Curriculum

Download detailed curriculum overview.

Discovery Days

Students discover companies and organizations that have achieved impact in a variety of ways and work on short projects for these companies or organizations.

Interventions Module

In the Spring Semester, using a human-centered problem solving method called design thinking, students are guided to learn how to develop new solutions from the ground up, filter ideas analytically, and go through several prototypes of proposals before delivering results (which can be a business case, a policy proposal, or a project to implement).

Students do this by engaging in a unique Interventions Module, consisting of discussion seminars and fieldwork/solutions seminar class. During the interventions seminars, they explore economics research related to specific interventions and tools that have been tested in the field, the lab, or through randomized controlled trials. Students test these ideas in the field through interviews and data collection.

For example, if the topic of the seminar is Migration, they might read about successful economic interventions to integrate recent immigrants, but also meet asylum seekers in refugee centers, talk to NGOs working with refugees and migrants, and consult a government office that makes decisions about their social welfare. In the solutions design seminar, they will identify a need and develop a sustainable solution to address that need.

Group Client Projects

The Summer Semester is the time to work on a defined project for an external client. Students become consultants who have to create a work plan and a strategy for tackling a quantitatively challenging idea, meet with clients to present progress, and show and defend their final results. Projects are chosen carefully, so that the client actually intends to implement the results. The final presentations are public and tend to be attended by prospective clients, employers or journalists.

Students who want to further develop their projects from the Interventions Module or who have their own project in mind, may petition the program director to spend the summer semester developing their own ideas instead of working for a client.

Check out the list of projects that are being offered in 2015/2016.

Personal Professional Development

We believe that if students are to engage in meaningful changes in the world around them, they need to first and foremost understand themselves, which is the intent of Personal Professional Development. Students conduct self- and peer-assessments of their strengths and growth areas; work on exercises to try to understand what their potential purpose in life might be; work with mentors in the area that interests them; and are encouraged to learn to live a balanced life (which may sometimes be difficult to do with a full class load!).

During the Fall and Spring Semesters, we also organize sessions with interesting speakers from the field to discuss different paths that lead to a meaningful life after school. Some examples of such sessions are: “Applied Mathematics in the Context of a Global Company”, “What it is like to work for a Central Bank”, or “Introduction to Venture Capital”.

Preparatory Semester

Being admitted to the MA in Applied Economics program means that you must take Preparatory Semester courses before the beginning of the program. The goal of the Preparatory Semester is to make sure you are prepared to succeed in the Masters of Arts in Applied Economics program from the very beginning. Preparatory Semester grades are not officially recorded for the program.

Dates and duration: beginning of July to end of August (8 weeks)

Form: online, part-time, enabling you to continue with your work or studies during the preparatory semester

Courses:

• Coursera–based Calculus I
• Applied Economics
• English

If you are well-prepared, it does not take much time to complete the Preparatory Semester. For less-prepared students, the Preparatory Semester helps familiarize you with the principles of economics and allows you more practice in the English of economics to support your success in the MA in Applied Economics program.

Thesis

Completing a thesis is not required to gain the Masters of Arts in Applied Economics degree, and normally is not part of the program. You may choose to do a thesis if you want a more research-intensive education or if you have reason to believe the degree will not be nostrified without a thesis.

The requirements and procedure for completing a thesis are agreed upon for your individual needs. You will need to have a faculty supervisor and the Program Director must pre-approve your study plan. The fee for the thesis is 3,000 USD.

The thesis is always completed after all other courses are finished. Even if you complete a thesis, you must still complete the Group client project.

You are not required to be resident in Prague when you are doing your thesis. It is possible to graduate with the Master of Arts in Applied Economics degree, receive the diploma, and complete the thesis afterwards. Student status and long-term visa documentation is not provided while you are writing a thesis.