After successfully finishing the project, students will be able to:
* apply knowledge of economic theory, approaches, perspectives, and methodologies to real-life problems and/or policy issues.
* independently acquire new knowledge and skills which are relevant for tackling an economic problem.
* translate a general problem into a specific (research) question, and make use of a relevant approach to obtain an answer.
* communicate the outcomes of the analysis in general and the proposed solution in particular.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) USED IN THIS COURSE IS WITH RESERVATION. A RE-EMERGENCE OF THE CORONAVIRUS AND NEW COUNTERMEASURES BY THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT MIGHT FORCE COORDINATORS TO CHANGE THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHODS USED. THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING/ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE COURSE SYLLABUS.

The project aims to give students a challenging opportunity to increase their knowledge of Economics and apply it to solve important economic problems/challenges. After a common introductory part, students will work in teams, tackling a particular case, relevant to a real-life economic decision maker (be it a business, a government, or a non-government organization). In case of a project involving a company for example, the goal is to provide an analysis of and/or a solution to the problem that the organisation in question could further develop and implement. Students are encouraged to use a wide range of methods and techniques including data analysis, theoretical modelling, simulation, experiments, etc.