Quantitative Economics

Is an internship mandatory? What kind of internships is it possible to get

Internship is an integral part of the studies at the MA Quantitative Economics programme. There is a compulsory internship, but several students have taken also additional internships on top of the compulsory one, either during studies or sometimes even after graduation.

The aim of the practical training is to gain economic research experience by applying the theoretical knowledge obtained during the coursework to the empirical or theoretical study of a specific economic problem. The internship may comprise very different kinds of activities: economic analysis in central bank research department, work in a data analytics company, work in a ministry or other public sector organization, helping to establish a start-up company. In the practical training, some linkage with quantitative analysis and economics is expected, i.e. we do not expect academic economic research in narrow sense, but internship may include e.g. 1) writing applied reports; 2) collecting information; 3) making data accessible for research; 4) statistical data analysis; 5) collecting literature and writing literature reviews.

When do students generally do their internship?

Most of the master students have taken internship in the summer month after the 1st year of the studies. It is logical to apply for internship after the basic skills in economic theory and econometric analysis have been acquired in the courses of the 1st year of the master studies. Yet, we encourage the students to take internship also outside of the summer months, e.g. in the Fall or Winter of the 2nd year of the master’s studies. A few students have been offered a permanent position at the end of the internship.

How do students find internships? Does the university help with that?

Yes, the University of Tartu helps the students to find internship. In particular, we have provided to the students list of possible places (companies and other organisations) for practical training in Estonia and the other Baltic States – see the file over here. There has been created also the internship mediation webpage FUTULAB. However, students have to apply to the internship themselves. The internship can be taken in any country given that it matches the profile of the study curriculum. When taking internship abroad, one can apply for funding from the Erasmus+ programme. University of Tartu has offered some internship opportunities also itself, either as part of the work for some research projects of the School of Economics and Business Administration, or at the University of Tartu Centre for Applied Social Sciences.

Examples of companies where students have done their internships during the last few years:

• Central banks: Eesti Pank (central bank of Estonia), Center for Excellence in Finance and Economic Research (CEFER), established by the Bank of Lithuania and Vilnius University
• Think-tanks: CENTAR (Estonia), PRAXIS (Estonia), BICEPS (Latvia), PMCG (Georgia), CASS (Estonia)
• Financial institutions – Swedbank (Estonia), Bigbank (Estonia), Redgate capital (Estonia), Friendly Finance Group (Estonia), Scorewise (Estonia), Dataminer (Estonia), LHV Bank (Estonia)
• Public sector institutions – Estonian Unemployment Insurance Foundation, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Foresight Centre of the Riigikogu (parliament of Estonia), Estonian Development Fund, Enterprise Estonia (Estonia)
• Universities: University of Tartu (Estonia), CERGE-EI (Czech Republic)

The motivation letter must be submitted with your application in DreamApply by March 15 at the latest.

The motivation letter consists of two parts: a written part (essay) and a video recording.

Written part (essay)
The essay should be written in English, and contain approximately 3000-3500 characters with spaces based on the following points:

1. Explanation on which economics research topics are attractive for the student to write the master's thesis. The applicant should propose a potential master's thesis topic and
   a) explain the research topic;
   b) motivate why it is interesting and essential to study this topic;
   c) discuss how to explore this topic and what would be the methodology.
2. The description of the career that the applicant would like to follow, which
   a) explains what attracts the applicant to this career path;
   b) discusses how the Quantitative Economics programme (courses and topics in the programme) would help to achieve this career goal;
   c) argues what would be the biggest challenges in achieving this career goal.

Short video CV
The applicant should record a video of up to 5 minutes in length, where the applicant's face is clearly visible, and voice clearly audible. The video should be in the "pitch" format: thoroughly thought out, covering the catchiest attributes of the applicant. The video does not have to be done professionally – for example, it can be produced with a smartphone camera or webcam of the computer.

