HIAS Bridges NEXT

Etienne Makdissi

Research field:Family and Labor Economics

●What are your current research interests?

Marriage Formation and Location Choice

●What do you enjoy most about research?

Satisfying my curiosity

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

Improving our understanding of society

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

Desire to explain why society is structured as it is, and to try to find out how to improve it.

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

Better understanding of the relationship between family and socio-economic structures.

Elnura Baiaman kyzy

Research field:Mainly macroeconomics, with a focus on monetary and fiscal policy, uncertainty and, a love for Bayesian estimation

●What are your current research interests?

Currently I am working on stochastic volatility models and nonlinear filters.

●What do you enjoy most about research?

Uncovering new insights and solving both old and new puzzles

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

A long journey of exploring new ideas and solutions

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

The amazing women in science!

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

Keep exploring, keep solving, and keep enjoying my job!

PEIRAN LI

Research field:AI/Data Science

●What are your current research interests?

I’m now exploring how to use generative AI models—particularly diffusion and large language models—to simulate and understand large-scale human mobility across cities and regions. My broader interest lies in connecting data-driven modeling with real-world urban and social systems.

●What do you enjoy most about research?

I enjoy discovering unexpected patterns hidden in complex data and transforming them into interpretable insights.

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

To find things we cannot see by eyes but could be revealed by data.

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

By how data and algorithms can reveal real-wrold behavior.

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

I hope to broaden my research scope—from domain-specific spatiotemporal data analysis to more general data science research. My goal is to develop versatile methodologies that can be applied across different types of data and contribute to solving diverse real-world problems.

Wenjiao Hu

Research field:International economics, monetary economics

●What are your current research interests?

exchange rate linkage with economic variables in developing countries

●What do you enjoy most about research?

I often enjoy the feeling of attention-focusing during research.

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

I treat academic research as a way to improve my personal integrity.

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

To save the world.

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

I want to make more contribution to financial stability in international community

Tomoki Tsujita

Research field:Organizational economics, Game theory

●What are your current research interests?

Cheap talk, Information design

●What do you enjoy most about research?

I enjoy gradually discovering new ideas and insights.

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

Discovering new ideas and insights

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

Because I found the game theory class I took as an undergraduate interesting.

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

I would like to explain complex social phenomena in a clear and intuitive way.

Akira Hatsukawa

Research field:International law and constitutional law

●What are your current research interests?

Domestic application of international human rights treaties.

●What do you enjoy most about research?

Finding something new about human rights in Japan (in light of international law, not just the Constitution of Japan).

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

Climbing (hard and exhausting, but can also be rewarding with a magnificent view).

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

A question I had when I was an undergraduate: why are international standards of human rights not necessarily discussed frequently and sufficiently in Japan?

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

Bridging international law and constitutional law, which would contribute to better human rights protection in Japan.

Julia Mariko Jacoby

Research field:Early modern Japanese environmental and economic history

●What are your current research interests?

I currently research the complex natural resource networks of early modern Japanese villages and how they continued into the Meiji period.

●What do you enjoy most about research?

I love to connect with people from the past through reading sources and to connect with colleagues about research.

●What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

Research, for me, is an opportunity to never stop learning.

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

I’ve always been curious and loved analyzing things.

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

I want to be a researcher who brings people together internationally.

Fumi Yoshimoto

Research field:The European Union Law

●What are your current research interests?

The European Parliament election 2024

●What do you enjoy most about research?

Sharing ideas with others

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

Accumulation of the results we never know unless we try

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

One thing led to another and I ended up being a researcher.

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

I wish I could become a researcher like my supervisors and the colleagues.

Thomas Monnier

Research field:Urban and development economics

●What are your current research interests?

Migration, informality, climate change, structural transformation

●What do you enjoy most about research?

Interacting with many stakeholders while keeping independence and freedom

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

Getting excited about new ideas, then keeping a cool head and persevere to bring projects to an end

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

Meeting inspiring people, and a love for social sciences and humanities in general

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

Engage with policymakers and develop a truly trans-disciplinary research agenda to maximize impact