Offered by the Faculty of Economics of the University of Rennes 1, this 2nd year master level program teaches students the various activities of governments – expenditure policies, tax instruments, macroeconomic and regulatory policies – in an evolutionary, comparative, international perspective. Graduates from the IMPP will be active and dynamic players in processes of management and reform of public sector activities and agencies, in a plurality of institutional contexts and countries. They can be typically employed in:
The IMPP offers double-degrees with 6 partner universities: Friburg, Switzerland – Tampere, Finland – Piemonte Orientale and getiton Turin, Italy – Masaryk, Czech Republic and Mino, Portugal. The program also welcomes students from several Asian partner universities and institutions as well as individual applications from all over the world.
To help students making the most of their studies abroad, the European Commission has developed a European Credit Transfer System, (ECTS), which provides a way of measuring and transfering learning achievements from one university to another. One year of study in the European Union corresponds to 60 ECTS. One semester of study corresponds to 30 ETCS approximately.
Prerequisites in microeconomics (consumer theory, Lagrangian method of constrained optimization, public economics): H
Internship: the internship should last at least 4 months, from April, 1st to September 30th. The topic should be related to the production or supervision of economic and statistical studies in the field of public policies (in federal, national, regional or local governments, public services, or research centers).
Master thesis: students choose the topic with the help of professors before the end of December. The topics are usually related to the subject matters of the courses.
Students are also invited to participate in the activities of the Condorcet Center for Political Economy. The Condorcet Center is a Research Institute where international scholars and the University Faculty meet to pursue their joint and individual researches. The Condorcet Center promotes workshops, conferences, research projects, working papers, joint activities with other research institutes.
Foreign students may find some information about the administration procedures at the following address:
The application procedure is in French but students can submit documents in English (e.g., vita, letter of motivation, transcript of records). The application procedure depends on the country of origin of the students:
The students are selected according to the following documents: a 4-year diploma (bachelor’s degree in 4 years / 1st year of a master’s degree) in economics or equivalent studies with a record of the marks you have achieved in the past academic years; a personal record (CV); a letter of motivation written in English. No interview is required.
The first meeting with the professors will be held on the end of September. The lectures are finished in April because, afterwards, students have to (1) work on the master thesis or (2) do an internship. There are two dates for the defense : one in June (mainly for the master thesis), the other in September (mainly for internship but possible for the master thesis). In France, we do not have graduation. The defense is actually the most important event.
The prerequisites for the lectures are basic microeconomics (consumer and producer theory, lagrangian solving) and econometrics (hypothesis testing, OLS , heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation). The level is evaluated based on the application documents. Teaching is in english. Knowledge of english is evaluated based on the past experiences of the students as well as a letter of motivation written in english (no english certificate is required). Students who do not feel comfortable with calculus and standard mathematical tools for economists are strongly advised to consult and work with the following references:
Prerequisites in mathematics (Exponents and Logarithms, differential and integral calculus, Matrix Algebra, Functions of Several Variables): S. C. Aggarwal, R.K. Rana, Basic Mathematics for Economists.
The knowledge of French may be useful for the everyday life and administrative procedures. The University of Rennes 1 as well as Campus France ask for a minimum knowledge of French with certificate. However, our master degree is an exception: since the lectures are in English, students applying to our master may send their application without any proof of a French certificate.
The registration will be on site, once you are in France at the University of Rennes 1. Fees are free if you are from a european Partner university (Erasmus Programme), if you have a French scolarship (French citizens), if you have a scolarship from Egide (Eiffel scolarship) or the French Ambassy.
Because it is a matter of visa procedure, only the French ambassy of your country can provide this information. Campus France will know this information as well if you apply to the master with Campus France. As a rough guide to help you with your budget, a room (or private APT) is 150-400 euros per month, the cost of living in Rennes (food, bus, etc.) is 150-300 euros per month. As a consequence, for a one year stay (12 months from october until october), the total annual budget is 4500-9300 euros, tuition fees not included.
