The Bonn Graduate School of Economics, commonly referred to as BGSE, is the graduate school of the Department of Economics within the Faculty of Law and Economics of the University of Bonn. The BGSE is one of the leading research institutions in the field of economics in Germany. The school offers a master program in economics (2 years) and a doctoral program with an integrated master degree (2 years + 3 years). Students who want to pursue a doctoral degree can specialize in economic research within the master program and then continue with the dissertation phase. The BGSE is a founding member of the EDP (European Doctoral Program in Quantitative Economics). Students benefit from the collaborative research activities of the BGSE with the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods (MPI), the Hausdorff Research Institute for Mathematics, and the newly founded briq - Institute on Behavior and Inequality.
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Exchange Programs / EDP
The BGSE has collaborations with the following local and international partners:
The European Doctoral Program in Quantitative Economics (EDP) gives students the opportunity to spend one year abroad at one of the EDP member institutions. The coordinated curriculum of Bonn, Barcelona (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Florence (European University Institute), London (London School of Economics), Louvain-la-Neuve (Université catholique), Paris (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales), and Tel Aviv provides the opportunity for students to specialize in almost any area of quantitative economics.
Scholarships
From the very beginning of the M.Sc. / Economic Research program, the BGSE offers grants of €1200 per month to a large number of students. Additional grants for the second year of the M.Sc. program and the following dissertation phase are available after a successful completion of the first-year course work.
Some international students receive grants by the German Academic Exchange Service. These grants amount to €1000 but include health insurance and other benefits (making the total funding comparable to the BGSE funding). They also offer the advantage of an additional international network.
The funding possibilities within the M.Sc. in Economics program are more limited. Nevertheless, some scholarships for exceptionally qualified candidates are available from various national organisations, such as e.g. the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
BGSE Faculty
The faculty comprises almost 40 professors and about 50 assistants. Many of them have received major awards, such as:
Director/Speaker of the BGSE is Benny Moldovanu.
Members of the BGSE board are Christian Bayer, Armin Falk, Alois Kneip, Sven Rady, Isabel Schnabel.
Research Areas
The BGSE has become a worldwide reference in economic research in the following five main research areas:
Placements
BGSE alumni have obtained prestigious positions at universities in the U.S. (e.g., Harvard, Berkeley, Penn, UCLA, Michigan, Minnesota), in Europe (e.g., University College London, Pompeu Fabra, Tilburg, Carlos III, Stockholm, Zurich) and in Germany (e.g., Mannheim, Munich, Berlin, Cologne). In addition, many now work in the non-academic sector (e.g., European Central Bank, German Central Bank, Bank of England, U.S. Federal Reserve Board, McKinsey, Boston Consulting).