METU ECON Newsletter 2015 | Page 6

Mürüvvet Büyükboyacı S hor t B i o: Mu r uv v et Buy uk boy a c i o bt a in e d he r B S de gr e e in Ma th e m at ic s fr o m Bi lk e nt Un iv ers ity , Turk ey , her MA d e gr ee in Ec on o m ic s fr o m S ab a nc i U n iv er s i ty , Tur k ey , an d h er Ph D d egr e e i n Soc i a l Sc ie nc es fr o m t h e C a li f or n i a I ns t i t ut e o f Tec hn o l ogy , U S A . B ef or e jo i n in g ME T U A nk ar a , s he w or k e d as an i ns tr uc t or at ME TU - Cy pr us . S he j oi n ed t he ME T U De p art m en t of Ec on o m ic s i n J u ly , 2 0 14 . Mü r ü v v et , f irs t of al l o n t h e be h a lf of m y c o ll e ag u es I wo u l d lik e t o we lc om e yo u t o our de p artm en t. W e th i nk that yo u wi l l b e a n ic e ad d it i o n t o o ur d ep ar tm ent an d we are v er y h a pp y t o h a ve yo u . Yo u c om pl et ed yo ur Ph .D . i n ec on om ic s a t Ca l if or n i a Ins t it ut e of T ec h no l og y ( C a l tec h ) , wh ic h is am ong t he m os t pr es t i gi o us u n i v er s it i es i n th e wor l d. Ho w di d yo u lik e it a nd wh a t was yo ur t h es is a bo ut ? T hank s f or t he war m we lc om e. I am ha p p y to b e her e as we l l . Le t m e s t ar t wi t h ho w I f el t a t C a lt ec h. I lo v ed b e in g at Ca l tec h . Ca l tec h was a s m a l l s c ho o l, wh ic h h a d on l y 90 0 u n der gr a du at es , 11 0 0 gr ad u at es a n d 20 0 0 p os t d oc s . T hes e num ber s t e l l us t ha t th e s c h o ol is m or e of a r es ear c h s c h o o l th a n a t e ac h i n g s c h oo l . Res e ar c h a t th e Ec on om ic s Pr ogr am at C a lt ec h was a ls o v er y f oc us e d. W hil e th is is s e e n as ad v a nt a ge o us f or s om e, i t is n o t f or ot h ers . For i ns t anc e , we di d n o t h a v e a l ot of Mac r o ec on om ic s c o ur s es . Of c our s e , gr a d u at e s t ud e nts c ho os i ng th e pr o gr am wer e a war e of th is s tr on g f oc us . S o , in t he pr o gr am , t he re wer e o n l y s tu d en ts wh o pr ef er t o l e ar n m or e a bo u t M ic r oec o n om ic s , P ol i t ic a l Ec o nom i c s , Ex p er im ent a l Ec on om ic s , or N eu r o e c on om ic s . T his was a gr e a t t h in g f or m e bec a us e I c o u l d t a lk ab o ut m y r es e arc h wi th n e ar