Econ 900: PhD Workshop

Course Description: This is a required course for PhD students about to enter their 3rd year of the program; see the department's Satisfactory Progress Guidelines for PhD students. The purpose of this course is threefold: (1) to help you begin doing your own economic research; (2) to teach you how to give and receive feedback; and (3) to develop your public speaking skills.

How to Begin: By the time you enroll in this course, you will have completed most (or all) of your course requirements. It is now time to start thinking about research topics. One way to do this is to think about questions that you find interesting and/or puzzling. Look around in the literature and see what has been done in these areas. Identify the issues or questions that you think might be worthy of further investigation. Meet with colleagues and professors to discuss your ideas. Settle on a question. This last point cannot be overemphasized: You should be able to explain to an audience what question you wish to answer and why you believe the question to be important. Finally, identify at least one professor and ask them whether they might serve as a mentor for your project. If all goes well, the mentor may eventually agree to be your supervisor.

Presentations: The exact nature of your presentation will depend on how far along you have progressed in your work. You are encouraged to present ideas that are in a very preliminary stage; this course is designed to give you feedback. You might begin, for example, by simply presenting and describing data, and/or reviewing some of the key contributions made in the literature (describing where and why these contributions appear to fall short in your view). Research at a more advanced stage may consist of a formal economic theory and/or explicit econometric investigations. If your particular research program appears to be going nowhere (a frequent phenomenon), discard it and start again (you will want to consult your mentor). When you project has advanced sufficiently, you will be in a position to present it in a Brown Bag Seminar (this will complete your course requirement).

Guide for Presenters: You should aim for a presentation lasting between 30-55 minutes. Do not waste this time with an extensive literature review. Prepare a set of slides (please do not use PowerPoint). One of your first slides should provide a clear statement regarding the question you are interested in examining (or be prepared to state the question verbally). For those presenting theoretical work, make sure to describe the decision-making agents in your model economy (preferences, constraints, information structure, solution concept, etc.). Prepare to get raked over the coals if you fail to do any of this.

Here are some slides that I constructed using Scientific Workplace: Example 1
Here are a couple of examples from Simon Woodcock: Example 2; Example 3
And here is one from Brian Krauth: Example4
Both Brian and Simon use the Beamer Latex Environment; also available for Scientific Workplace.

Finally, here is the procedure you should follow:

• Contact the Graduate Chair to schedule a presentation
• Inform you mentor/supervisor of this date and ask them to attend
• On the day before your presentation, email the class reminding them of your upcoming presentation
• On the day of your presentation, make sure that all the equipment you will need is in place and ready to go. Do not keep your audience waiting while you try to sort out technical glitches. For equipment needs, contact Tim Coram (tim_coram@sfu.ca)

Guide for Participants: During the presentation itself, you should limit yourself to asking clarifying questions only. These can take the following form: What is the question? Why are you doing this? What does that symbol represent? Who Cares? And so on. Once the presenter has finished, feel free to offer constructive criticism, suggestions and your opinions. Note: if you cannot attend the presentation, please email the presenter and the graduate chair, sending your regrets.

Course Readings: The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White. Writing Tips for PhD Students, by John H. Cochrane.

Summer Schedule: Fridays, 2.30 - 3.20, WMC 4602.