Give Back
Investing in Excellence
Since 2019, CERGE-EI alumni have been helping talented PhD students take their first steps toward successful academic careers through the Alumni Excellence Fellowship. The fellowship recognizes academic excellence and gives students something equally important: encouragement, confidence, and a strong sense that the alumni community believes in them.
Who can receive the Fellowship?
- Newly enrolled students who were ranked among the very best by the Admission Committee and who remain within the top quarter of their first-year cohort based on cumulative GPA.
- Second-year students who successfully pass all first-year general exams with a PhD-level pass and rank among the top three students in their cohort.
Make a Difference in the Lives of Future Economists
If you would like to make a larger donation, you can do so via the following account:
CZK Account number: 5282422/0800
IBAN: CZ7208000000000005282422
Variable symbol (variabilní symbol): 2025
Message for payee (zpráva pro příjemce): Give Back 2025
Bank: Česká spořitelna, a. s.
Address: Olbrachtova 1929/62, CZ 140 00 Praha 4
Account Holder: Nadace CERGE-EI (Politických vězňů 7, CZ 110 00 Praha 1)
The CERGE-EI Foundation and/or Nadace CERGE-EI are happy to provide formal confirmation of all donations to submit to your local tax authority. The CERGE-EI Foundation is a registered non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization registered in New Jersey. Nadace CERGE-EI is a registered Czech foundation (in accordance with Civil Law no. 89/2012 Coll.).
Meet the 2025/2026 Fellows:
Eliška, Jan, and Wenrui are three bright young PhD students at the beginning of their academic careers.
Eliška: “Being part of the CERGE-EI community and feeling the trust of its alumni is truly encouraging. Your support motivates me to work even harder and inspires me to one day give back and share the same generosity. Thank you for believing in us."
Jan: “At CERGE-EI, each week has brought a different kind of challenge. Learning that I had received the Alumni Excellence Fellowship gave me a sense of confidence and reduced some of the uncertainty I felt at the beginning. I hope that in the future I will also be able to contribute by supporting others at the start of their journey in a similar way.”
Wenrui: “I am deeply honored to receive the Alumni Excellence Fellowship. I want to express my sincerest gratitude to the alumni who made this possible. Your generosity and belief in future students are an inspiration to me. I hope to be someday able to pay this act of kindness forward.”
Fellowship Recipients Through the Years:
Academic year 2024/2025: Jose is a third-year PhD student, focusing on international trade and labor economics under the supervision of Ctirad Slavík.
Academic year 2022/2023 and 2023/2024: Tereza received the fellowship for her excellence in academic performance for two academic years. Being in her 4th year of PhD studies, she focuses on Information Economics under the supervision of Filip Matějka. She has spent her research stay at the University of Berkeley.
Academic year 2021/2022: Vladimir and Jiří received the fellowship.
Academic years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021: Martin, Maksim, Giorgii, Lukáš, and Ren were the first students to receive fellowships.
"CERGE-EI had a fundamental impact on my life. It expanded my opportunities, shaped my skills, and gave me friendships and professional connections that lasted well beyond graduation. When an institution does that for you, supporting the next generation feels natural. When you’ve benefited from that kind of environment, giving back feels less like charity and more like a responsibility – and honestly, a privilege."
Viliam, alumnus, and proud donor
“I owe CERGE-EI a lot. The education, inspiration, and connections I obtained during my studies helped me be where I am in my academic career. Having benefited myself, I want to share with the next generation of students so that they can also get an option to benefit at least as much as I did. Practically, as a behavioral economist, I understand the power of defaults. This is why I donate regularly, without having to think about it all the time.”
Vojta, alumnus, and proud donor
“I would like to at least partially return to CERG-EI what I have gained. My education has given me opportunities that have helped me in my professional career. I would like to help someone like me, who also did not have the resources to pay for a prestigious education. If I could help at least one such person, I would be very happy.”
Martin, alumnus, and proud donor
"For me, Alumni Give Back serves two purposes. First, I want to give back to CERGE-EI as a community, because I gained a lot by being part of that. Second, I still remember how difficult it is to be a full-time PhD student and watch your peers starting their first jobs and thinking about whether this journey you took is the right one for you. And I believe that some extra financial support can help the best students to continue on this journey and confirm that they did the right thing by choosing a PhD program,"
Klára, alumna, and proud donor
