Cristiano Cantore learnt how to approach research, write academic papers, and teach during his Economics PhD. This paved the way into a career, via a stint at the Bank of England, as a Professor of Economics.
“The training and mentoring received at the Uni of Kent during my Ph.D. were crucial for my career.“
What course did you study at Kent? What attracted you to the course?
I did a Ph.D. in Economics because I wanted to do research in Macroeconomics and pursue a career in academia and/or international organisations.
What are you doing now?
I am a Professor of Economics at the University of La Sapienza in Rome (Italy). I am teaching undergraduate and post-graduate courses on macroeconomic and economic policy and researching monetary and fiscal policies and their impact on the labour market.
How did studying (your course) prepare you for your current position?
The training and mentoring received at the Uni of Kent during my Ph.D. were crucial for my career. During my three years in Canterbury I learned how to approach research, write academic papers, and present the results to a broader audience. I have also learned how to teach. Since the first year of the course, I taught seminars to undergraduate students. This turned out to be an invaluable experience when I started to teach my own courses when I left Canterbury.
Could you describe a typical day in your current role?
My typical day is split into three equal parts. I) teaching and office hours with students; II) reading articles and books related to my research; III) working on my own research which consists in developing macroeconomic models and simulate them on the computer.
What do you love most about your role?
The freedom to be able to research on topics I am interested in and the contact with students.
What steps did you take to get into your current role? What was the process during/after University?
I started as a Lecturer at the University of Surrey as a I left the University of Kent in 2010. After three years I was promoted to Senior Lecturer and in 2018 to Reader. In September 2018 I moved to the Bank of England to take on a position as Research Advisor while still maintaining a part-time role at the Uni of Surrey. At the beginning of 2023 I decided to move back to Italy where I was offered a Chair (Full Professor) in Economic policy at the University of Rome La Sapienza.
What advice would you give to somebody thinking of coming to Kent?
Canterbury is the perfect town to study and enjoy your free time. The University Campus is amazing and you can walk around everywhere. It is a small but very international town. I had the time of my life there and made a lot of life-time friendships.
Dr Cristiano Cantore studied a PhD in Economics and graduated in 2011.