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GSEM working from home: Tony Berrada, Professor of Finance

How do GSEM members experience lockdown and telework? Today, Tony Berrada, Professor of Finance and Director of the Geneva Finance Research Institute, shares his experience:

 

What are you currently working on?

I am teaching two courses in the Master in Wealth Management and I am continuing my research activities (research project with co-authors abroad, thesis supervision, …).

As is the case for all Unige staff involved in the administration, these tasks have taken quite a lot of time since the beginning of the crisis, as new challenges arise on a daily basis and solutions are needed rapidly.

 

How is your work going, remotely?

On the research side, things have not changed much, I have co-authors abroad who I do not meet face-to-face very often. Also, in my field, I do not need large infrastructure and my work has not been affected much. We have great tools to share documents and data and collaborate from a distance.

Teaching is a whole different story… we all had to adapt rapidly to online courses, and while it has required a bit of adjustments, I am satisfied with the outcome. The students have been very supportive, and ready to put in the extra effort to make this online transition possible, we owe them a big “thank you” !

For the administrative part, online meetings are of course unavoidable. I was quite enthusiastic at the beginning, but there is something important missing with the lack of social interaction and the non-verbal part of communication that is hard to convey online…

 

What has the situation changed for you?

I cook a lot more…

 

What has been your biggest challenge since the beginning of the lockdown?

Same as above…

 

What are the unforeseen benefits?

I think the idea of “tele-work” has benefited from a real-life worldwide experiment. There are important conclusions to be drawn from this unique event, and we can probably rethink the way some of our activities are conducted, hopefully for the best.

 

An advice to cope with confinement?

You don’t have to spend your day in your pyjamas… but once in while it’s ok.

 

Thank you, Tony !

This semester, Tony teaches "Derivatives and Structured Products" and "Portfolio Management". He is the Director of the Geneva Finance Research Institute.

May 26, 2020
  2020
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