Program Details

Why to Choose Our Program

"I greatly improved my quantitative and qualitative analytical skills and gained deeper understanding of financial econometrics. This was essential training for an economist working at a central bank."

Sevinj Gahramanova, Graduate of 2012, Analyst at the Strategic Management Department, Central Bank of Azerbaijan

The MA in Applied Economics is a 1-year tuition-based US program in English with a focus on data science. During that year our students become curious, impact-driven personalities able to crunch the numbers and face real-world challenges.

4 Reasons Why This Program is the Right One for You:

Focus on data science: Curriculum anchored in data analysis and cooperation with business clients on real-life projects.

US degree in 1 year in Prague: 3 intensive semesters in an international community of students in one of the top European economic research institutions.

Individual approach: Small group setting with an individual approach and tailored career services, including mentoring and coaching.

Fast track to employment: 100% of alumni are employed in the field within 6 months of graduation.

Program Structure and Faculty

The program is divided into 3 semesters, each 13 weeks long, including one week for final exams.
Each course meets twice per week for 90-minute lecture sessions and once for an additional 90-minute exercise session.
To graduate, you need to take all 5 core and at least 7 elective courses, plus pass all communication and pass/fail courses with a cumulative GPA of at least 1.75, and pay all your tuition fees.

If you are interested in a part-time option, feel free to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to agree on an individual study plan.

Online Preparatory Semester and Math Review Week: Getting Ready (July – mid-September)

All admitted students are strongly encouraged to go through a self-paced, home-based 8-week summer Preparatory semester in Mathematics, Microeconomics, and Programming in R. Students who are well equipped with knowledge in these fields will find these courses quick and relatively easy. Students with less background in economics or knowledge of calculus will need to work harder. Students subsequently attend an intensive math training week that takes place in Prague, concluded by a pass/fail exam to complete the preparatory semester.

Fall Semester: Foundations (mid September – December)

Instead of a classical orientation session, students start their academic year with Discovery week – a 1-week-long consulting project for a pre-selected NGO using the Human-centered Design approach with guidance from trained mentors. This week does not only give an opportunity for students to learn more about themselves and their classmates, but also proves to them that they can have a positive impact on other people’s lives within a very short period of time. For more information about our past projects, please read our blog post.

Within the block of three core economic courses, students cover math-based master's level economic concepts in micro and macroeconomics. Students also get introduced to the portfolio of statistical methods they will use throughout the year and learn how to implement them in R and other relevant statistical programs. In the Communication for Impact course, they develop writing skills required to submit an effective and accurate academic/professional text and presentation skills to create a memorable message and engage with the audience.

The Fall semester Personal and Professional Development is aimed at self-discovery to help students identify their career goals through a series of inspirational career talks given by HR people and recent MAE graduates, self-discovery and personal development workshops related to a growth mindset, the career tree technique, critical thinking, and writing a Personal Purpose Essay.

Spring Semester: Acquiring Experience (January – mid April)

During the Spring semester, students enhance their analytical skills through the extended curriculum of Quantitative Methods, and start to apply them in real economic scenarios within the scope of the 3-4 electives they have chosen (for the updated list of electives and their instructors, please click the Curriculum section below). Communication for Impact 2 focuses on practical skills required in the workplace – i.e. students role-play meetings, write a proposal and negotiate with a potential client.
The Spring semester Personal and Professional Development is aimed at clarifying to the students what it is like to work in specific areas where applied economics skills are used. Students participate in career talks given by professionals from different fields (e.g. central banking, consulting, and an NGO), visit companies, start working with a mentor and try to mentor younger high achievers themselves.

Summer Semester: Ready For Impact (May – mid July)

In the Summer semester, students complete their portfolio of skills and applicable knowledge through a further specialized choice of electives. As by this time students should be ready to turn this portfolio into valuable insights within the scope of the Project Seminar, they form teams of 2-3 to work on client projects in the private, public and non-profit sectors. Their work and results are supervised by instructors; the quality of the written materials as well as the presentations and visualizations is improved in the Communication for Impact 3 course by consultations and mock presentations.

