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The Master’s in Political Economy is distinguished by the critical analysis of contemporary economic issues with a strong social impact. Core topics include economic and social inequalities; international and European processes of economic integration; capitalism’s cyclical crises; labour market regulation in the digital era; climate change and sustainability; the centrality of finance in contemporary capitalism; and the rise of populism and far‑right parties in different national and international contexts.
To address these topics, the programme adopts a pluralist and interdisciplinary approach, both in theoretical terms and in the methods used, bringing together insights from economics, political science, sociology, history, development studies and other social sciences.
This is the first master’s degree in Political Economy in Portugal, and it follows the recent international trend towards the creation of new study programmes in this field, reinforcing Iscte’s role in public debates on the major economic and political challenges of our time.
The programme is taught entirely in English and benefits from partnerships with international scholars and universities that run similar degrees, fostering the internationalisation of students and staff through seminars, shared course units and mobility opportunities.
It is primarily aimed at applicants holding undergraduate degrees in Economics, Political Science, International Relations or Sociology, which are the reference disciplinary backgrounds used in the selection of candidates. It also welcomes graduates in Law, Public Administration, Public Policy, History, Development Studies, Anthropology, Environmental Studies, Political Philosophy, European Studies, Management and Finance, as well as applicants from other closely related areas of the social sciences who can demonstrate strong motivation and a suitable academic and/or professional trajectory for the study of Political Economy.
Classes are scheduled during the day, which makes the programme particularly suitable for students who are not yet in full‑time employment, while also accommodating professionals who are able to attend daytime classes.
Master’s students are actively involved in collaborative projects. A recent example is the students’ journal in Political Economy, which publishes essays and opinion pieces on key themes in the field and is open to contributions from all students enrolled in the programme. https://pestudentsjournal.wixsite.com/home
2026/2027
In the first semester of the first year, students attend five mandatory courses that provide the theoretical and methodological foundations needed to analyse economic systems from a Political Economy perspective.
In the second semester, students can shape their individual pathways by choosing four elective courses. There is a wide list of electives available across Iscte; to support students’ decisions, a set of recommended electives is identified every year (see below). In the same semester, students must also attend the Political Economy Research Seminar, which introduces them to recent research projects and findings in Political Economy and encourages interaction with experienced national and international scholars.
The second year is fully dedicated to the dissertation in Political Economy. Students take a methodological elective course tailored to the needs of their research project (an indicative list is provided each year) and participate in a compulsory research seminar where ongoing dissertation work is presented and discussed.
Among the recommended electives are course units that deepen students’ knowledge of key issues in contemporary Political Economy such as financialisation, public policies, development, labour and the welfare state. The list also includes, among others, two electives that focus on pressing current challenges: “The political economy of the far right in the XXI century: a global perspective” and “Political economy of the ecological crisis”.
From the academic year 2026‑2027 onwards, small adjustments will be introduced in the programme structure. The course “States and Markets in Economic Theory” will move to the second semester of the first year, while one of the free electives will be offered in the first semester. As a result, the second semester of the first year will comprise three free electives and two mandatory courses. In the second year, the compulsory dissertation supervision seminar will become a graded course unit, and a significant share of its sessions will be delivered online.
| Unidades curriculares | Semester | ECTS |
|---|---|---|
| Comparative Political Economy | 1 | 6.0 |
| International Political Economy | 1 | 6.0 |
| Readings in Political Economy | 1 | 6.0 |
| Social Constitution of the Economy | 1 | 6.0 |
| States and Markets in Economic Theory | 1 | 6.0 |
| 2nd Cycle Internship Parte Escolar > Optional Courses > Free | 2 | 6.0 |
| Political Economy Research Seminar | 2 | 6.0 |
Recommended optative
Optional courses will only be held if they achieve a minimum number of enrollments.
| Unidades curriculares | Semester | ECTS |
|---|---|---|
| Case Study Methods in Political Economy Parte Escolar > Optional Courses > Research Methods | 1 | 6.0 |
| Dissertation in Political Economy Final Work | 1 | 54.0 |
| Econometric Methods I Parte Escolar > Optional Courses > Research Methods | 1 | 6.0 |
| Research Methods in Anthropology Parte Escolar > Optional Courses > Research Methods | 1 | 6.0 |
Recommended optative
Optional courses will only be held if they achieve a minimum number of enrollments.
