Organised by the Department of Economics and funded by the Widening Europe Programme, the ‘Core’ Summer School 2025 welcomed 22 students from across Europe and beyond, focusing on the fundamentals of mathematical economics, statistics, microeconomics, and macroeconomics. An initiative that provided both insights and a solid background for the academic journey.
The course offered valuable activities and the opportunity to revisit key concepts. “I found it very useful because I got a very compact refresher of everything that I already basically studied before in my master's, reintroducing the step-by-step recipe for any kind of problem in any subject that we looked at”, shared Maria II'Ina, a new PhD student at the EUI.
Other participants appreciated the balance between high-level instruction and the welcoming environment. Giullia Neagu, from Bucharest University, described her week as “intense and rewarding. I really loved everything that we did here. The atmosphere was great, the teachers were extremely well prepared, and the classes were very proportioned”. Similarly, Ana Worm Hortelano, who is starting her master’s degree in economics at the EUI, valued the possibility to reconnect with material from her undergraduate studies. “It's been good to get an overview of everything I did in my studies, and sometimes even more."
In addition to academic aspects, the programme fostered early connections. “It was very useful to get to know some of the older PhD students I will be starting with”, explained participant Ulla Neumann, who also enjoyed the opportunity to explore material that she had not encountered before.
Instructors emphasised the broader purpose of the initiative. EUI researcher Allen Magsino underlined that the material was “really aimed at facilitating the transition into higher-level studies in economics”, while Lorenzo Alderighi, at his second year experience as a teacher for the event, stressed the importance of supporting newcomers, presenting “the vibes of the EUI environment, especially at the Economics Department where we all work and live together in the same small villa”.
Finally, EUI Professor Russell Cooper expressed his satisfaction, noting an improvement over the previous edition “not just in terms of the number of applications, which more than doubled, but also in the diversity of interests”. Diversity was also one of the main features of the summer school where “of the 22 participants this year, 11 came from the Widening countries. For some that I spoke with, being at the EUI was an 'eye-opener'. This is not just about the beauty of our facilities but about the interactions of the student body and academic environment”, concluded Professor Cooper.
This summer course was funded by the EUI Widening Europe Programme. Backed by contributions from the European Union and EUI Contracting States, the programme is designed to strengthen internationalisation, competitiveness, and quality in research in targeted Widening countries, and thus foster more cohesive European Higher Education and Research Areas.