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From Prague to Chicago to Princeton, via the New York Fed

10 February, 2026

What starts as a single email can turn into a research-shaping journey. For Gayane Baghumyan, a PhD student and aspiring experimental economist at CERGE-EI, that journey unfolded in these steps.

A CERGE-EI–supported research stay became six months at the University of Chicago, hosted by John List, followed by a Stapleton Award–funded visit to Princeton and a conference stop at the New York Fed. Along the way, she discovered an intense seminar culture, world-class faculty who were unexpectedly down-to-earth, and feedback that helped sharpen her experimental design. She describes her way in the new blog post “From Prague to Chicago to Princeton, via the New York Fed,” part of the Places You’ll Go series on study mobility.

Baghumyan’s first step was straightforward—and bold: she reached out to the person whose work had sparked her research idea. “I got the motivation for my first experiment from a paper by John List and coauthors,” she says, so she emailed him to ask whether he would host her. List agreed, setting her course for the University of Chicago. Once there, her expectations shifted. While she anticipated an elite academic environment, she didn’t expect the warmth: “I think part of me expected more arrogance from world-class professors, but John List and others were super friendly and down-to-earth.”

What stood out most wasn’t the difficulty of classes, but the ecosystem around them. In terms of teaching, she found the approach to economics similar to what she was used to at CERGE-EI. The biggest difference was the sheer volume of seminars. At UChicago, she notes, “you can attend 2–3 research seminars a week that are directly relevant to your specific area,” creating a rhythm of constant idea-testing and feedback.

She also appreciated how informal exchanges can turn into real research progress. That same dynamic followed her to Princeton and the New York Fed, where conversations refined her identification strategy and even her experimental design. Her takeaway is simple and emphatic: “You’d be surprised how much a random conversation can shape your research direction.”

Read the full interview here.