On 8 February 2023, many members of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance (FDEF) gathered on Kirchberg Campus to attend the fourth annual FDEF Research Awards, celebrating individual researchers from all departments. After a welcome from FDEF Dean, Prof. Katalin Ligeti, Prof. Benny Mantin, Head of the Research Committee, presented an overview of key research achievements in 2022. Among these highlights, the announcement of 17 projects accepted for funding with an overall expected incoming external budget of over EUR 3.3M, distributed between FNR (Luxembourg National Research Fund) and European funding sources. One of the most exciting projects to be launched in 2023 is the NCER FINTECH in collaboration with the SnT. This transverse and interdisciplinary project includes 13 FDEF projects from all three departments.
Prof. Benny Mantin, head of the Research Committee, presents key FDEF achievements
Highlighting 2022 department achievements
Each department representative from the FDEF research committee then had the opportunity to present their 2022 research highlights. For the Department of Economics and Management (DEM), Prof. Vincent Anesi focused on the breadth and diversity of topics studied within the DEM, citing the 34 articles which were published during 2022 in top journals such as the International Economic Review, the Journal of Econometrics, the Journal of International Economics, among others. For Prof. Anesi, for the limited size of the department, it is an impressive achievement to be present in so many fields. With the new addition of Associate Professor Sarah Gelper, the department adds expertise in Marketing Analytics, Channel Management and Time Series Econometrics.
Prof. Vincent Anesi gives the Department of Economics and Management highlights
Prof. Roberto Steri, standing in for Research Committee member Prof. Laurent Barras, presented the research achievements of the Department of Finance (DF), which celebrated over EUR 1m in incoming project grants. In 2022, the DF also welcomed Assistant Professor Martina Fraschini, who brings expertise in money and banking innovations, such as cryptoassets. Prof. Steri also emphasised the success of the DF in placing PhD students on the job market as well as the many effective collaborations between the DF and other departments, other University entities, as well as external partners.
Prof. Roberto Steri presenting Department of Finance research
Lastly, Prof. Luca Ratti, representing Prof. Dirk A. Zetzsche, shared some of the Deparment of Law (DL) highlights from 2022. The Department had an outstanding year with 343 publications (an increase of +38% from 2021), including 13 monograph publications. The DL also celebrates two years of being ranked among the top 100 Law Departments globally by Times Higher Education (#68 in 2022; #92 in 2021).
Prof. Luca Ratti speaks about the Department of Law’s achievements
Honouring outstanding researchers
Created in 2019 to motivate and inspire the younger generation of researchers, the Research Awards have traditionally included two categories: “Best PhD student”, which comes with a prize of EUR 3000 and “Best Publication by an Early-Stage Researcher” which is accompanied by a prize of EUR 5000. New in 2022, an Honorary Mention category for the Department of Law was introduced to recognise exceptional contributions from senior members of the academic community.
The 2022 Research Award winners with Prof. Benny Mantin (from left to right, Alexander Ermakov, Bastian Krieger, Laetitia Cesari Zarkan, Prof. Mark D. Cole, Prof. Stanislaw Tosza, Prof. Gilles Cuniberti, Dr. Evgenii Monastyrenko).
The winners of the ‘Best PhD student’ prize:
Bastian Krieger from the Department of Economics and Management. His doctoral thesis, “Public Policy and Firm Innovation,” defended in 2022 and supervised by Prof. Katrin Hussinger, deals with challenges that public policy-based requirements (public demand guarantees, university research, international collaboration) may pose to firm innovation.
Alexander Ermakov from the Department of Finance. Alexander is a PhD candidate working under the supervision of Prof. Roberto Steri and Prof. Benjamin Holcblat. In his job market paper, presented during the research awards, he studied the role of investor beliefs in private equity valuation, demonstrating that beliefs can indeed explain private equity valuation.
Laetitia Cesari Zarkan from the Department of Law. Laetitia is a PhD candidate in addition to her role as a consultant at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). At the University of Luxembourg she is studying the legal aspects of satellite cybersecurity and helping to create a legal framework to prevent, identity, react to and remedy cybersecurity attacks on space infrastructure.
The winners of the “Best Publication by an Early-Stage Researcher”
Dr. Evgenii Monastyrenko is a Postdoctoral Researcher within the Department of Economics and Management. His winning paper titled Bearing the cost of politics: Consumer prices and welfare in Russia (joint work with Julian Hinz, Uni Bielefeld) was published in the Journal of International Economics and deals with the effects of the embargo in Russia on consumer prices, concluding that the self-imposed embargo has translated into higher prices, notably for food products in Russia.
Associate Prof. Stanislaw Tosza within the Department of Law was honoured for his paper “ Internet service providers as law enforcers and adjudicators. A public role of private actors” published in the Computer Law & Security Review, where he calls for a rethinking of the adjudicative power of digital platforms in instances where data as evidence is requested by law enforcement agencies for criminal investigations.
Honorary Mentions for senior colleagues
To conclude the ceremony, both Prof. Mark D. Cole and Prof. Gilles Cuniberti were presented with a special award to recognise their productivity and excellence in research.