McNamara Fellows Share Their Experience

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Young researchers share their experiences as part of the Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program.

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00:00 Uh,

00:00 my name is Magdalena.

00:01 Uh,

00:01 my name is Musin.

00:03 My name is Rafuddin Najam.

00:04 I'm a McNamara Fellow here at the World Bank.

00:07 Previously I was a McNamara Fellow and Robert McNamara Fellow

00:10 with the Development and Impact department at the World Bank.

00:13 I knew that I wanted to

00:15 build a career in research,

00:17 in academia,

00:18 and I wanted to

00:20 engage a little bit more in development economics,

00:23 so.

00:23 So I thought that I needed more exposure to that before

00:27 uh starting my PhD.

00:29 That's when I came

00:31 across the McNamara fellowship,

00:33 so I applied and I was lucky enough that I got in.

00:36 I applied for the McNamara Fellowship after I

00:39 graduated from a Master of Research in Economics.

00:41 I realized that I really wanted to be part of it,

00:44 not only because it's a great professional opportunity,

00:47 but.

00:48 Because I think I shared the vision developed by

00:50 the fellowship that is inspired by Robert McNamara himself.

00:53 His vision was to create a world of peace based on prosperity,

00:58 motivated by this vision,

01:00 I applied for the fellowship.

01:02 Why I'm interested

01:03 in this experience is primarily driven by my personal and professional curiosity.

01:09 Growing up in Afghanistan,

01:11 how does

01:11 And actors who are engaging to address poverty and

01:16 assist children to go to school.

01:17 So that's that's the topic I'm very passionate about.

01:20 The bank is doing a lot of innovative and great work in this domain,

01:24 so

01:24 being a practitioner of public policy and a researcher,

01:28 this is a great fit for me.

01:29 One of the things that I've liked the most

01:31 is that I've been exposed to a lot of training

01:34 in.

01:36 Whole

01:36 lot of different topics,

01:38 um,

01:39 and also a lot of different conferences and seminars

01:43 with very important people that I wouldn't get the,

01:46 the chance to be.

01:48 Uh,

01:48 exposed to if I wasn't in the World Bank.

01:51 When I started here,

01:52 the first,

01:53 uh,

01:53 training that I had to do was the reproducibility research fundamentals course.

01:58 It,

01:58 it's a course where they teach you how to make all the research that you do

02:03 to be,

02:04 uh,

02:04 reproducible.

02:05 This means that all your

02:07 do files and your codes and your data

02:10 can be reproduced by another researcher and just get

02:13 the same results that you have in your,

02:15 in your research papers.

02:16 It's putting me.

02:17 Ahead

02:18 of something that is going to be probably mandatory

02:21 in the future.

02:22 I had the opportunity to travel to Tanzania with the team,

02:26 and I think this experience also really helped me to understand that

02:30 being an economist is not only

02:33 being able to be very analytically oriented,

02:35 but also

02:36 to understand what are the needs on the ground of the people

02:40 who are directly involved with trying to resolve a particular challenge.

02:44 I think the program is designed very well.

02:46 Many other failures are,

02:48 we all are coming from different path of lives,

02:50 gaining the experience that I thought was tailored to my needs

02:54 and that could help me

02:56 both in the short term,

02:58 but as well would be of a great benefit for

03:00 me in the long run to learn these different ways of

03:04 engaging in the policy world and how

03:06 could research be translated into policy action.

03:09 Personally,

03:09 it was really,

03:10 you know,

03:10 the opportunity to be part of a cohort with

03:14 people from all over the world.

03:16 Each of us were working on different projects,

03:18 but always,

03:19 you know,

03:20 targeting the same goal to end poverty.

03:22 So I think

03:23 this diversity really enlarged my vision and my curiosity.

03:26 For me,

03:27 what makes the McNamara Fellowship really unique is to

03:30 be included directly with the economists who are working on

03:35 projects here at the World Bank.

03:36 Personally,

03:37 getting exposure to a lot of different cultures is a diverse institution.

03:42 There are people from all around the world.

03:45 I really enjoy that and being comfortable despite all the differences that we

03:49 have identifying the commonalities that pushes us toward being a better person,

03:54 but also making a difference in

03:57 in this world.

03:58 For me,

03:58 growing up in Afghanistan,

03:59 I never thought I would be working at the

04:02 World Bank headquarter,

04:03 but

04:04 here I am.

04:04 I think this is like the best place

04:07 um

04:08 to be exposed to development economics,

04:10 and this is

04:12 something that I will remember

04:13 forever.

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transcript

Uh, my name is Magdalena. Uh, my name is Musin. My name is Rafuddin Najam. I'm a McNamara Fellow here at the World Bank. Previously I was a McNamara Fellow and Robert McNamara Fellow with the Development and Impact department at the World Bank. I knew that I wanted to build a career in research, in academia, and I wanted to engage a little bit more in development economics, so. So I thought that I needed more exposure to that before uh starting my PhD. That's when I came across the McNamara fellowship, so I applied and I was lucky enough that I got in. I applied for the McNamara Fellowship after I graduated from a Master of Research in Economics. I realized that I really wanted to be part of it, not only because it's a great professional opportunity, but. Because I think I shared the vision developed by the fellowship that is inspired by Robert McNamara himself. His vision was to create a world of peace based on prosperity, motivated by this vision, I applied for the fellowship. Why I'm interested in this experience is primarily driven by my personal and professional curiosity. Growing up in Afghanistan, how does And actors who are engaging to address poverty and assist children to go to school. So that's that's the topic I'm very passionate about. The bank is doing a lot of innovative and great work in this domain, so being a practitioner of public policy and a researcher, this is a great fit for me. One of the things that I've liked the most is that I've been exposed to a lot of training in. Whole lot of different topics, um, and also a lot of different conferences and seminars with very important people that I wouldn't get the, the chance to be. Uh, exposed to if I wasn't in the World Bank. When I started here, the first, uh, training that I had to do was the reproducibility research fundamentals course. It, it's a course where they teach you how to make all the research that you do to be, uh, reproducible. This means that all your do files and your codes and your data can be reproduced by another researcher and just get the same results that you have in your, in your research papers. It's putting me. Ahead of something that is going to be probably mandatory in the future. I had the opportunity to travel to Tanzania with the team, and I think this experience also really helped me to understand that being an economist is not only being able to be very analytically oriented, but also to understand what are the needs on the ground of the people who are directly involved with trying to resolve a particular challenge. I think the program is designed very well. Many other failures are, we all are coming from different path of lives, gaining the experience that I thought was tailored to my needs and that could help me both in the short term, but as well would be of a great benefit for me in the long run to learn these different ways of engaging in the policy world and how could research be translated into policy action. Personally, it was really, you know, the opportunity to be part of a cohort with people from all over the world. Each of us were working on different projects, but always, you know, targeting the same goal to end poverty. So I think this diversity really enlarged my vision and my curiosity. For me, what makes the McNamara Fellowship really unique is to be included directly with the economists who are working on projects here at the World Bank. Personally, getting exposure to a lot of different cultures is a diverse institution. There are people from all around the world. I really enjoy that and being comfortable despite all the differences that we have identifying the commonalities that pushes us toward being a better person, but also making a difference in in this world. For me, growing up in Afghanistan, I never thought I would be working at the World Bank headquarter, but here I am. I think this is like the best place um to be exposed to development economics, and this is something that I will remember forever.

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worldbank/Robert S. McNamara Fellowhip Program Testimonials

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Robert S. McNamara Fellowhip Program Testimonials

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Robert S. McNamara Fellowhip Program Testimonials

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