Quantitative Economic Analysis-QuEA

To obtain the Master's degree in Quantitative Economic Analysis, students must complete 60 ECTS credits distributed over three terms. They may take the Master's degree on a full-time basis (preferably) or part-time (between 24 and 36 ECTS credits per academic year).

The first term (Michaelmas term) consists of five mandatory courses that provide the fundamentals of advanced theoretical and quantitative economic analysis, as well as advanced computational techniques in Python.

The second term (Lent term) includes four compulsory and one optional subjects, covering topics directly related to economic theory, international finance, econometrics, big data analysis and complex networks.

During the third term (summer term), students will take the optional subjects of their selected itinerary. They can choose to do an internship in a first level company or public institution (professional track), or take two specialized optional subjects (research track). Finally, students will complete a master's thesis.

Seminars:

As a complementary training, the QuEA Master offers specialized seminars in topics in economics, finance, econometrics, big data and machine learning, given by professionals and academics specialized in these subject. These seminars are organized in parallel with the regular courses at no additional cost to the students.

Calendars:

Term dates in 2024-2025

First term (Michaelmas term):

• Classes: from 30 September to 5 December 2024
• Exams: from 16 December to 20 December 2024

Second term (Lent term):

• Classes: from 8 January to 18 March 2025
• Exams: from 20 March to 31 March 2025

Third term (Summer term):

• Classes: from 8 April to 23 May 2025
• Exams: from 26 to 30 May 2025
• Extra assessment: 9 to 25 June 2025

Master thesis:

• Submission deadline: 1 July 2025
• Extra assessment: until 10 September 2025

Information regarding the admission procedure can be obtained from this website

Students of the Master in Quantitative Economic Analysis (QuEA) are required to do a Master’s Thesis of 12 ECTS.

The Master's Thesis consists of two parts. First, the realization of an original research paper. The students should present it at the end of the course, and it will be evaluated by a committee. Second, the student’s participation in the activities included in the "Workshop in Research Methodologies".

For the elaboration of the research paper, students will be assisted by a member of the faculty, who acts as their thesis supervisor and with whom they determine the exact topic, methodology and structure of thesis.

For those students who choose the professional itinerary and, the Master’s Thesis may be related to the internships.

In the third term, students can choose between taking two optional courses of the research itinerary or carry out internships (6 ECTS). The minimum duration of the internship is 120 hours, although the internship may be extended by up to 630 hours (yielding a maximum duration of 750 hours per academic course).

The tasks to be performed during the internships should include a training component in line with the Master’s objectives.

Through the Internship Office of the Faculty of Economics, this Master program will have direct access to an extensive database of institutions, including the Human Resources Departments of the main IBEX35 companies.

Priority will be given to internships offered by institutions such as Banco de España; BBVA Research; Banco Santander; La Caixa Research, etc., as well as by departments of economic analysis, cabinets and other centres of economic policy (Ministerio de Economía, Ministerio de Hacienda, Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), ICEX, COFIDES, CESCE, etc.), and by planning and data analysis departments of international firms (e.g. Google, Amazon, Amadeus, McKinsey, Deloite, Accenture, …). UAM also has on-going collaboration agreements with relevant companies such as Repsol, Toyota, etc.

The search process for internships is carried out jointly between the students and the coordination of the Master, in collaboration with the Internship Office of the Faculty of Economic and Business Administration. Internships will usually take place from April (third term) or during the summer.

The coordinators of the master will inform students of the internship offerings of which they have knowledge. Given the competitive nature of the internships, the signing of the internship contracts will depend on the institutions, which will be responsible for selecting the candidates from the pool of applicants, and therefore the internships cannot be guaranteed a priori. In some cases, the internships are paid.

Although all courses of the master are taught in English, since most of the internships are carried out at firms and institutions located in Spain, a minimum proficiency in Spanish will be required.

Through the Erasmus+prácticas program it is possible to carry out internships in countries of the European Union.

It will be possible to validate 6 credits of internships for those students who carry out a professional activity in the functional areas of economic analysis and quantitative analysis in companies and other public or private institutions that meets the academic and training requirements of the master's degree. The Academic Committee of the master will assess each case and issue the corresponding report.

After completing the Master in Quantitative Economic Analysis, students who wish so, may apply to the PhD program in Economics and Business of the UAM.

This program has its own admission criteria, among which there is a requirement to have passed a master’s degree of at least 60 ECTS as described here.

Faculty members from the Departments of Economic Analysis: Economic Theory and Economic History and Economic Analysis: Quantitative Economics are in charge of most of the courses in the master's program.

They hold PhD degrees and have extensive teaching and research experience in different areas of economic analysis (macroeconomics, microeconomics, industrial organization, game theory, international trade, labour economics, environmental economics, health economics, experimental economics, etc.) and quantitative economics (dynamic analysis, network theory, machine learning, time series, microeconometrics, macroeconometrics, financial econometrics, Bayesian econometrics, etc.). They stand out for their strong commitment to quality teaching and research.

Many of the faculty members have obtained their PhD degrees or have been post-doctoral scholars in prestigious international universities such as the University of California at Berkeley, Columbia University, New York University, University of Miami, Arizona State University, London School of Economics and Political Science, Lancaster University, Duke University, The University of Chicago, Johannes Gutenberg Universität, Tilburg University, Kiel University, European University Institute, etc., as well as other universities and foreign institutions (European Central Bank, European Commission, etc.).

Syllabi are approved for each academic year by each department:

QuEA Web page