On Wednesday 22 November, Surinamese economist Gavin Ooft successfully defended his PhD thesis at the Anton de Kom University in Suriname. The doctoral dissertation was supervised by Philip Hans Franses, Professor of Applied Econometrics at Erasmus School of Economics.
Gavin Ooft is specialised in econometrics, data analytics, and predictive analytics. From 2012 to 2019, Ooft worked in the research department of the Central Bank of Suriname. Since the beginning of this year, he holds a position as Financial Modeling & Research Specialist at the Central Bank of Curacao and Sint Maarten, in Willemstad, Curacao.
Close Ties with Anton de Kom University
Over the years, Professor Franses has maintained close ties with the Anton de Kom University in Paramaribo. He supervised and guided more Suriname-related research projects, such as the doctoral research of Dr Madesta Lede, who obtained her PhD from Erasmus School of Economics in 2013. Shortly after, Lede returned to Suriname where she started her professional career as a lecturer at the Anton de Kom University.
As former Dean of Erasmus School of Economics, Franses also initiated a temporary collaboration with the Anton de Kom University, which allowed Surinamese students to follow a transition year in their own country and then come to Rotterdam for six months to complete blocks 1 to 3 of the MSc Accounting, Auditing and Control. In 2014, several students graduated, both in Paramaribo and Rotterdam, depending on the supervision of their thesis.
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Several media have paid attention to Gavin Ooft's dissertation: Dagblad Suriname (24 November), Waterkant (24 November), GFC Nieuws (23 November), and ATV Networks Suriname (24 November 2023)
For more information, please contact Ronald de Groot, Media & Public Relations Officer at Erasmus School of Economics: rdegroot@ese.eur.nl, +316 53 641 846.