DEA: Master of Arts in Economics

The Master of Arts (MA) is a one-year program providing advanced training in economics with a special emphasis on foundations (microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics) and on training for research.

The MA being a preliminary step towards the Ph.D. program, preparation for research is a major objective of the program.

The Catholic University of Louvain and the University of Namur (FUNDP) organize the MA jointly.   Optional courses are offered in the fields of expertise of the two partners. Most courses are taught in Louvain-La-Neuve.

The following research centers are associated with the program:

• Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE, UCL),
• Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES, UCL),
• Chaire d'Ethique Economique et Sociale (ETES, UCL),
• Département d'analyse économique et Département d'économie publique (FUNDP).

They offer a high quality research environment, with the regular presence of visiting professors and contacts with other research centers.

The program consists of
eight courses,
one seminar,
and a thesis.

Here are six good reasons to enrol in our programme

• The intellectual quality of our department of economics - our European ranking: In the top ten. (see the ranking published in the EER) - our Belgian ranking: First.
• The teachers' availability-according to our alumni, one the qualities of our department, as compared to universities located in bigger cities like Paris or London, is the proximity that exists between professors, MA and doctorate students. The access to teachers is very easy.
• High density of research. MA students are integrated in a research community of about 100 people located either at CORE or at IRES. Every week several invited seminars are organised.
• Access to the Doctorate programme and the EDP programme for students obtaining outstanding marks in the MA
• An international student population. In 2002-3 our intake of students amounted 34 students, of whom 11 were from Italy, six from Belgium, three from Uruguay, two from China and Spain, one from Congo, Poland, Cameron, Switzerland, Greece, Japan, Colombia, Brazil and Romania.
• A well-balanced programme: three compulsory classes, the other courses being elective; one originality of the department is to offer a series of reflexives courses in parallel to the technical courses.