Master Degree in the Models and Methods of Quantitative Economics (QEM) - Consortium & QEM Excellence Scholarship

The EMJMD QEM is also collaborating with 16 excellent associated partners. These Associated Partners introduce diversity to the Consortium through the countries representing different continents and the diverse types of organizations participating. Ten of these Associated Partners are academic institutions with a solid scientific and research background in economics and related multi-crossing disciplines. Six Associated Partners are companies from the public and private sectors supporting the Consortium.

The EMJMD QEM is a 24-month, 120 ECTS, full-time research orientation master’s program for practical applications of advanced methodologies and models in economics, with scientific courses taught in English, Culture and local language courses, and mobility between two or three Universities across Europe. We finance and equip talented and motivated students with engineering skills in economics to conduct original research and be internationally employable in academia (PhD), companies, and organizations (e.g., Banking and Financial sectors, ONG, Governmental entities, Industry...).

Top reasons why students choose to study in Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree QEM (EMJMD)

Many recent financial events like the 2008 financial crisis, the following Eurozone debt crisis, and the credit crunch among others demonstrate that the cutting edge in economic research lags behind world economic realities, leaving policymakers in uncharted waters. This lag emphasizes the need for economists with engineering skills: with the ability to master economic theory, practice, and implementation techniques, acquire knowledge from some related fields and understand advanced research topics to design integrated answers. 

A QEM graduate with those qualifications will be able to:

• bridge research and practical issues and efficiently solve real-world problems
• fit the specific needs of multiple sectors including international organizations, NGOs, government, finance, insurance, and industry

Course content: In attempting to tackle the training needs dictated by the economic challenges mentioned above, the study programme of Erasmus Mundus Joint Master QEM (EMJMD) will provide to the Graduates:  (1) Both research and professionally oriented training, preparing students equally for research or for an economic engineering career in a new curriculum; (2) A critical understanding of the scientific concepts and methods they have learned in the curriculum; (3) The capacity to work independently in complex situations, and develop and implement ideas of their own. Graduates will be able to analyze economic and econometric problems and conduct theoretical and empirical investigations with a high degree of complexity.
Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree QEM (EMJMD) programme will counterbalance the traditional separation between applied and theoretical academic tracks by preparing students simultaneously for research and economic engineering careers with interactions all across the economics curriculum. Students who aim for a professional career will then receive research-oriented training, while students who want to continue in a Ph.D. will also acquire engineering skills. 

International dimension: The international dimension of the Master Economics QEM programme, provides students exposure to different European cultures and connection to a worldwide network through the Master's economics programmes at the campus located in Paris in France, Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium, Barcelona in Spain, Venice in Italy, and Warsaw in Poland. Partner Universities by joining forces and exploiting reciprocities are jointly offering a richer and more versatile curriculum than any of the individual Partners alone. The EMJMD QEM programme is thus able to offer a single innovative package, using all of the good practices of the Partner universities.

Mobility: Research/educational training in economics tends to be small with the obvious consequence that they tend to specialize in somewhat narrow domains. Building a network allowing the mobility of students generates an environment large enough to create and benefit from increasing returns to scale with cross-fertilization and important spillovers across various fields related to Economics. Moreover, mobility between countries creates another dimension for knowledge and education, that students obtain through immersion in different cultural environments.

Programme Assistance: Administrative staff provide general assistance to students including airport pick-up and help with locating suitable housing and furnishings. The Application Help Desk staff are happy to answer questions regarding visas and immigration status, work permits, cultural life, and Optional Practical Training.

Alumni Network: Since its beginning in 2005, the program has maintained a strong network of alumni from numerous countries. Please consult the Student and Alumni Networks.

Course structure:

The Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree QEM - Models and Methods of Quantitative Economics (EMJMD QEM) is a Master's program with a duration of two academic years (120 ECTS credits). A QEM student should carry out her/his entire course work attending at least two universities or a maximum of three Parter universities. The mobility track and a joint curriculum are defined and fixed for each accepted candidate during the admission process.

The first year is dedicated to core courses including Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Econometrics, and Mathematics (Probability, Statistics, and Optimization). For the academic years 2018-2019, 2019-2020, and 2020-2021, the first semester was organized in Paris, France. While during the academic years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia (Italy) hosts all students during the first semester. To facilitate student mobility during the second semester, the universities offer mandatory courses that have identical contents. See the first-year curriculum. 

The second year focuses on specialization. The students must spend their entire second year in one of the four consortium universities. There are several areas of specialization on offer, such as:

• Microeconomics
• Macroeconomics
• International Economics
• Finance
• Econometrics
• Mathematical Economics
• Game Theory
• Behavioral Economics
• Experimental Economics
• Public Economics
• Political Economy
• Insurance
• Finance

These are areas of study which are emergent, rapidly evolving, and of growing impact upon society. There is much demand for specialized competencies in these fields. This list is subject to change. For a detailed second-year curriculum, see here.

Key information: 

• Credits: Courses are structured according to the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS). Students accumulate 120 ECTS credits over the two years. More information can be found here.
• Language: All scientific courses are taught in English. Additionally, in each university, students shall also take classes in the local language and culture of the host European country. More information can be found here.
• Master's Dissertation: Students spend most of the third and fourth semesters preparing a Master's Dissertation under the joint supervision of the two partner universities where they have studied.
• Degree: Upon completing the program, students are awarded a QEM Joint Degree entitled "Models and Methods of Quantitative Economics", which is officially recognized as a master's degree in each university and country of the consortium, with the same national degree rights and duties.