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 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 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
CERGE-EI Academic Community
Country-of-Origin Chart
Afghanistan, 1
Vietnam, 1
Uzbekistan, 7
Albania, 1
Armenia, 9
USA, 4
Azerbaijan, 5
Ukraine, 11
Belarus, 8
Bulgaria, 4
Turkey, 2
Canada , 1
Croatia, 3
Slovakia, 38
Czech Republic, 33
Egypt, 1
Estonia, 1
Serbia, 1
Ethiopia, 2
Russia, 17
Georgia, 8
Germany, 3
Great Britain, 1
Greece, 1
Romania, 1
Poland, 5
Pakistan, 1
5
The Netherlands, 1
Kyrgyzstan, 1
Korea, 2
Mongolia, 1
China, 1
Japan, 1
Kazakhstan, 2
Kenya, 1
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.
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 (McKinsey, 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 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
17
Ph.D. program:
The 1st and 2nd Years
1st 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
18
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
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