The Toulouse School of Economics is emancipated
Posted Dec 28 2022 at 7:51
It is a significant change. Toulouse School of Economics (TSE) becomes the 1uh January a large independent establishment of the University of Toulouse Capitole. Founded in 2011, the Toulouse School of Economics stems from the Industrial Economics Research Institute created in 1990 at the University of Social Sciences by Jean-Jacques Laffont, followed by Nobel Prize winner Jean Tirole.
With its 150 high-level teachers and researchers, recruited with the support of its foundation, TSE arrives at the 9e world ranking of economics departments in the RePec ranking. But she wanted to free herself from the university to recruit her teachers herself and raise the training to the level of research.
Middle lane
Even independent, TSE remains a “component” of the Toulouse Capitole University in order to be able to remain in its premises, including the new research building which cost 50 million euros. The Ministry of Higher Education and Research has found a middle way, by giving the Toulouse Capitole University the status of “experimental public establishment” (like Paris-Saclay) which makes it possible to test new modes of organization. .
An association brings together the university, TSE and Sciences Po Toulouse and the diplomas will be co-signed. “We are divorcing for us organizers in shared accommodation by sharing the premises and part of the administrative and IT services”, summarizes Joël Echevarria, Deputy Managing Director of TSE.
2,200 students
The school receives six more administrative positions and supports all of the 2,200 economics students at the university, when it started in the third year. It has its own budget and is autonomous for the recruitment of teachers, the selection of students, scientific policy and registration fees. TSE seeks to recruit senior teachers by improving their remuneration. Its Jean-Jacques Laffont foundation for research, endowed with 100 million euros by large companies, will raise funds for education.
Above all, the school wants to set up a second course in the quantitative social sciences within two to three years. It will create licenses combining political science, law, sociology, psychology or biology with mathematics. “It’s about making better use of the formalization of mathematics in the social sciences,” explains Joël Echevarria. We are already doing this in research. It’s new in France, but it exists in Anglo-Saxon countries. »
Before training this new profile of students, the school will ensure that they will have resources and develop multidisciplinary research. TSE obtained the authorization of the ministry to create this sector and is renamed “School of economics and quantitative social sciences of Toulouse”. The management hopes to obtain for this “a dozen teacher-researcher positions in four years”. For its part, the Toulouse Capitole University is also developing an international multidisciplinary research centre.