The opportunity provided by the Global Business School Network, in the form of the scholarship for the Global School in Empirical Research as the St. Gallen University, was an amazing opportunity for learning and networking. To start with, the choice of course selection in itself was a lot exciting as there were a number of courses being offered simultaneously and all were important and relevant for empirical research. The importance of research cannot be stressed upon enough in the 21st century and the program being offered was a very important and informative stepping stone in the area or research.
The courses that I attended were Regression 4: Maximum likelihood models and Advanced Time Series Analysis. Both of the courses helped me learn new methodologies that would be helpful in my dissertation for PhD degree. Working on my proposal for the dissertation, these courses introduced me to a whole new world of methodologies that could be used to analysis data and produce high quality research that would help my area develop new insights.
Since the program had students from all over the world and highly qualified instructors, it provided us with a great opportunity of networking. We got exposure to a lot of different areas in all discipline that people all over are doing research in. It would help in inter country as well as in inter disciplinary collaborations in research.
The program was very well organized overall. It also offered some social events like barbecues and trips to famous tourist spots. These events also provided a platform for socializing and interacting with each other and also to learn about the culture and landscape of Switzerland as a country. The Swiss people were all very helpful and friendly.
I am currently teaching at the Lahore School of Economics as a Senior Teaching Fellow and am enrolled in the PhD in Finance program. I have completed the coursework and cleared my comprehensive exam and am currently working on defending my proposal for the dissertation.
Mehreen Furqan is a Senior Teaching Fellow at the Lahore School of Economics. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Finance with a special interest in Accounting and Finance. Her current research focus is, “Effects of Operating Leverage on Profitability in Firms.”