The programme aims to enable students to analyse economies as complex systems, whose evolution is determined by social, political, cultural, technological and ecological factors, interacting in specific institutional, historical and geographic contexts. As such, the programme aims to stimulate and prepare students to conduct multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary study and research of economic processes. To this end, students are expected to gain a deep understanding of the contributions made by the main authors, the main research topics and the most used methods in Political Economy, as well as the skills needed to develop autonomous research in this field. At the end of this study cycle students should be prepared to continue their studies at doctoral level and complete them successfully, as well as to carry out professional activities that require capacity to analyse socioeconomic systems with a high level of rigor and critical sense.
The faculty of the Master’s in Political Economy consists of lecturers and researchers from Iscte with extensive teaching and research experience in Political Economy, and with academic backgrounds in Economics, Sociology, Political Science, and Development Studies. Many are members of leading research centres, such as DINÂMIA’CET‑Iscte and CIES‑Iscte, which have been rated as excellent by the Portuguese Research Council (FCT), ensuring a close connection between teaching and cutting‑edge research.
The teaching team covers both the core mandatory courses and a wide range of specialised electives, enabling students to build differentiated pathways around themes such as finance, public policies, labour markets, inequality, populism and the ecological crisis.
Among the lecturers responsible for recommended electives are, among others, Mariana Mortágua (Political Economy of Financialisation), João Carvalho (The political economy of the far right in the XXI century: a global perspective) and Cristina Sousa (Political economy of the ecological crisis), whose academic and professional experience further reinforces the interdisciplinary and critical profile of the programme.
2025/2026
By analysing major contemporary economic issues from a pluralist and interdisciplinary perspective, the Master’s in Political Economy equips students with the skills needed to work in a variety of institutional contexts. Graduates may pursue careers in the private sector (consultancy firms, the financial sector and financial journalism), in central and local government, in European institutions, international organisations and international non‑governmental organisations.
The programme also provides excellent preparation for doctoral studies in Political Economy, in close connection with the PhD in Political Economy launched in 2019‑2020 as a joint programme involving Iscte, the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra (FEUC) and ISEG – Lisbon School of Economics & Management.
Combining strong theoretical training with research methods and critical policy analysis, the Master’s prepares graduates to work in fields such as economic and policy analysis, programme design and evaluation, consultancy, applied research and the communication of economic and political issues to both specialist and broader audiences.
| Round | Start Date | End Date | Vacancies | Application fee | Reservation fee | candidacy.reservation_fee_international |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st round | Mestrado/Master | 2025-12-15 09:30 | 2026-01-14 17:00 | 19 | 70.00 € | 350.00 € | 500.00 € |
| 2nd round | Mestrado/Master | 2026-01-15 09:30 | 2026-02-25 17:00 | 70.00 € | 350.00 € | 500.00 € | |
| 3rd round | Mestrado/Master | 2026-02-26 09:30 | 2026-04-06 17:00 | 70.00 € | 350.00 € | 500.00 € | |
| 4th round | Mestrado/Master | 2026-04-07 09:30 | 2026-05-13 17:00 | 70.00 € | 350.00 € | 500.00 € | |
| 5th round | Mestrado/Master | 2026-05-14 09:30 | 2026-06-24 17:00 | 70.00 € | 350.00 € | 500.00 € | |
| 6th round | Mestrado/Master | 2026-06-25 09:30 | 2026-08-26 17:00 | 70.00 € | 350.00 € | 500.00 € |
SELECTION AND RANKING CRITERIA
Candidates are selected and ranked on the basis of the relevance of their undergraduate degree, their final bachelor’s average, professional experience and motivation for the programme, according to criteria approved by the Committee for the Analysis of Applications. Detailed information on these criteria, including the relative weight of each dimension and the list of disciplinary areas considered most relevant, is available on the Iscte applications webpage.
Evaluation criteria and other usefull information about the aplication available HERE.
DOCUMENTS
The application is made exclusively online. The following documents are mandatory:
Individual statement about English language proficiency
*Applicants who are still completing their bachelor’s degree must upload a declaration of honour (template available on the platform) as an alternative to the diploma.*
Applicants who do not submit the above‑mentioned documents will be transferred to the next round. If they do not provide the missing documentation by the end of the application period of the subsequent round, they will be excluded. Applicants who are not admitted due to a lack of available places may be considered in the following application phase, in line with the general rules for applications at Iscte.
