Tomáš Profan, Slovakia

Reflection

Personally, my research stay in Vienna was a great intellectual enrichment for me. I learned from the field of political econ-omy in Central and Eastern Europe more than ever before. My knowledge became better organized and I improved my capacity to teach this subject at my home university. This is then the first main social impact that my stay may have on the Slovak society. I will be teaching the topic of my research in Slovakia passing this knowledge on. I hope that my research will contribute to the science of political econ-omy in Slovakia and also to the practice of political economy. Other than these scientific impacts, the potentially more important impact is the beginning of a more close coop-eration with the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Given the proximity of Bratislava and Vienna, such coopera-tion seems like a natural connection between the two countries. Such a research cooperation can lead to common projects as well as papers. And even more importantly, further reaching connections to Slovenia, Czechia and Hungary may lead to even bigger central European cooperation. These new connections made during my research stay could lead to ever greater research cooperation in Europe, which could further enrich not only the economic knowledge, but through this knowledge also the politics in these neighbouring countries. Finally, on a personal note, Vienna is a beautiful city and it will always be a pleasure for me to return there. The Austrian culture, the politics of the city of Vienna are different than Slovakia and Bratislava. Such intercultural exchanges as my research stay undoubtedly contribute to greater cultural openness in the respective countries.