SFU Department of Economics hosts first research day

West Mall Centre room 3611, normally a quiet classroom on the Burnaby campus, was crowded and buzzing with excitement during the Simon Fraser University Department of Economics' inaugural Research Day. 

The event, held on January 5, 2023, was created by Graduate Chair Bertille Antoine to showcase the department's excellent research and to foster interactions between PhD students and faculty members.   

Antoine wanted to give graduate students an opportunity to learn networking skills and practice chatting about research in a welcoming, friendly environment. "So often interactions between faculty and students can be a bit awkward, "she said. "We wanted to make it easier and more natural." 

By that measure Research Day appeared to be a success. A large number of PhD students came to the event and gathered around the posted papers to ask questions and talk with the researchers.

Faculty members who presented were Lucas Herrenbrueck, Krishna Pendakur, David Freeman, Brian Krauth, Minjie Deng, Simon Woodcock, and Antoine herself. PhD student and job market candidate Marieh Azizirad was inspired to add her own research paper to the wall partway through the event. 

Antoine hopes this will become a recurring event in the department. She is already planning the next networking event Pitch Your Paper (PYP) for sometime in the spring, where roles will be reversed by having senior PhD candidates present their research paper to newer PhD students and faculty. 

Details will be released in a couple of weeks. Until then, we hope the experience of Research Day will give both students and faculty members some renewed energy for their work.