research
BSE awarded second Severo Ochoa Research Excellence Distinction for 2016-2019
The award will provide €4 million in funding to build on the research initiatives that have reinforced the School’s position as a global leader in economic research.
The Barcelona School of Economics has been selected to receive its second Severo Ochoa Research Excellence Distinction from the Spanish Ministry for Economy and Competitiveness.
The BSE is the only institution dedicated to research on Economics and the social sciences to obtain the Severo Ochoa accreditation, which it received in the first edition of the Severo Ochoa Program during 2011-2015 and will now receive again during 2016-2019.
Strategic focus on faculty hiring and retention
One of the most critical roles of the Severo Ochoa Program is to support hiring and retention of talented researchers. During the first Severo Ochoa Program, 37 junior and 7 senior faculty joined the BSE as Affiliated Professors with tenured or tenure-track position at one of the School’s academic units.
The BSE’s Director, Prof. Teresa Garcia-Milà, considers the top quality of the research produced by BSE faculty to be one of the most important contributing factors leading to the School’s second Severo Ochoa Research Excellence distinction.
“The new Severo Ochoa award will allow us to consolidate some of our existing research activities and be ambitious with new projects,” Prof. Garcia-Milà said. “Being named part of the selective group of research centers to obtain a second Severo Ochoa accreditation is public recognition of the excellent standards in frontier research that are an integral part of our academic community.”
Some BSE research initiatives supported by the Severo Ochoa Program include:
BSE Summer Forum
The Summer Forum is a series of independent workshops that bring top researchers from around the globe to Barcelona to debate the present and the future of the frontier of knowledge in Economics. The third edition in 2015, participation swelled to include over 800 researchers from hundreds of institutions around the world. The fourth edition will take place June 6-21, 2016.
Seed Grants
Severo Ochoa funds were provided to BSE Affiliated Professors in the form of Seed Grants to support the launch or completion of a specific research project. Four faculty members supported by Seed Grants were later awarded competitive European Research Council (ERC) Grants.
Support for PhDs and Post-docs
Doctoral students in the BSE community have had access to funding opportunities available exclusively to Severo Ochoa research centers, such as the “La Caixa”-Severo Ochoa Doctoral Fellowships. 11 PhD students in IDEA (UAB) and GPEFM (UPF) have received this funding.
Research Recognition Program
This program provides financial rewards to faculty for papers published in top academic journals. In the most recent call (2012-2015), BSE Affiliated Professors submitted 218 publications, 27 of which were included in the top 5 journals in Economics (American Economic Review, Econometrica, Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, and Review of Economic Studies).