Here's what you need to do to win a masterclass with Thomas Piketty

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Piketty Pompeu Fabra

Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Flickr

Piketty's one of the biggest names in economics at the moment, and he's giving a masterclass at the London School of Economics.

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Only 15 lucky PhD students will be selected for the six-month class. To get in, they'll need to write a one-page proposal on what they intend to work on with Piketty.

The deadline is October 12, giving plenty of time to overthink the application. Here's what the LSE has to say about the the selection process:

Applications should include no more than two sentences from their supervisor indicating their views about the project's feasibility and confirming that it will be beneficial for the student's doctoral studies.

Students will be expected to explain how the project relates to issues raised by Thomas's work, though these may be of a quantitative, qualitative, historical or theoretical nature.

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Piketty found global fame with his 700-page book Capital in the 21st Century, which hit number one on the New York Times and Amazon bestseller lists.

In it, he proposed a system of progressive taxes to limit inequality and stop the majority of the world's wealth falling in to the hands of a minority.

Piketty is Centennial Professor at the LSE. If you can't get on the course but would like to dream about it, here's the schedule:

  • October 28th: Orientation
    Thomas to give a presentation on his current research agenda, including the data bases (e.g. World Top Incomes Database) and empirical and theoretical challenges involved. All students will introduce their proposed projects collectively with group discussion and feedback on how to develop their projects
  • November 15th
    Revised project outlines to be received and feedback given.
  • January 13th 2016
    Second workshop. All students to report back on their progress with feedback from Thomas and other III colleagues
  • March 15th
    All students to submit drafts of their reports.
  • March 23rd
    Third workshop: All students to briefly present findings from their research, with group discussion and feedback from Thomas and III colleagues.
  • May 1st
    Final reports submitted and feedback given (though no formal credits are awarded). III colleagues select the four strongest reports to be presented at the Atlantic Philanthropies Conference, May 25th.
  • May 25th
    III/ Atlantic Philanthropies conference (featuring Thomas Piketty). Thomas to chair the panel where the four selected papers are delivered.

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