Academic Excellence Western Standards International Character Community Value

Academic Excellence Western Standards International Character Community Value Added 1

Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education and Economics Institute (CERGE-EI) www. cerge-ei. cz 2

What is CERGE-EI? A j oint 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 postcommunist bloc; identify possibly underprepared but gifted students, nourish and develop their talents (so they stay). 3

Main products Basic research in economics (publications in international journals) Ph. D. program in Economics 4

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International Recognition Absolute charter from the NYSED to award the Ph. D, MA, and MAE. SSRN ranking: 58 th out of 1, 236 economics departments worldwide (top 5%) + ranked Top 10% in Europe in Re. PEc ranking. Producing 70 (60) % of articles in top (2 nd ) IF tercile in economics in the Czech Rep. “Center of Excellence in Economics Education and Research” (recognition by USAID) 6

The Ph. D. program Modern post-graduate training in economics Curriculum follows the “U. S. model” All instruction in English International faculty with Ph. D. s from Chicago, Michigan, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Johns Hopkins, UCL, LSE… 7

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 (Mc. Kinsey, BCG, Deloitte) and private financial institutions 8

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 9

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 10

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 11

Governance A joint workplace of two legal entities: CERGE of Charles University Economics Institute of AVCR External supervisory board (Stiglitz, Aghion, Sutton, Roland, Krueger, Svejnar, Shaked…): key strategic decisions service on dissertation workshops approves hiring of new faculty evaluates faculty and awards tenure 12

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) 13

Quality Control - External International competition (students and faculty) NYSED charter evaluations External board 14

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) 15

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%. 16

Challenges ahead Intensified competition from Western Europe (more generous stipends for Ph. D students) Background of incoming students from many CEE universities still poor Much of EU funding bypasses Prague LC centers eliminated Funding of Ph. D programs (“normatives”, stipends) does not reflect quality 17

Ph. D. program: The 1 st and 2 nd Years 1 st year: a common curriculum of Micro, Macro, Econometrics, and Academic Writing 2 nd 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 18

Ph. D. Program: The Dissertation Stage Early 3 rd year: students formulate and defend a dissertation proposal 3 rd -5 th years: work on the dissertation under regular guidance from their professors th year) and Dissertation workshop (4 final dissertation defense The dissertation makes an original contribution to economics, comparable to articles in high-quality international journals 19

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 20