The Ruhr Graduate School in Economics (RGS Econ) is being designated one of the state's 17 research faculties. These schools are to be used in the future in North Rhine-Westphalia to help exceptional students earn their doctorates quickly and systematically. Thus RGS Econ, a joint initiative by the universities at Bochum, Dortmund and Duisburg-Essen in collaboration with the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI Essen), is to strike out in new directions and embark on a path toward further development.

The Ruhr Graduate School in Economics (RGS Econ) is to become one of 17 research faculties with which the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is expanding its closely defined efforts to promote junior scientists. One special objective of this new program is to attract applicants from foreign countries so as to expand both collaboration among researchers and the internationalization of the universities. Students accepted at any of the research faculties will at the same time receive a monthly scholarship. The research faculties will as a rule be financed in equal parts by the specific university and by the state government. The NRW research faculties are the successors to the "NRW Graduate Schools". RGS Econ, itself founded in 2004, was a member of that group.

RGS Econ is a research faculty jointly organized by the university alliance in the Ruhr conurbations (comprising the universities at Bochum, Dortmund and Duisburg-Essen) in collaboration with the Rhenish-Westphalian Institute for Economic Research (RWI Essen). The main research areas are theoretical modeling and econometric analysis of real business problems in free economies. RGS Econ brings together in an innovative fashion basic academic research and problem-oriented, empirical research to be used in RWI Essen's policy consulting activities. The program allows up to eight scholarship winners each year to participate in a modern post-graduate curriculum with superb international qualities.

Complete information on the education and research program and details on the application procedure will be found on the Internet at www.rgs-econ.org.

For further information, please contact:
Sabine Weiler( RWI Press Office), Phone: +49 201 8149-213, e-mail