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Academic Growth and Community: Maksim Smirnov on His MIT Research Stay

3 March, 2026

Maksim Smirnov, a PhD student at CERGE-EI, completed a research stay at MIT during the spring semester of 2025, with the main aim of refining his job market paper.

He specifically chose MIT for its expertise in instrumental variable models, the primary focus of his research, as he explains in his interview for the CERGE-EI blog series Places You’ll Go.

In the interview, Smirnov goes into detail about how MIT’s strength in instrumental variable models aligns with his research agenda, and he describes the experience as both academically productive and personally energizing.

During the visit, Smirnov was hosted by Professor Anna Mikusheva and participated in advanced econometrics coursework that combined technical theory with empirical relevance. He also gained exposure to specialized fields such as machine learning and nonparametric estimation, and actively integrated into the academic community through workshops, reading groups, and seminars.

The stay was an intensive experience that significantly enhanced Smirnov’s networking and communication skills. Ultimately, it helped him refine his research workflow and strengthened his motivation to pursue a career in academia.

A key theme of the interview is the strength of MIT’s research culture and collegiality. “It was especially nice that the atmosphere was also very welcoming and extremely friendly,” Smirnov says, emphasizing that the community was among his strongest impressions. He also highlights how intellectual diversity shapes better ideas: “When students from different backgrounds come together, new ideas are born and old ideas receive a new perspective.”

Read the full interview here.