PhD conference gave students new insights
Thirteen PhD students at the Department of Economics presented their research at a PhD conference at the School of Business, Economics and Law – an insightful stop on the road to finishing their PhD thesis.
– I received great feedback from the conference participants that will improve my paper, says Ronja Helénsdotter.
For Andreea Mitrut, professor in economics and Director of Postgraduate Studies at the Department of Economics starting in July, the conference is an opportunity for the senior staff to learn more about the PhD students´ work.
– Equally so, the PhD students will hopefully benefit from feedback from our senior faculty. I also see this event as a chance for the PhD students to get used to structure and present their work to a larger and less specialized audience, says Andreea Mitrut.
Preparation is key
Ronja Helénsdotter, a fourth year PhD student, presented her work with the title “Drugs, Crime and Mental Health: Effects of Peers in Residential Facilities”.
– My research is on policy-relevant questions at the intersection of health economics, the economics of risky behaviors, and child welfare.
During the 20-minute presentation, including questions, the research had to be presented concise and to the point.
Preparing for a conference is an essential part of the writing process as it pushes you to think about your contributions, framing, etc
– Preparing for a conference is an essential part of the writing process as it pushes you to think about your contributions, framing, etc. I also learned more about all the interesting projects that the other PhD candidates are working on, says Ronja Helénsdotter.
For Chi Nguyen, it was the first time she presented at a PhD conference, and she approached it as an opportunity to practice public speaking.
– I was very nervous, but everything went well, and I received great advice and suggestions for my project afterwards. I also learnt about the many cool ideas that my PhD colleagues are working on.
Her general research interest are family economics and behavioral economics, and during the conference she presented the project “Family Policies and the Marriage Market’s Equilibrium”.
– I study the joint analysis of matching patterns on how people choose their partners or spouses, and family behavior like decisions on how much to work, how much to invest in children, how many children to have and so on.
Climate policy impact on labour market
Jimmy Karlsson’s project studies the impacts of climate policy on the labor market.
– More specifically, I am interested in studying whether climate policy changes the type of workers that are in high demand by firms subject to regulation, and therefore the return to different skills. To answer this question, I am analyzing the variation in exposure to the Swedish carbon tax.
For him, the conference provided a good insight into the type of comments that are typically asked in these sessions and learnt more about the projects of the other students.
– But most importantly, I received several comments both during and after my presentation that will be useful for my research design, says Jimmy Karlsson.
I received several comments both during and after my presentation that will be useful for my research design
Text: Jessica Oscarsson
