INFORMATION FOR (YOUNG) RESEARCHERS and PhD STUDENTS
As part of the conference package, (young) researchers and PhD students can also participate in the following sessions:
1. Special Breakfast Session: "Meet the Professors”
Young researchers* and PhD students will have the unique opportunity to have a breakfast meeting with well-known scientists participating in the conference. This session takes the form of a tutorial activity where young researchers can talk face-to-face with leading international scholars about their research over breakfast. These ‘Meet the Professors’ breakfast meetings will take place on May 18th and 19th from 7:45 - 8:45 a.m. Participation will take place on a first-come, first-served basis. More information will follow in due course.
*Participants born in 1991 or later
2. Special sessions “PhD workshop”
PhD students will also have an opportunity to participate at the PhD workshop. The objective of the PhD workshop is to give PhD students the opportunity to present their research in progress in a conference setting and to get feedback from peers and senior economists who will provide guidance on how to successfully carry out research in the economics domain. Thus, this is an exceptional opportunity to understand what people are working on in more detail, build up networks and improve your presentation skills.
3. Special sessions “Advice for (Young) Researchers on career development”
(Young) researchers will have an opportunity to be provided with valuable advice from distinguished scientists participating in the Conference. Advice will include different issues relevant to career development, such as grant proposal writing, developing strategies for the job market and maximizing dissemination in terms of working with the media in publicizing your research. More information will follow in due course.
Please note that all researchers can participate in Special sessions “Meet the editors” and Special sessions “Advice for (Young) Researchers on career development”. However, Young researchers will be given priority when applying.
Session 1 - Management of science and funding
Chairperson: Abel Polese
The session will discuss “the art of academic fundraising” and the possible follow-up, which is management a research project (a thing researchers need to deal with if a proposal is successful). In part one we will discuss science funding as somehow aleatory, subjective and unpredictable compared to other fundraising sectors, where incoming funds can be predicted. In the second part, we will discuss the management of funding in case a proposal is successful with special attention to two things: one is the excessive bureaucracy that comes with some grants that eventually transforms academics into managers. The other is the risk of underperforming, in spite of being able to produce excellent results, due to shortcomings in administrative procedures and the consequences. The sessions are based on the project and book The SCOPUS Diaries and the (il)logics of Academic Survival A Short Guide to Design Your Strategy and Survive Bibliometrics, Conferences, and Unreal Expectations in Academia
Session 2 - Quality measurement in science
Chairperson: Abel Polese
This session will critically look at the way science outputs and excellence are measured in current times. There is a general understanding in the current academic world, that bibliometrics are one of the most important elements when it comes to evaluating scientific performance. Yet, it may be suggested that this is misleading and even counterproducing as it pushes researchers to produce articles for the sake of numbers rather than science. The session will also look at the shortcoming, flaws and dangers of evaluating science using bureaucratic and allegedly objective criteria, eventually bypassing the criteria that scientists themselves use to assess colleagues - the paradox of “the blindfolded sommelier”.
