Master’s in Economics Research at CERGE-EI prepares talented Bachelor’s students for PhD studies. Giorgi and Margarita among CERGE-EI’s first MAER graduates, both pursue their PhDs – Giorgi at Boston College in the US, and Margarita at CERGE-EI.

Giorgi did his Bachelor’s at American University in Bulgaria, where he first learned about CERGE-EI.

“I took a course in Economic History offered by a CERGE-EI alumnus. He was very passionate about CERGE-EI and told us about the strengths of its program, life in Prague, the qualifications of professors and numerous student success stories. His enthusiasm was very contagious and I took the idea of applying very seriously. When I was filling graduate school applications two years later, I visited the CERGE-EI website again and learned about MAER – a new Master’s degree program with world-class PhD curriculum, full funding and a stipend, the possibility to continue towards PhD research phase at CERGE-EI and the freedom to move to another program. It sounded almost too good to be true (except that it was true).”

Margarita’s motivation to study Master’s in Economics Research was her passion and ambition to do a PhD.

“…the MAER program is part of the PhD program at CERGE-EI, which makes this program much stronger than many other Master’s programs in Europe. As a person who wants to obtain a PhD degree in the future, I chose MAER as it is an excellent opportunity to start my PhD studies just after completing my Bachelor’s. There are many faculty members at CERGE-EI who are doing research in my field of study, so this program (and a PhD program afterwards) allows me to work with the best professionals in my field.”

Within MAER, Giorgi and Margarita both successfully defended their master thesis. Giorgi was then admitted to a PhD in Finance program at Boston College in Massachusetts. Did his CERGE-EI experience prepare him well enough for studies in the States?

“The CERGE-EI experience has been invaluable. At Boston College, I have to take some graduate courses in Economics as a part of the PhD in Finance program. Thanks to CERGE-EI, economics courses are mostly a revision for me, while finance courses are also closely related to CERGE-EI coursework. This puts me in a unique position, because after 6 semesters of MAER, I can very easily follow the technicalities of coursework, which allows me to focus on the big picture in the context of my research interests (which I, in turn, developed here).”

Margarita continues her PhD at CERGE-EI, and she chose Labor Economics as her field of research, because: “Labor Economics topics are always relevant and interesting both for one particular individual and society as a whole.”

What does she like about studying at CERGE-EI?

“The PhD program at CERGE-EI is highly competitive and gives a super strong and deep understanding of economics. Classes are small, allowing you to interact better with professors and your classmates. At the same time, all study plans force you to think critically and look for mechanisms behind common facts. Overall, the community at CERGE is not very big (although very diverse), which means people have time for you and you can often consult with the best professionals in the field and develop a range of skills.”

We wish both these MAER alumni good luck with their PhD studies!