Applications for the first incoming class of the ITFD master

We just counted the total applications up to the end of April of this year - we got 65! About a year ago, Jaume, Fernando, Antonio and I were just kicking the idea of launching this program back and forth. Naturally, we wondered if people would really want to come. Weren't we too ambitious, thinking of a stand-alone program? Would the reputation of CREI and UPF pull enough people in to make the course viable? I don't think even one of us predicted we would get such an overwhelming response. And it's not just the number - it's the quality. We are going to have exceptionally well-qualified students from every corner of the globe. If my own graduate student days taught me something, it's that you learn an awful lot from your peers. It's in that sense that I think this is such great news. We have been quite selective and had to turn down a lot of applicants who unfortunately did not meet our standards; now we have to convince the ones that we admitted that joining ITFD in the fall is the right move.