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Consolidating Economics R&D Project Strengthens the BSE
This January, researchers from top academic institutions in Spain began an ambitious project that aims to consolidate and enhance the excellence of economics research carried out by them through various initiatives, including the support and promotion of the Barcelona School of Economics.
The project, called Consolidating Economics, is headed by BSE Chairman Andreu Mas-Colell and coordinated by BSE Affiliated Professor Jordi Caballé (UAB) and Professor Juan José Dolado (Carlos III University). The goal of the project is to consolidate and increase the size and impact of research in economics from the promoting institutions in an international context, particularly in Europe. In order to achieve this, the project seeks to increase the bibliometric impact of their research by 25% over the next five years, promote interdisciplinary bonds in research, develop further initiatives of collaboration and international influence, as well as launch and support the Barcelona School of Economics.
Specifically, the Consolidating Economics project will allocate an important part of its grant to providing funding to the BSE over the next five years. The grant, totaling six million Euros, is awarded by the Consolíder-Ingenio 2010 excellence program, an initiative of the Spanish Government designed to strengthen top research groups and networks through 5-year, large scale strategic financing.
Because Consolíder-Ingenio 2010 is not limited to any particular field in the sciences, the selection process is extremely competitive. Nevertheless, Consolidating Economics was among 17 projects selected in May 2006 to receive the grant for a research initiative that seeks to contribute substantially to their field. It was the only project chosen from the field of Social Sciences.
The team of Consolidating Economics is composed of researchers hailing from a number of different institutions, including the four academic founding institutions of the BSE: the Department of Economics and Business of Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), the Center of Research in International Economics (CREI), the Unit for Economic Analysis of the Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona (UAB), and the Institute for Economic Analysis (IAE-CSIC).
The other institutions include the University of Alacant, the Public-Private Sector Research Center of the IESE, the Center of Monetary and Financial Studies (CEMFI), the Foundation of Applied Economic Studies (FEDEA), and Carlos III University.