CAGE Summer School 2025: Develop the research skills and tools needed for data analysis

6th - 10th July 2025

Are you an undergraduate student interested in a career in academic or policy research? Do you want to know how to get started as a researcher?

Applications are now open for our annual summer school which provides a practical grounding in coding, data management and research design.

CAGE is a research centre based in the department of economics at the University of Warwick. We deliver policy driven economics research informed by culture, history and behaviour.

Run over three days, the residential training course is an opportunity for students to develop skills in coding and data analysis. These skills are not typically taught as part of the standard academic curriculum although they are increasingly important in economics careers.

All accommodation, meals and travel contribution will be funded by CAGE. Arrival for the summer school is on Sunday 6th July and departing Thursday 10th July.

Organiser: Professor Mirko Draca, Director of CAGE Research Centre, University of Warwick

Confirmed presenters: Mirko Draca (University of Warwick), Peter John Lambert (LSE), Eric Melander (Birmingham), Arthur Turrell (Bank of England)

Location and timing:
Scarman Conference Centre,
University of Warwick,
Coventry
CV4 7AL,
United Kingdom

The Summer School will begin with a welcome barbecue on the evening of Sunday 6th July and finish on the morning of Thursday 10th July.

What will I learn?

The programme will be a mix of lectures and interactive sessions delivered by academic and policy experts and cover the following:

• Coding for economists: learn how to organise a professional coding workflow.
  
• Data management and analysis: understand ways to put together, present and analyse complex repeated cross-section and panel datasets
  
• Digitisation of historical data: hear how to convert hard copy tabular and text data into electronic form. Ways to employ OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tools and using GIS (Geographic Information System) techniques to extract spatial data from maps.
  
• Working on the cloud: a guide to setting up and running big data analysis on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
  
• Using Large Language Models: learn how to build new types of data for economics research.
  
• Data Visualisation: understand methods for building creative and well-designed data visualisations.
  
• Learning into practice: hear first-hand from previous summer school participants how they used the skills learned to further their careers.

The timetable of the summer school will be organised around lectures in the first half of the day with research presentations / case studies in the second half. There will also be the chance for more hands-on and participatory work in the afternoon sessions.

Biographies of the speakers

Mirko DracaLink opens in a new window is a professor of economics at the University of Warwick, a research associate at the Centre for Economic Performance, and CAGE Research Centre Director. His main research area is applied microeconomics, with applications to labour markets, political economy, criminal behaviour and innovation and technology.

Arthur TurrellLink opens in a new window works as an economic data scientist and researcher at the Bank of England. He has also spent time at the Federal Reserve, and was formerly a Deputy Director of the UK's Office for National Statistics. He is an author of and contributor to a number of online coding resources including Coding for EconomistsLink opens in a new window, Python for Data ScienceLink opens in a new window, and Core Econ: Doing EconomicsLink opens in a new window. Arthur also wrote the popular science book The Star Builders: Nuclear Fusion and the Race to Power the Planet (2021).

Link opens in a new window

Peter John LambertLink opens in a new window is an economist and co-director of the Applied Economics using AI (AEAI) Lab. His research focuses on leveraging novel data and AI/LLMs to study organizations, industries, and economic growth. He studied his PhD in Economics at the London School of Economics (LSE).

Eric MelanderLink opens in a new window is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Birmingham and an external CAGE research associate. His research interests span economic history and political economy. In his work, he draws on techniques from applied econometrics, geographic information systems and digital humanities.

Eligibility

The summer school is open to UK and EU undergraduates studying economics or quantitative social science.

Practicalities

• Accommodation and meals will be provided free of charge to students. Economy only travel expenses (up to £300 within Europe, and £75 within UK) will also be covered.
• Travel expenses will be reimbursed post event. Facilities are fully accessible.
• Applicants must be available and attend for the full duration of the summer school.
• All meals and social events are included.

How to Apply

Please click the button below and fill out the form by Sunday 27th April 2025. PLEASE NOTE: REGISTRATION HAS NOW CLOSED.

Register for a place

Notification of acceptance will be sent out by Friday 9th May 2025.

Any questions about the Summer School, please direct your enquiry to cage.centre@warwick.ac.uk