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Study sheds light on how ethnicity, schooling and family background influence university success

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Study sheds light on how ethnicity, schooling and family background influence university success

The tenth edition of the Warwick Economics PhD Conference was held on 8th-9th June 2022 at the Department of Economics. The event was organised by PhD students with the help of the faculty and administrative team. 

This year, the Warwick Economics PhD conference received over 250 applications from graduate students of leading research institutions from across the world. A scientific review committee consisting of Warwick PhD students and faculty members helped in the process of selecting 25 papers among this pool of high-quality applications. Of the selected 25 papers, 17 were presented in seminar presentations, and 8 in flash presentations akin to traditional conference poster sessions.  

Thanks to the easing of pandemic restrictions, we were able to host the conference entirely in person. The first day kicked off with Prof. Herakles Polemarchakisopening lecture, which was named after Professor Avinash K. Dixit to honour his research contribution and his influence on the Department of Economics at Warwick. The conference was concluded with a keynote speech by Prof. Andrew Oswald on the future of economics and academic careers. 

Over the two days, conference delegates and speakers engaged in intellectually stimulating presentations delivered by students from Toulouse, Oxford, Princeton, Columbia, UCL, Warwick, UC Louvain, Essex, UC Berkeley, Ecole Polytechnique, Cambridge, Amsterdam, LSE, Imperial College, Queen Marry, Nottingham, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Bristol and Universitat Pompeu Fabra. 

The papers presented covered a broad range of topics and fields, grouped into Behavioural Theory, Applied Economics and Labour Economics on the first day; Macroeconomics, Econometrics, and Networks & Platforms on the second day of the conference. Each 20-minutes seminar presentation was followed by a discussion and feedback from the students and faculty members in the audience. In addition to the plenary presentations, there were two five-minute flash presentations sessions where researchers delivered the key message of their paper in a concise and engaging manner.  

Overall, the event was a remarkable success. It provided a platform to graduate students from different institutions to showcase their work, while serving as a terrific opportunity for Warwick students to engage in world-leading research. The participants received valuable feedback on their projects, formed professional networks and, most importantly, enjoyed their time at our campus with fellow PhD students. The organising team looks forward to the next edition of the conference in 2023.