NB! The applicant must include a link to the video file in the motivation letter. When submitting the video link, make sure the video can be accessed by anyone reading the motivation letter.

The video should address the following aspects:

1. highlights from the applicant's CV, including how the applicant's background (previous studies and work experience) is related to the Quantitative Economics programme; describe especially your experience in economic research (if any);
2. previous studies in quantitative analysis subjects (statistics, econometrics, mathematics, programming, data analysis), knowledge and experience in using various software packages (e.g., R, Python, SPSS, Stata);
3. describe any of your studies abroad or extracurricular studies on top of the formal programs, e.g., participation in student conferences, workshops, student competitions, online courses taken, etc.;
4. describe how your various other capabilities and qualifications enable you to complete the studies in Quantitative Economics successfully and to achieve the career goals stated in the motivation letter;
5. explain why you have chosen to apply to the University of Tartu.
    

Evaluation criteria:

1. In the essay:
   a) the ideas for a potential master thesis (defined a research problem, discussion on how to solve and explore the research problem) (max 20 points);
   b) clearly defined career goals and aspirations and how the Quantitative Economics program is expected to contribute in achieving these (maximum 15 points);
   c) the skills of argumentation and discussion as presented in the written text, including logicality of the structure of the letter, the relevance of the information and arguments presented, and abilities of self-expression in the written form, grammatically fluent and correct English (max 15 points).
    
2. In the short video CV:
   a) comprehensive description of the capabilities enabling the study of Quantitative Economics, especially the skills obtained in mathematics, statistics, econometrics, and quantitative analysis skills (maximum 20 points);
   b) previous experiences in the field, like practical work experience, voluntary work, internships undertaken or any other experience with economic research or quantitative analysis, e.g., in the bachelor thesis (maximum 15 points);
   c) the content, presentation skills (fluency, naturality, and organization of the presentation), and understanding of the Quantitative Economics programme will be assessed (max 15 points).

The maximum score for the motivation letter is 100 points and the result is positive only if the applicant gains 51 points or more. 

In case of need, the Admissions Committee may ask some applicants to be available for a follow-up interview during April 2024.

Application system opens on 2 January and closes on 15 March. The following documents must be submitted electronically via DreamApply by 15 March:

1. online application
2. motivation letter
3. official certified copy of the bachelor's diploma or its equivalent and Diploma Supplement (transcript) in the original language (must include description of the grading scale).
   NB! Applicants graduating in the upcoming spring/summer and having their diploma and final transcript issued later than the application deadline should electronically submit their most recent official transcript (including also the grades/results for the last autumn semester) by the application deadline. The transcript should be supplemented by an official statement from the issuing institution indicating current enrollment and expected graduation date. Admitted candidates are required to post certified copies of their graduation documents as soon as these have been issued (must reach us no later than by the end of July).
4. official certified translation of the bachelor’s diploma and Diploma Supplement (transcript) into English. As certified translations we consider 1) official translations made by the issuing institution (university) bearing their original signature, stamp etc, or 2) translations certified by a sworn translator or notary.
5. proof of English language proficiency
6. copy of the passport page stating the applicant’s personal particulars
7. confirmation/receipt of application fee payment (if applicable). All international applicants are required to pay the application fee EUR 100, unless they have completed the previous study level in Estonia. An application will only be processed after the fee has been received by the UT.
    

Submitted applications can not be edited. It is only possible to upload new documents (e.g. graduation certificates). Applicants will receive feedback and notifications through the DreamApply system to their e-mail. Incomplete applications or those submitted by e-mail will not be considered for admission.

Guide to submitting electonic application on DreamApply.

The evaluation of applications will be made based on the electronic copies added to DreamApply. A general ranking list will be formed based on the electronically submitted applications and admission results (including offers) will be announced to all applicants personally via DreamApply by April 30 at the latest. Admitted candidates are expected to accept or decline the offer in DreamApply in 7 days. If the decision is not communicated to UT via DreamApply by the stipulated deadline, UT reserves the right to withdraw the admission offer.

