In 2016, CEMFI was awarded the "María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence" distinction by the Spanish National Research Agency. This distinction is granted to public research centers and units that demonstrate global scientific leadership and impact. CEMFI has maintained this distinction for the period 2022-2026.

The award entails 2-million-euro funding for a period of 4 years. CEMFI's strategic research program aims to strengthen its position as a leading world-class research institution in economics, and to expand and strengthen its PhD program. As part of this research program, the following activities are being undertaken:

  • The PhD Support Program enhances CEMFI's capacity to attract highly qualified international students by providing them competitive funding. As human capital, both faculty and students, is the main ingredient of successful PhD training, the ability to attract top-level graduate students to CEMFI is an essential part of the Strategic Program.
  • The Visitor Program fosters the interaction between CEMFI's researchers and leading international scholars. Visits funded by this program normally last between two weeks and three months and take place between September and mid-July. Visitors are expected to contribute to the already vibrant research environment at CEMFI and interact with faculty and graduate students.

Applications to the CEMFI María de Maeztu Visitor Program are made by filling an online application form available here. The number of visiting positions is limited. Applications are open for the academic year 2025-2026. There are two deadlines for application: 15 October 2024 (first round) and 15 April 2025 (second round, if there are still available positions). CEMFI provides visitors with a flat honorarium, which depends on the duration of the visit, to cover their travel and accommodation expenses. Applications for visits funded by the María de Maeztu programme for the academic year 2024-2025 are no longer possible. To be considered for an unfunded visit please fill out the online application form here.

 

Acedemic year Visitor Affiliation Dates
2024-2025Manuel Bagüés University of Warwick March-April
Yan Bai University of Rochester April-May
Corina Boar NYU May
Stéphane Bonhomme Chicago Booth December, July
Carmen Cabrera-Arnau University of Liverpool October
Elizabeth Caucutt University of Western Ontario October-November
German Cubas University of Houston May-June
Juan Dubra Universidad de Montevideo February-March
Gilles Duranton Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania September-June
Axelle Ferriere Sciences Po January
Paula Gobbi Université Libre de Bruxelles (ECARES) April-May
Eugenia Gonzalez-Aguado Toulouse School of Economics March-May
Toru Kitagawa Brown University April-May
Lance Lochner University of Western Ontario October-November
Joan Monras UPF October, October-November
Tommaso Porzio Columbia Business School September-October
2023-2024Treb Allen Dartmouth College November-December
David Atkin MIT June-August
Fabio Canova European University Institute April-June
Jorge De la Roca University of Southern California April-May
Gilles Duranton University of Pennsylvania August-June
Alberto Manconi Bocconi University January
Alessandra Peter New York University November
Mounu Prem Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance October
Christopher Rauh University of Cambridge March
Andreas Stegmann University of Warwick September
Silvia Vannutelli Northwestern University February-March
Gustavo Ventura Arizona State University April
Dean Yang University of Michigan August-June
2022-2023Javier Bianchi Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis November-December
Kamran Bilir Princeton University September-June
Joshua Blumenstock University of California at Berkeley September-May
Leopoldo Fergusson Universidad de los Andes April-August
Bryan Graham University of California at Berkeley September-December
Rody Manuelli Washington University in St. Louis January-June
Eduardo Morales Princeton University September-June
Esteban Rossi-Hansberg University of Chicago June-July
2021-2022Juan Dubra Universidad de Montevideo November-December
Raquel Fernandez New York University June-July
Cecilia García Peñalosa Aix Marseille School of Economics January-March
Jonathan Hall University of Toronto March
Enrique Mendoza University of Pennsylvania February-April
Kurt Mitman Institute for International Economic Studies March-April
Morten O. Ravn University College London April-June
Luca Repetto Uppsala University November-March
Andrés Rodríguez-Clare University of California at Berkeley February-May
Esteban Rossi-Hansberg University of Chicago May
Alessandro Ruggieri University of Nottingham October
María Sáez Martí Yale University January-February
Fabrizio Zilibotti Yale University January-February
2020-2021Jorge de la Roca University of Southern California September-November
Julio Garín Claremont McKenna College March-July
Martín Gonzalez-Eiras University of Copenhagen October-November
Morten O. Ravn University College London November-December
2019-2020Martin Gonzalez Eiras University of Copenhagen May-July
Keith Head University of British Columbia September-July
2018-2019R. Anton Braun Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta April-June
Dean Corbae Wisconsin School of Business May-June
Rosario Crinó Universitá Catolica del Sacro Cuore January-April
Mauricio Drelichman University of British Columbia September-February
Gilles Duranton University of Pennsylvania January
Iván Fernández-Val Boston University January-June
Luca Repetto Uppsala University September-March
Frédéric Robert-Nicoud Université de Genève September-December
Jan Stuhler Universidad Carlos III de Madrid October-March
Lucciano Villacorta Banco Central de Chile March
2017-2018Konstantin Büchel Uniersität Bern January-February
Margarida Duarte University of Toronto January-June
Maximilian Ehrlich Uniersität Bern January-February
Pablo Fajgelbaum University of California, Los Angeles May-June
Pierre-Carl Michaud HEC Montréal October, June
Maria Jose Prados University of Southern California June
Christopher Rauh Université de Montréal May-June
Diego Restuccia University of Toronto January-June
2016-2017Jorge de la Roca University of Southern California November

 


  • The Research Support Program provides resources for faculty and graduate students to boost CEMFI's research output. Four elements of the Research Support program have been designed to encourage high-risk, high-return projects (Exploration Grants Program), reward top-quality research (Research Incentive Program), enhance the interaction between faculty and students (Research Assistantship Program), and address specific needs of graduate students (Explorations Grants Program and PhD Placement Program).

This prize recognizes the best original piece of research conducted by CEMFI PhD students during the first year of their thesis writting stage.


Academic year Name Title
2021-2022 Francesco Chiocchio The Effects of Property Taxes on Homeownership
2020-2021 Claudio Luccioletti Labor Market Power and the City-Size Wage Premium
2019-2020 Alba Miñano When are D-graded Neighborhoods not Degraded? Geography and the Legacy of Redlining
2018-2019 Javier López-Segovia Intergenerational Persistence in Welfare Program Participation
2017-2018 José Gutierrez Capital Requirements for Off-Balance-Sheet Exposures: How do They Affect Real Economy Through Credit Lines?
2016-2017 Jorge Abad Breaking the Feedback Loop: Macroprudential Regulation o Banks' Sovereign Exposure

 

  • Finally, María de Maeztu post-doctoral fellows contribute to CEMFI's research environment and enhance its graduate teaching capabilities.
Dates Researchers
September 2020 - February 2022 Mateo Montenegro
May 2022 - May 2023 Lajos Kossuth
September 2022 - September 2023 Cauê Dobbin
September 2018 - June 2021 Christoph Albert
September 2018 - August 2019 Clara Santamaría
May - October 2018 Anja Grujovic