1) What are the top challenges that you are currently working to solve for your institute this year?
The growing divide between
academia & industry was the primary catalyst behind the establishment of
the academy. Keeping that in mind, the key challenge that we are working to
solve is to identify shortcomings in the employability in present day graduates
and create a curriculum which trains students to become real world-economists
and finance professionals. To achieve this we have got academics trained at
MIT, Cambridge, LSE and IMF and practitioners like chief economist of Birla
group, Chief India Economist at Goldman Sachs, Executive editor of Mint etc. ,
who are all working as a team to develop a curriculum which supports our
vision.
2) What are the qualities you look
for in an applicant when shortlisting for your final selections?
The Program is meant for graduates
from any discipline who have strong quantitative skills and would like to learn
economics and finance to solve real world problems. The Program is also useful
for young professionals who would like to develop applied post graduate
economics and finance skills to further their careers.
This year the academy is seeking
its first batch of 30 high caliber students. The selection will be a three step
process:
·
Students
will write 2 essays, as part of the admission form.
·
There
will be an entrance test
·
A
personal interview.
The entrance exam will test the candidate in three
areas – Math, Logic and undergraduate level economics. The entrance exam will
assess the quantitative & analytical capability and general intelligence of
the student. The interviews would help to understand the perspective of the
candidate as well as gauge how good a fit he / she would be for the class
Applications to our program have
already commenced, entrance tests will be conducted in June, while the
interviews for shortlisted candidates will be in June & July. Admissions
are on a rolling basis. To apply students can visit http://www.meghnaddesaiacademy.org/admission/
3) What
according to you is the one progressive change that you’d like to see in the
management education scenario in the country today?
Economics education in India has
not kept pace with developments in the workplace. There is a dearth of
post-graduate programs which marry strong theoretical foundations with applied
skills necessary for a rapidly globalizing economy. In particular, the Global
Financial Crisis and the rise of Big Data have generated a need for a more
practical education where students of economics and finance develop a new
toolkit to analyze and address real-world problems.
The Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics
has been established as an institution of excellence to provide graduate
students with the academic rigor and applied skills to meet the needs of a
dynamic and globalized workplace. The objective is to develop broad-based
analytical and problem-solving abilities for future global leaders.