“The research environment at the UB School of Economics is active and stimulating”

Zelda Brutti is a postdoctoral researcher at the Universitat de Barcelona School of Economics. She is also a researcher at the Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB), a centre founded within the university. She joined our institution after successfully going through a competitive international selection process last year, while she was finishing her PhD thesis “Empirical Essays on Education Policy Evaluation”, which she defended at the European University Institute (EUI) last September. In this interview, she tells us about her experience in Barcelona.

It’s already been eight months since you joined the UB School of Economics and the IEB as a postdoctoral researcher. What do you think of the experience thus far?
I am definitely enjoying my experience here at IEB and UB so far. I find the research environment to be active and stimulating, colleagues are great and I have been settling in quite quickly.

What can you tell us about the research you are carrying out?
I am currently finishing up some research papers I had in progress on my arrival, mainly on education reform evaluations. I have also started a new project on preschool and criminal activities with my colleague Daniel Montolio at the IEB.

Are you enjoying conducting your research at the University of Barcelona?
Yes. I am enjoying my research activities here, as I find the environment to be stimulating and research-friendly.

What courses do you teach at the Faculty of Economics and Business?
This year I have been teaching two undergraduate courses: “Principles of Taxation” and “Regional and Local Finance”, both in English.

What do you enjoy most about teaching UB students?
I enjoy the challenge of providing lectures that prove useful and interesting to students.

You had to go through a competitive selection process before being offered a place at the University of Barcelona. How was your experience as an Economics Job Market candidate?
My experience as an international job market candidate was exciting and challenging at the same time. I am very happy to have gone through the process, as it was rewarding both personally and academically.

Did you ever imagined yourself being a postdoc researcher at the University of Barcelona?
Well this University was among those I had targeted in my application process, so I did have some hopes and dreams about it!

What do you expect from your postdoc experience?
I expect this experience to continue proceeding as positively as it started, to bring along several projects with colleagues and to prove rewarding both in terms of research and teaching experience.

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