Interview with the program director

Prof. Dr. Rainer Klump is the program director of MIEEP. He holds the Chair of Economics, Economic Development and Integration. Furthermore, he is the co-director of the Wilhelm Merton Centre for European Integration and International Economic Order and Principal Investigator in the Cluster of Excellence "The Formation of Normative Orders".

 

Read the interview about his thoughts on the MIEEP program.

How do you like living in Frankfurt?
Oh, I like it very much. A very lively city, very international. Very good logistical links to other spots via the airport, via train, via car. It’s right in the center of Europe.

What do you like about Goethe university?
I like the new campus, I like the legal status as a “Stiftungsuniversität”, as a foundation based university, which is a little bit different to the way how other universities are organized, but maybe that’s not so visible for students. And I also like the multidisciplinary way you can work here with people from different faculties who you can contact if you have problems, that’s what I like very much.

How does the economics faculty here in Frankfurt differ from other economic faculties?
I think one characteristic is that we have this joint faculty with business. Mannheim, Bonn, Munich, they have separate economic faculties. It can be an advantage to have a joint faculty with business and at the moment here in Frankfurt I think it certainly is because most colleagues in business work on a microeconomic basis. So there is a lot of synergies that our students can exploit.

If you were a student right now, which classes would you like to take? What do you think are the coolest classes in the program?
Uh, I would certainly like to take advanced econometrics classes. I didn’t take that when I was a student, it wasn’t offered at this time or at least not in that depth. Econometrics is something I would really like to follow more closely. But I would also recommend all students to attend at least one class that deals with the history of economics and economic theory because that helps to understand that economics is after all a social science with a long and diverse tradition.

What do you think students should know before applying here?
For the master, I think they should have a profound knowledge of economics, in particular  about the particular methodology of economics. Not being surprised that it is pretty much knowledge-based and also quantitative. These are the basic ingredients.

How important is the knowledge of German for studying in Frankfurt?
I think it’s not important for studying in the proper sense, but I it is very helpful to get through all the administration processes. There are still many corners of the university and city administration where you need to understand at least some German. Also for living in the city, I think it’s important. Even though it’s an international city, I think its good to know a little bit of German if you live here.

Would you advice students to go abroad during their master?
Absolutely yes, it is always an asset. I did it myself, I know it from my daughters, both daughters now have gone abroad – one studying abroad, the other doing an internship abroad. So I think it is a good time to do it because as a student you are more flexible than later in your life and it is more structured than when you just go abroad for holidays. You can get a deeper insight into the working and studying conditions in the foreign country.

Concerning career goals, what do you think, which students with which career goals should apply to the program?
As the program says we have a focus on international economics and public policy so first of all its an economics program, so you should be prepared for all the occupations that you can do as an economist – which I think is a very broad field. You could do almost everything. I personally would like to see many people going to the national and international development agencies, to public policy, ministries or central banks.

Can you recommend MIEEP?
Yes, of course! (laughs) It is an economics program with a strong focus on international economics and public policy and with the possibility to integrate also some business applications. So you can get a very good and broad overview knowledge and at the same time, if you are interested in particular subject like for example development economics, you can focus very much on that.

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