{"id":3837,"date":"2021-01-21T09:45:07","date_gmt":"2021-01-21T08:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cerge-ei.cz\/?p=3837"},"modified":"2026-03-26T09:53:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T08:53:45","slug":"in-need-of-support-funds-to-keep-the-competitive-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cerge-ei.cz\/?p=3837","title":{"rendered":"In Need of Support Funds to Keep the Competitive Edge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our PhD in Economics graduate from 2003, David V\u00e1vra<\/a>, founder and managing partner of OGResearch<\/strong>, is until today strongly connected to CERGE-EI. He was one of the initiators to establish the CERGE-EI Student Support Fund<\/a>, and as of 2020, sits on the Board of Nadace CERGE-EI as its Chair. What was it like for him as a student? What is his vision as Board Chair at Nadace CERGE-EI? Read an interview with David to learn more about his contributions to the CERGE-EI community and his career achievements.<\/em><\/p>\n

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You were admitted to CERGE-EI`s fifth cohort in 1996. What convinced you to apply to such a new institution back then?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My former lecturer from University College Dublin told me this was an excellent school, unique in the region, and though I did not intend to become a full-time economist back then, I applied and held out. These were the days when word of mouth was more important than word of internet (Google did not exist).<\/p>\n

You hold the position of Managing Partner at OGResearch. Have your CERGE-EI studies influenced you in your career?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Profoundly so. OGR is a pure-blood consultancy in quantitative economics; dare I say one of a few in the private sector worldwide. The quant aspect, which distinguishes us from much of the competition, owes a lot to CERGE-EI\u2019s emphasis on strong quantitative methods and skills, though it did not seem that practical back then to count the snakes and their indices.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>In December 2020 you became Nadace CERGE-EI Board Chair. What was your motivation to join Nadace? What is your vision as Board Chair?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am very grateful to CERGE-EI for many things in my professional life, and this is one of the ways I can give back. I would consider it a success, if we could manage to build a close-knit alumni community, which would provide a reliable support network to students and graduates, as well as be a source of useful feedback to the school\u2019s management.<\/p>\n

As a CERGE-EI alumnus, you have been actively supporting CERGE-EI. You were the initiator of establishing the CERGE-EI Student Support Fund so that alumni can financially support CERGE-EI Master students. Why did you decide to create such a fund?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would not have been able to continue my studies had I not received support from similar funds in the past, when I was a student. And I believe many students, especially from the CEE region, are in a similar predicament today. Moreover, the ability to attract good talent from the CEE countries is one of CERGE-EI\u2019s strong features. I believe the Fund is necessary in keeping that competitive edge.<\/p>\n

How would you evaluate the response of alumni to the fund\u2019s establishment?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The alumni community is only just emerging. Yet, we have received much encouragement and the results of the give-back campaign have exceeded our expectations. However, we are still below the target for this year’s campaign and I would like to encourage my fellow alumni to contribute before the campaign ends in February.<\/p>\n

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Our PhD in Economics graduate from 2003, David V\u00e1vra, founder and managing partner of OGResearch, is until today strongly connected to CERGE-EI. He was one of the initiators to establish the CERGE-EI Student Support Fund, and as of 2020, sits on the Board of Nadace CERGE-EI as its Chair. What was it like for him … Continue reading In Need of Support Funds to Keep the Competitive Edge<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":3840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[149,240,59,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-alumni-give-back","category-interview","category-phd"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t