From Turkey to Moscow by Way of Prague

Levent Çelik recently joined the Higher School of Economics as Assistant Professor of Economics. Before arriving at the HSE, he was Assistant Professor of Economics at CERGE-EI in Prague from 2006 to 2014. Professor Çelik’s research interests include industrial organization (with a focus on information disclosure, advertising, product differentiation and consumer search), international trade, and political economy. He received a B.A. in Economics at Boğaziçi University in 2000, and an M.A. in 2002. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics, which he received at the University of Virginia in 2007.

— What is the most exciting part for you as a new researcher at the HSE Moscow?

— A new country and culture, new people, new ideas and new cooperation... What else can a researcher ask for? The HSE Moscow has very clearly laid out goals and is hiring very good people to achieve those goals in the coming years. I expect a very research-active and productive environment. It is also exciting for my wife (who has just started as a Research Fellow at the Center for Institutional Studies) and me to be a part of the HSE team as a couple.

— What are your research plans, and whom will you be working with at the HSE?

— It is probably too early to give precise names, but I can assure you that I will work closely with my colleagues from the Department of Economics. As for my plans, I work in the fields of industrial organization and international trade/political economy, and I will continue this line of research -- and potentially start new ones -- at the HSE. I will also continue supervising students as I did before in Prague, as well as will bring my current co-author to the HSE for research visits. 

— This is your second major international relocation from Prague. What are your expectations and plans?

— Regarding research, I plan to focus on publishing my ongoing research projects and starting ones that I have had in mind for a long time. I also plan to start new projects with my new colleagues at the HSE. As for my personal life, I plan to prepare my 5-month old daughter for a real Russian winter and to enjoy all the activities that Russia has to offer with my family. 

— Do you know Russian or are you planning to study it? Are there any specific places of interest that you plan to visit?

— In Prague I lacked the right incentives to study Czech because the community I was in was fully international. After I met my wife, I began mixing my poor Czech skills with Slovak. Now I plan to add Russian to the mix. I will definitely try hard to learn Russian, but I also understand that it takes a long time to master a language. Fortunately, our daughter will hopefully be fluent in Slovak, Turkish and Russian, so she will be able to correct us all the time!