academic excellence
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Academic Excellence
Western Standards
International Character
Community Value Added
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Center for Economic Research Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education and Graduate Education
and and EconomicEconomicss Institute Institute
(CERGE-EI)(CERGE-EI)
www.cerge-ei.cz
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What is CERGE-EI?A joint academic workplace of Charles
University and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (founded 1991)
Internationally-minded institution with academic staff from all over the world
Mission: modern economics for the post-communist bloc; identify possibly underprepared but gifted students, nourish and develop their talents (so they stay).
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Main productsBasic research in economics
(publications in international journals)
Ph.D. program in Economics
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CERGE-EI Academic Community Country-of-Origin Chart
Armenia, 9
Azerbaijan, 5
Belarus, 8
Bulgaria, 4
Canada , 1
Croatia, 3
Czech Republic, 33
Turkey, 2
Ukraine, 11
USA, 4
Uzbekistan, 7Vietnam, 1
Poland, 5
Romania, 1
Russia, 17
Serbia, 1
Slovakia, 38
Estonia, 1
China, 1Japan, 1
Kazakhstan, 2
Great Britain, 1
Greece, 1
Kenya, 1Korea, 2Kyrgyzstan, 1
Mongolia, 1The Netherlands, 1
Pakistan, 1
Germany, 3
Ethiopia, 2
Georgia, 8
Albania, 1Afghanistan, 1
Egypt, 1
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International Recognition
Absolute charter from the NYSED to award the PhD, MA, and MAE.
SSRN ranking: 58th out of 1,236 economics departments worldwide (top 5%) + ranked Top 10% in Europe in RePEc ranking.
Producing 70 (60) % of articles in top (2nd) IF tercile in economics in the Czech Rep.
“Center of Excellence in Economics Education and Research” (recognition by USAID)
Several FP6 and FP7 projects.
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The Ph.D. program
Modern post-graduate training in economics
Curriculum follows the “U.S. model” All instruction in EnglishInternational faculty with Ph.D.s from
Chicago, Michigan, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Johns Hopkins, UCL, LSE…
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Graduates Find Excellent Jobs
Western Universities: Northwestern (Kellog), UBC, Bonn, Arizona State, Georgia State, Tilburg, Copenhagen Business School, Zurich, Innsbruck,
International Organizations: IMF (5% of Ph.D.s!), EBRD, World Bank,…
Central banks (Czech, Canada, USA)
Consulting (McKinsey, BCG, Deloitte) and private financial institutions
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Academic Buzz
Research Seminars in three fields (over 50 a year including 10 Nobel visitors so far!)
Brown Bag Seminars – students present their own work in an informal setting
Conferences hosted by CERGE-EI (SED, EALE, FMA, GDN, …)
In-house working paper series
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Resources (for students)
Library: The largest collection of economics books, journals, data, and on-line resources in Central and Eastern Europe
Development of English language, writing, and presentation skills
Regular consultations with permanent faculty
Visiting faculty
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Community Value Added
CNB Board – 1, NERV – 2
Policy analysis – IDEA project
Advising several ministries, TV/newspaper article
Active in grant agencies, scientific boards, …
SHARE data collection, European Employment Observatory, GDN, …
Seminars and Library open to public
Teaching Fellowships
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Governance A joint workplace of two legal entities:
CERGE of Charles UniversityEconomics Institute of AVCR
External supervisory board (Stiglitz, Aghion, Sutton, Roland, Krueger, Svejnar, Shaked…):
key strategic decisionsservice on dissertation workshopsapproves hiring of new faculty evaluates faculty and awards tenure
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Quality Control - Internal
No inbreeding
Hiring new faculty on the international market for economists
Course evaluations
Plagiarism not tolerated
De-facto tenure system based primarily on publications
Regular evaluations, feedback on research (actually read the papers)
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Quality Control - External
International competition (students and faculty)
NYSED charter evaluations
External board
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Key factors behind the success
Clear and shared mission
Devotion to the mission and “good practices”
International background of faculty
External board
Starting from scratch helped
Start-up Western funding helped (but it’s gone)
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Challenges ahead
“Coffee mill”:
Despite producing 70% (60%) of articles in top (second) IF tercile in economics in CZ, CERGE-EI share of “research output” in economics according to RVVI formula is only 16%.
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Challenges ahead
Intensified competition from Western Europe (more generous stipends for PhD students)
Background of incoming students from many CEE universities still poor
Much of EU funding bypasses Prague
LC centers eliminated
Funding of PhD programs (“normatives”, stipends) does not reflect quality
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Ph.D. program:The 1st and 2nd Years1st year: a common curriculum of Micro,
Macro, Econometrics, and Academic Writing
2nd year: elective courses in specialized fields (Finance, Advanced Macro, Industrial Organization, International Trade, Public Economics, Advanced Econometrics, etc.) and Academic Writing
Research Methodology Seminar
M.A. Degree
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Ph.D. Program:The Dissertation Stage
Early 3rd year: students formulate and defend a dissertation proposal
3rd -5th years: work on the dissertation under regular guidance from their professors
Dissertation workshop (4th year) and final dissertation defense
The dissertation makes an original contribution to economics, comparable to articles in high-quality international journals
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Financial Conditions
Tuition-free for almost all students
All students receive stipends ($500-$1000 depending on performance and year)
5 years of funding
Research and teaching assistantship requirements
Housing arrangements
Good work is rewarded
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