The Economic And Financial Environment

The challenging, new economic and financial environment with the growing frequency of financial crises in Turkey has made me intrigued to understand more about the (well-)functioning of an economy in general and the role, which financial market and institutions take on in this economy, in particular. The theory of financial crises; the factors and forces leading to the emergence of debt and financial crises; the requirements for the development of a sound and efficient domestic financial sector have therefore been interesting subjects to come to grips with.

However, economics is a demanding discipline and requires mastery of analytical and quantitative skills as much as an initial curiosity and desire to understand these mechanisms. Therefore, starting from my early years in the Austrian High School, which has always been a very competitive academic institution in Istanbul with its concentration in math and science, I put much greater emphasis on the development of my analytical and quantitative skills, and my knowledge in the realm of economics. This strong commitment helped me to pass the Austrian A-Level Exams (Matura) with distinction for which I was rewarded an undergraduate scholarship by the Federation of Austrian Industries. This scholarship has later been extended for my MSc Economics Programme at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU) as a result of my academic achievements during my undergraduate programme.

During my undergraduate career at the WU, my primary areas of interest had always been international macroeconomics and finance as well as international trade. Nevertheless, it took me a long time before I understood the importance and indispensability of econometrics and microeconomic theory and founda...

... middle of paper ...

...dvanced microeconomics and macroeconomics courses as well as three so- called “specialist classes” in the field of international macroeconomics and finance. I expect to complete this master programme at the end of August 2016 with distinction.

Sustaining the momentum I have built up during my graduate studies and determined to learn more in the field of finance and financial economics, I would like to attend the “MA Economics and Finance” programme offered by the Department of Economics, Boğaziçi University. I strongly believe that this programme with its research and application orientation, and with its strong focus on training in related areas of economics and finance will provide me with very strong and state-of-the-art analytical and quantitative techniques necessary to pursue my interest in research in the area of financial economics through doing a PhD study.