Markets & Public Policy is funded as a Cluster of Excellence under the German Excellence Strategy. ECONtribute is the only Cluster of Excellence in Economics and neighbouring disciplines. Using an interdisciplinary approach, economists from Cologne and Bonn work together with colleagues from business administration, political science, law, sociology and psychology to research markets at the interface between economics politics and society. In total, more than 180 researchers are involved in ECONtribute.

The C-SEB brings together world-renowned Cologne researchers from the fields of economics, psychology and sociology. In close cooperation with scholars from Europe and the USA, they investigate the fundamentals of social and economic behaviour.

For young academics, the Department of Economics offers, among other things, a Master's in Economic Research. In a two-year programme modelled on Anglo-Saxon graduate colleges, young research enthusiasts are given the tools they need for a successful Ph.D., which can begin immediately afterwards. Graduates of the Cologne programme now work in leading research and policy institutions.