Curriculum

To graduate from the Master in Applied Economics program, students need to

Pass all 5 core courses (Applied Microeconomic Analysis, Macroeconomic Policy Analysis, Quantitative Methods I, Quantitative Methods II, Project Seminar)
Pass at least 7 elective courses (see list below)
Pass all Communication for Impact courses
Pass all pass/fail courses (Math Review, R for Econometrics, Personal and Professional Development)
Achieve a cumulative GPA of above 1.75
Pay all tuition fees

Core Courses

Applied Microeconomic Analysis

This course aims to introduce students to economic fundamentals like preferences, costs, demand and supply, perfect and imperfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly, and market failure. These fundamentals are critical to understanding how markets work, to design successful business strategies and policies that increase social welfare.

Instructor: Andreas Menzel, Ph.D.

Macroeconomic Policy Analysis

In this course, students learn to think and analyze real world phenomena, such as economic growth, business cycles and the role of economic policy through the lens of state-of-the-art macro models, such as general equilibrium models built from explicit micro foundations.

Instructor: Ctirad Slavik, Ph.D.

Quantitative Methods I and II

The first part of this sequence series will provide students with knowledge of the elements of statistical inference, namely multivariate statistics and multivariate data analysis methods. Topics in the second part include non-linear regression functions, instrumental variables regression, regression with panel data, and regression with a limited dependent variable. Upon completion, students will understand and be able to perform standard descriptive and inferential data analysis, investigate and test the relationship between variables as well as specify, use and interpret multivariate models. These techniques are widely used in economic research carried out in governmental institutions, international organizations, central banks, as well as in the financial and business environment. Both courses will also emphasize empirical analysis and focus on the use of data in practice along with the use of available statistical software (R, Stata).

Instructor of QM I: Prof. RNDr. Jan Hanousek, CSc., DSc.

Instructor of QM II: Pavla Vozárová, Ph.D.

Project Seminar

Instructor: Doc. RNDr. Filip Matějka, Ph.D.

Communication for Impact I, II and III

In the writing part, the course aims at the development of the core writing skills required to submit an effective and accurate academic and professional text. In the presentation skills part, students learn how to create a memorable message and engage with the audience. Finally, in the negotiation part students practice scenarios in which they have to defend a proposal, persuade a business partner and come up with a comprehensive solution.

Instructor: Paul Whitaker, M.A.

Elective Courses

The portfolio of the elective courses taught in the last three years includes the following courses with expert instructors:

Corporate Finance and Valuation

Instructor: Richard Podpiera, Ph.D. (Executive Director, Group Segment Management - Retail, CSOB)

Development and Behavioral Economics

Instructor: Doc. Michal Bauer, Ph.D. (CERGE-EI, Prague)

Economics of Human Resources

Instructor: Doc. Ing. Mariola Pytliková, Ph.D. (CERGE-EI, Prague)

Forecasting and Stress Testing Risk

Instructors: Brenda Solis Gonzalez (Assistant Director, Moody's Analytics), Vera Tolstova (Economist, Moody's Analytics)

Introduction to Time Series Analysis

Instructor: Pavla Vozárová, Ph.D. (CVUT, Prague)

Machine Learning Techniques

Instructor: Michal Kubišta (Senior Technology Officer, Nielsen A.G.)

Monetary Theory and Policy

Instructor: Branislav Saxa, Ph.D. (Principal Economist, Czech National Bank)

Policy Evaluation

Instructors: Miroslava Federičová, Ph.D. (CERGE-EI, Prague), Filip Pertold, Ph.D. (CERGE-EI, Prague)

Public Finance

Instructor: Radka Štiková, Ph.D. (Analyst, Czech National Bank)

Strategic Thinking: Theory and Practice

Instructor: Ole Jann, Ph.D. (CERGE-EI, Prague)

Time Series Applications in Finance

Instructor: Iuliia Brushko, Ph.D. (Active Quantiative Equity Investments, AVP, State Street Global Advisors)

Topics in Applied Finance

Instructor: Prof. RNDr. Jan Hanousek, CSC. DSc. (CERGE-EI, Prague)

Topics in Macroeconomics

Instructor: Jose Luis Luna Alpizar, Ph.D. (CERGE-EI, Prague)

Downloads

Program Leaflet
Sample class schedule for Fall Semester, Spring Semester, and Summer Semester.
Full MA in Applied Economics academic calendar for 2020-2021.