The Department of Economics and Business has gained two new ICREA Research Professors for 2018. Profs. Ruben Durante and Antonio Penta have been selected by ICREA – the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies – to receive permanent contracts for research work at universities and institutions in Catalonia.

ICREA is a foundation supported by the Catalan government that funds researchers who have outstanding research records and excellent leadership capabilities. These two new additions brings the total number of Department of Economics and Business ICREA Research Professors to 14.

Prof. Durante is an applied microeconomist who works in the fields of political economy, public economics, and economic development. His research focuses on the operation and impact of traditional and new media, both in mature democracies and those that are in consolidation. Specifically, he investigates various aspects of the versatile relationship between the media, voters, politicians and special interests.

Combining various techniques and methodologies, Prof. Penta bases his research on a number of areas within game theory, mechanism design, and behaviour economy. Within behavioural economy, his research focuses primarily on the understanding and modeling of individual reasoning processes, taking into account the interaction between the incentives of individuals and their cognitive abilities.

Both Prof. Durante and Prof. Penta were also awarded Starting Grants from the European Research Council (ERC) in 2017. Starting Grants can be as high as €1.5 million total, and are awarded to researchers with two to seven years of post-PhD research experience and a scientific track record showing great promise.

Read more about these two professors on their new ICREA profile pages:

• Ruben Durante
• Antonio Penta