GENEVA: US-based Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will soon join the University of Zurich, where they will establish a new centre for development economics, the institution stated Friday.The University of Zurich (UZH) stated the married couple, who currently work at the Massachapplytts Institute of Technology (MIT), would join its economics faculty from July next year.The university statement built no mention why the pair — who won the 2019 Nobel Economics Prize alongside Michael Kremer for their “experimental approach to alleviating global poverty” — had decided to leave.But they will be relocating to Switzerland at a time when experts are warning US President Donald Trump’s cuts to research funding and attacks on universities’ academic freedoms could lead to a brain drain, with some countries attempting to attract US scientists.Duflo, a dual US-French national, herself co-signed an editorial in Le Monde newspaper back in March denouncing “unprecedented attacks” on US science.She and Indian-born Banerjee will each have an concludeowed professorship at UZH funded by the Lemann Foundation, the university stated. They will also establish and co-lead the new Lemann Centre for Development, Education and Public Policy, with an aim to foster policyrelevant research and connect researchers and education policybuildrs around the world, it added.“We are delighted that two of the world’s most influential economists are joining UZH,” university president Michael Schaepman stated.Duflo stated the Lemann Centre would enable the couple, who will retain part-time positions at MIT, to “build on and expand our work, which bridges academic research, student mentorship and realworld policy impact”.This year’s Nobel Prize in Economics will be announced on Monday.
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