PhD course: Research Frontiers in Economics

Programme
The agenda involves 1 introductory class and 10 sessions with presentation and discussion of a recent paper in a top journal in economics. Each session will total 45 min, with 30 min for presentation and 15 min for discussion. The introductory class will include a short lecture on presentation and seminar etiquette and an introduction of the course. 1-2 optional classes may be added. These could be, for example, a speed-talk session or an extra Q&A on presentation skills.

Description of qualifications
This course is devoted to the presentation, analysis, and discussion of recent scientific breakthroughs at the research frontier in economics.
The main objectives are to broaden the scientific perspectives of participants and provide participants with the ideal environment to learn and discuss topics at the frontier of economic research beyond their own field of research. The course will take the form of a committed reading group where all participants will both present and be discussants for at least one recent paper published in a top economics journal.

The subsidiary aims are to strengthen important skills of a professional economist:

• identifying important contributions in the literature
• presentation skills: clarity, conciseness, time use, etc.
• skills as discussant: moderating a presentation, asking the right questions to open discussion
• being a good seminar participant: asking the right questions in the appropriate way
• engaging with other participants, fostering collaboration
• committing to a reading routine
• presenting preliminary research ideas and collecting feedback
• keeping up with the research frontier

Contents
Students analyze research papers beyond their own specific field of research, while training their skills in terms of identifying critical points in the investigation, theory, models and assumptions. Furthermore, students link the papers to the relevant literature and gain experience and knowledge in general fields of economics that might not correspond directly to their area of expertise.
The instructors offer guidance and advice on the content and delivery of the presentation, the discussion and how to write a referee report. They also help steer the discussion towards important topics in the presentation. Finally, they offer one-to-one feedback to the presenters.

Activities
The following activities are mandatory for participants:

• Give one presentation (30 mins)
• Chair one discussion (15 mins)
• Submit a referee report on one paper other than the one presented or discussed
• Attend at least 8 sessions

Literature
Published papers from 2017 onwards from the following preferred journals: Quarterly Journal of Economics; Journal of Economic Literature; Journal of Political Economy; American Economic Review; Review of Economic Studies.
The instructors approve the final reading list before the course starts.
In total 10 published articles, i.e. approximately 500 pages.

Instructors

• Elena Mattana, emattana@econ.au.dk
• Saskia Meuchelböck, sameu@econ.au.dk

Other information

• One session per week. Minimum of 10 sessions. Therefore, minimum 10 registered participants.
• Presentations last 30 minutes and 15 minutes for questions/discussion.
• Lecture hours: 9 hours of sessions, 1 presentation, 1 discussion. Each participant must present at least once and be a discussant once.
• Attendance is mandatory: only 2 absences will be accepted.
• The presenting participant is strongly encouraged to invite faculty member(s) whose interests and expertise align with the presentation (e.g. supervisors).
• Optional afterwards: discussions of potential future research that improves on the presented paper or discussion of presentation technique. 
• The course gives 2 ECTS.