Kovaleva Irina

Ph.D. Student

Economics

Ph.D. at KIMEP is a Truly Unique Learning Experience Which

Stimulates Students to Reach Their Full Academic Potential

Having already done Masters in Economics (MAE) at KIMEP University, I was very confident about the high quality of teaching and research that prevailed at my Dr. Alma mater. Hence, post my masters, a PhD in Economics here was an obvious choice. From day one until now (which is almost 2 years into research), the doctoral programme has surpassed all of my expectations. The core training in the first year was very useful in strengthening my writing and research skills, and the programme has given me several opportunities to attend conferences, workshops and even interact with PhD students and professors from other universities.

I would like to mention that the PhD in Economics at KIMEP is really interesting, but on the other hand challenging programme that stimulates students to reach their full academic potential. The courses and professors stimulate independent critical thinking, while the size of the programme and the economics department staff make it easy for students to feel like at home quickly. I find the research environment at KIMEP very inspiring, where collaboration with supervisors and attending research seminars form an integral part of our daily activities.

The programme offers very good preparation for research in economics by covering all the core graduate materials. Secondly, the coursework of the programme contains all the important elements with the added benefit that the writing of the research proposal is integrated in the curriculum. We receive extensive feedback on our research proposal and are guided through the several drafts of our own research. Thirdly, the study time is spread over three years rather than the usual one, which means that there is enough time to learn a lot of new things while also being able to develop our own research interests. Finally, the learning experience is truly unique thanks to the small cohort of very motivated students and the friendly environment that KIMEP provides.

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