NB! It is not possible to postpone the beginning of studies to the next academic year.

Terms and conditions of the admission offer

Admission offers are conditional. This means that there are conditions in the offer which the applicant needs to fulfil in order to be admitted (e.g. sending application documents by post; obtaining the required level of education). If the conditions are not met, UT has the right to withdraw the offer. Also, UT reserves the right to withdraw or amend any offer or revoke the matriculation of a student, if it becomes evident that the application contains fraudulent information, the qualification does not provide access to the chosen study programme or the student is found to have omitted key information from the application. Should such circumstances occur, UT will not be liable for any material or immaterial loss which the student may suffer as a result.

Once the admission results have been announced, all admitted students are required to send the application documents by post to: Student Admissions, University of Tartu, Ülikooli 18-133, Tartu 50090, ESTONIA.

The documents are expected to be mailed only by those receiving the admission offer (unless instructed otherwise by the admissions staff). The documents must reach the university within 3 weeks from the announcement of the offer. If the application documents do not reach us by the deadline, the university has the right to withdraw the admission offer. Applicants will be informed when their documents have arrived.

Requirements for educational documents

All copies of educational documents (diplomas and Diploma Supplements/transcripts) must be officially certified. By certified we mean that the copies should bear an original signature and seal of the authority certifying that these are true copies of the original document(s). The copies can be certified either 1) by an authorised official of the issuing institution, or 2) by a notary, or 3) with an Apostille attached. NB! Country-specific requirements may also specify the way documents from certain countries must be certified. 

Please note that UT does not accept simple copies made on the basis of already certified copies (primary copies are needed).

All admitted students are required to present their original qualification certificates upon arrival (unless these were sent directly from the issuing institution).

Paying the tuition fee (applicable to those receiving a fee-based study place offer)

• EU/EEA/Swiss citizens are required to pay the fee for the first semester once they arrive in Tartu (by 20 September at the latest after signing the fee contract, please read more here).
• Admitted students from other countries are required to pre-pay half of the first semester's tuition fee. The invoice along with the pre-payment deadline and payment details will be sent to applicants via DreamApply after they have accepted the admissions offer and the University has received the hard copies of the application documents. Second part of the fee is due on 20 September. NB! The official admission letter (necessary for visa application) will only be issued once the University of Tartu has received the pre-payment.
• NB! Once you have been offered a fee-based study place, be aware that it will not be changed into a fee waiver study place. By transferring the pre-payment to the university, you confirm that you have informed yourself about the process of the visa and temporary residence permit application and you are able to arrive in Estonia by the start of the academic year. If you have any questions please contact studentvisasupport@ut.ee.

The official admission letter will be sent to admitted students electronically via DreamApply only after the admissions office has received and reviewed hard copies of the application documents, and received the tuition fee pre-payment (if a pre-payment was required, please see Step 3 for more details).

NB! The electronic admission letter is also sufficient for non-EU students for applying for visa/residence permit at an Estonian embassy.

Once the admission letter is issued, accepted students may proceed further with arranging their arrival. All non-EU students should first consult information on the process of visa and temporary residence permit application to be sure, as where and when the relevant documents need to be applied. Note that housing at the UT dormitories can be applied during a limited period of time, unless specified otherwise on the website. 

NB! Admitted students who are not citizens of an EU or EEA country or Switzerland need to make sure they obtain the Estonian long-term visa on time in order to be able to participate in the orientation programme for international students held in the last week of August. They are also required to visit the Admissions Office in person to complete their arrival registration by September 2, 2024, at the latest. Failure to do so will result in the revocation of their admission decision and visa.

For housing alternatives please find further information on Tartu Welcome Centre website.  
Travel information can be found here.

Based upon common queries, the most important information has been summarised into a pre-arrival information website UT Getting Started.