Economics

The Economics Department comprises 10 professorships, including a total of four joint appointments with the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC). To strengthen collaborations and intensify joint research on current economic policy issues, the Center for Economic Policy Analysis (CEPA) was founded in 2018. Once a week, the Center organizes the Potsdam Research Seminar in Economics (PRSE), where scholars from the faculty and external researchers present and discuss current research projects and results. The CEPA Policy Lectures bring together advanced students, researchers, and policy makers several times a semester for joint discussion. The research findings of the group are published in the CEPA Discussion Paper Series.

• Evaluation of economic and social policy
• Environment, sustainability and climate
• Labor market, education and health economics
• Urban and regional economics/behavioral economics

The Department of Economics offers the B.Sc. in Economics and, together with the Department of Political and Administrative Science, the interdisciplinary B.Sc. in Politics and Economics. Training in quantitative methods is central in both the B.Sc. program and the English-language M.Sc. program in Economic Policy and Quantitative Methods (EPQM). Students acquire the ability to conduct evidence-based economic policy analysis. It prepares students for successful careers in research, finance, business and policy consulting, as data scientists as well as in the public sector or international institutions.

Through CEPA, the Economics Department organizes far-reaching transfer activities, e.g. the CEPA Policy Lectures as well as research collaborations with DIW, MCC and PIK.

In recent years, members of the division have raised numerous third-party funds, including from the DFG, Volkswagen Foundation, and BMBF. More information can be found here.

Educating doctoral students and postdocs is a high priority in the department. PhD students regularly present their research results at the Potsdam Research Seminar in Economics (PRSE). Since 2019, the department has been a member of the Berlin School of Economics (BSE), which gives PhD students in economics access to structured doctoral training at a high level. The Department of Economics also actively participates in the BSE’s PhD program. One to two PhD scholarships are awarded each year to particularly talented students.

• Prof. Dr. Rainald Borck (Chair of Public Sector, Finance and Social Policy)
• Prof. Dr. Lisa Bruttel (Chair of Economics, in particular Markets, Competition and Institutions)
• Prof. Dr. Marco Caliendo (Chair of Empirical Economic Research)
• Prof. Dr. Maik Heinemann (Chair of Growth, Integration and Sustainable Development)
• Prof. Dr. Matthias Kalkuhl (Professor of Climate Change, Development and Economic Growth (Joint appointment with the MCC).
• Prof. Dr. Elmar Kriegler (Professor forIntegrated Assessment of Climate Change (Joint Appointment with PIK Potsdam)
• Prof. Dr. Alexander S. Kritikos (Professorship of Industrial and Institutional Economics (Joint Appointment with DIW Berlin)
• Prof. Thomas Siedler (PhD) (Chair of Economics, in particular Economic Policy)
• Prof. Dr. Joschka Wanner (Junior Professorship in Quantitative Economics)
• Prof. Dr. Katharina Wrohlich (Professorship of Public Finance, Gender and Family Economics (Joint Appointment with DIW Berlin)