Professor Pierre Kopp on the Applied Economics Master’s Program at Sorbonne University

On May 26, the Faculty of Economic Sciences had the pleasure to host Professor  Pierre Kopp from University Paris 1, Pantheon-Sorbonne with a presentation entitled, “Law and Economics. The Fight Against Money Laundering: Which System is Better?”

Sorbonne was among the first partners of Higher School of Economics in early nineties of XX century. The first cooperation between HSE and Sorbonne started as far as 23 years ago. Professor Kopp has been a long-term partner with HSE; he used to teach HSE students in the Faculty of Economic Sciences, as well as in the dual-degree program at Pantheon-Sorbonne.  He has also worked with HSE professors on academic research and consultancy projects (including Strategy 2020). Professor Kopp is currently the head of the Applied Economics master’s program at Paris 1, Pantheon-Sorbonne; this program is popular among the HSE master program students who choose to pursue a dual-degree education at Sorbonne. This time Dr. Kopp came to Moscow to give a presentation entitled, “Law and Economics. The Fight Against Money Laundering: Which System is Better?” to HSE students and professors. We took this opportunity to speak with Professor Kopp at HSE and ask him some questions about the Applied Economics master’s program.

 LZ: Who are the students at Sorbonne in Applied Economics? Where do they come from?

PK: We have students with different backgrounds and from different countries. This year, we had applications from all over the world. The majority (about 70%) are French. The rest come from Latin America, China, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Russia, and many other places.

LZ: How do you select students for your program, especially international students coming from different countries and universities of different levels?

PK: I study student’s portfolio that includes a motivation letter, transcripts, diplomas, and certificates, and recommendations. Recommendations are important. Of course, it’s hard to compare students from different universities. One may be the best student in a bad university, while another may have moderate results from a good university. Usually, I rely on the level of the university first, since how can the students from bad universities be better than their professors? 

LZ: What type of students do you teach? Where do your students usually work after getting their master’s degree?

PK: The majority work in administrative bodies, research units, local governments, and some in the Central Bank, regulatory agencies, and trade unions. They work in public sector, mostly. But the public sector in France is big. For example, National Television is also a part of the public sector. International students usually come back to their countries if they don’t continue their education.

LZ: Many HSE students applying for dual degree programs would like to know how hard is to become a PhD student after getting their master’s degree.

PK: Well, there are two ways to become a PhD student after graduating from a master’s program. The first track is when you get funding for your PhD from the Paris1 University. For that, you need to be among the top 3-5 students in the program. You have to (a) prepare a proposal for your research and (b) find a professor who is willing to supervise you. Sometime in June, a short time after all the master’s theses have been defended, a jury (a committee of about 20 professors from the economic faculty, not including the heads of the master’s programs) gathers to examine the proposals of the different PhD candidates. The candidates make a 10-minute presentation, answer questions and then the jury makes their decision. Usually, 1 or 2 candidates are approved for the PhD program. However, I can’t say that the competition is very strong. You see, at the beginning of academic year, about 80% of all students dream about getting a PhD. However, by the end, most of them understand that they are either not a good fit for the program, or discover that it’s not what they really want, so they do not make proposals. Usually, about 5 students from the program apply for a PhD.  

LZ: Does the jury examine only the proposal, or does it also consider grades?

PK: Both. The jury examines grades, and the grades should be good, but not necessarily excellent for every subject. The jury primarily judges whether the candidate is capable of conducting research and working at a PhD level. That’s why preparing a good proposal is very important. I suggest the proposal to  be based on a master’s thesis, as a student won’t be able to prepare a good proposal from scratch in a very short time.

LZ: What if a student is not granted a PhD scholarship from the University, but still wants to join a PhD program without funding? For example, in a situation where her  parents agree to support her?

PK: This is the second track. Yes, a student can pursue a PhD without getting money from the university, but she still has to find a professor who agrees to supervise her PhD. There is no jury in this case, no presentation of a proposal. However, a student should be good.

I should distinguish that there are two types of PhD theses. One is the academic thesis, which allows for an academic career in the future. The other is a professional theiss. In some fields, people need a PhD to be able to improve their job position (for example in consultancy, in a Ministry, the World Bank, etc.), and they don’t want an academic career. They need a more practical, professional PhD. If a person wants an academic career, her PhD should be examined not just by the university jury, but also by the National Committee. The Centralized National Committee looks at her PhD and decides if she can apply for the position of associate professor in a university. Although different, both types of PhD require analytical skills, so a student should be capable of using them.

LZ: Thank you for the interesting interview, professor.

                  

(Questions asked by Ludmila Zasimova, photo credit Daria Bakhareva)