Nobel duo Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo to lead Zurich research centre amid US funding cuts

The couple will retain part-time positions at MIT and maintain affiliations with French academic institutions.

The University of Zurich (UZH), on Friday, announced that Nobel laureates Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo will join its Department of Economics next year to establish a new center for development economics. The UZH has confirmed that the celebrated couple, currently professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will assume their roles as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics on July 1, 2026.

Notably, the Nobel economists' move comes at a time when academics in the U.S. have expressed growing concern over cuts to research funding and political hostility toward universities under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Taking to microblogging site X, Florian Scheuer, UBS Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics, wrote, “I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics".

I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ_uzh at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

🧵 1/7 pic.twitter.com/wtFVeItGgV

— Florian Scheuer (@Florian_Scheuer) October 10, 2025

"As pioneers in development economics, they have profoundly shaped the field through their experimental and evidence-based approach to understanding poverty, inequality, and policy effectiveness, recognized by the Nobel Prize in 2019," he further mentioned.

Scheuer described their arrival as “a true quantum leap” for the university and a reflection of Zurich’s growing reputation as a global hub for economic research.

At UZH, Duflo and Banerjee will co-lead the newly founded Lemann Center for Development, Education, and Public Policy, supported by a CHF 26 million (USD 32 million) endowment from Brazil’s Lemann Foundation. The centre will focus on advancing policy-relevant research, fostering new academic pathways in development and education policy, and connecting scholars and policymakers across continents, particularly between Switzerland and Brazil.

Duflo and Banerjee, who won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences alongside Michael Kremer for their pioneering “experimental approach to alleviating global poverty,” will continue to co-lead the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). They will also retain their part-time positions at MIT and maintain affiliations with French academic institutions.

The couple will also bring to Zurich their ADEPT programme, an initiative designed to train students and policymakers in evidence-based development research and programme evaluation.

Duflo, a dual US-French national, co-authored an editorial in Le Monde earlier this year denouncing “unprecedented attacks” on science in the U.S.

The couple’s appointment is being hailed as a transformative moment for UZH and for European development research as a whole. As Scheuer noted, “Beyond their groundbreaking work, they’re equally known for their exceptional mentoring and institution building — something I experienced firsthand as a student at MIT.”

The announcement comes just days before this year’s Nobel Prize in Economics is scheduled to be revealed on Monday.