Drawing your career path at the UB School of Economics

Five alumni of the MSc in Economics class of 2020 were admitted to PhD programmes in different prestigious institutions and one of them is currently pursuing the 2-year Master’s in Economics and Finance at Centro de Estudios Monetarios y Financieros (CEMFI). It is for us a great satisfaction knowing that thanks to their successful experience at the UB School of Economics, they were able to draw their future career path in the field of research and economics. We have spoken to them and, despite the limitations generated by Covid-19, they are enjoying the experience as much as possible.

Guida Ayza is currently a researcher and PhD candidate at the Department of Applied Economics of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (DULBEA). She explained that the opportunity of taking part in the Erasmus exchange programme has encouraged her to continue her career internationally. “During the two years of the MSc in Economics at UB, I had the opportunity to get familiar with the academic research world, as well as finding my areas of interest: labour, and health economics”, she said. “I would like to pursue an academic career in Economics as I believe that social research is important to gain a greater understanding of our society and find evidence to improve decisions”, Ricard Grèbol added. He is a predoctoral research fellow at UC3M (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) and he is looking forward to applying to a PhD programme this following year.

Valeria Chukaeva is now a PhD student in Enviromental and Behavioural Economics at the University of Graz (Austria): “I feel in my cup of tea when doing research. Moreover, I think that a PhD is a final step of the educational path that is worth taking because it opens many more opportunities.” “The UB gave me a strong basis thanks to which I was able to find my passion in research and gave me a taste of how to be in an academic atmosphere”, she added. Miquel Oliver, PhD in Economics student at the University of Nottingham (United Kingdom), said that his goal is to pursue a career in academia: “The Erasmus experience offered by the master’s was a good value but hopefully, when I finish my PhD I can come back as a researcher to a university in Catalonia, since the gravity effect towards home is unavoidable.”

Cristian Navarro is living a different situation. He is currently pursuing the 2-year Master’s in Economics and Finance at Centro de Estudios Monetarios y Financieros (CEMFI). This Master’s constitutes the coursework stage that gives access to the research stage of the PhD in Economics at CEMFI: “The MSc in Economics at UB led me into a high-quality academic environment and fostered my research curiosity, it was fundamental for my successful acceptance at CEMFI. I would recommend to anyone to join UB’s program, as it is great at opening up new opportunities and delivers solid foundations to its students”.

Marc Cuenca is currently a PhD student in Economics at the UB. In his view “the more you progress in your studies, the more you realise the number of things you don’t know.” He believes that the MSc in Economics has been a completely necessary step for a successful research career: “It has been a very enriching experience, both academically and personally, and it provides me with strokes on the fundamental toolkit of concepts for the economic analysis, from which you can build further advanced knowledge and skills.” “I appreciated the friendly and close treatment received from the School of Economics, as well as the great network that I created with both excellent peers and professors”, Guida Ayza stated. “The close contact with the professors has helped me to know how academic research in economics works”, she added.

“The MSc in Economics at UB was a great experience that helped me get to know my interests and career goals. The programme introduced me to the different fields of study and guided me to discover the research topics of my interest”, Ricard Grèbol said. Valeria Chukaeva, during her stage at the UB School of Economics, “always felt support from professors” affirmed, “and the material that we studied was advanced enough to be able to continue with my PhD. Moreover, the wide range of elective courses to choose from guarantees that different research interests could be met.”

“The MSc in Economics offers the appropriate tools and guidance to progress to a PhD program afterwards” adds Miquel Oliver, “when you finish your undergraduate programme, you are not aware at all about where the frontier of research is, and I think the master’s allowed me to narrow this gap.” According to Cristian Navarro, “the quality of the master’s is remarkable. One of its strongest points is the network of people that makes up the program, both students and faculty. Moreover, the international program, which connects students with top European universities, is also an incredible opportunity. All these points turned it out into a really positive experience.”


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