Schedule
Here you can download the syllabus as a pdf-file. This file includes the up-to-date schedule for the students' presentations.
Objectives
This seminar serves to provide support for students preparing their master thesis in economics. In the first session there is a preparatory meeting. In the two subsequent sessions, students are introduced to general guidelines and recommendations. In the remaining sessions, each student is expected to give two presentations on: (i) the outline of their thesis, and (ii) core results. The primary goal of the seminar is to benefit from the feedback provided by members of the Department of Economics and fellow students. Constructive criticism through discussion should help the student in the preparation of the thesis. Moreover, the fact that each student has to give two presentations, it will help the organization of the work by setting concrete goals and timetables. Presenting ideas and results often prompts one to think along lines that would not occur to one otherwise. In the Winter Term 2023, Martin Halla and Bernhard Schmidpeter jointly organize the seminar. Each session will be attended by at least two members of the Department (i.e. by the organizers and the respective supervisor); all other members of the department will also be invited.
Prerequisites & Meetings
In the first meeting, appointments will be set for your two presentations. The final number of sessions will depend on the overall demand. The scheduled sessions are listed below; please apply for the presentations in accordance with your advisor. You may want to contact him/her before the preparatory meeting. The presentations cannot be held without the attendance of your advisor. The presentations in the seminar are complements to the meetings with your advisor. Make sure to discuss all issues relating to your thesis with your advisor before your presentations.
Presentations & Grading
Students will be graded according to the two presentations and will pass if both presentations are positively graded. In the first presentation (of about 15 minutes in length), the student shall explain the question, method, content, and the structure of the thesis. The second presentation (of about 20 minutes in length) shall cover the most important findings of two major sections of the thesis. After each presentation, the participants will discuss the thesis (outline) in a constructive manner. In total (i.e. presentation plus discussion) we will spent about 30 minutes on each presentation. Presentation slides have to be sent to ursula.mittendorfer-juen@jku.at at least 3 working-days prior to the presentation date.
Attendance
All participants of the seminar have to be present at every appointment. Regular attendance of the Faculties research seminar (link) is highly recommended.
Important Information / Forms by JKU
General information on the Master's Thesis: link
Registration of the Master's Thesis: link
Master's Thesis Colloquium: link
Readings
There is no textbook for this seminar. Here are some slides including tips for writing a master's thesis.
Finding a Topic and Getting Started: slides
Academic Writing: slides
How to Make Good Graphs and Tables: slides
Moreover, the following references might be useful for you:
Finding a Topic and getting started
Davis, Don (n.d.), Ph.D. Thesis Research: Where do I Start?, link.
Academic Writing
Nikolov, Plamen (2022), Writing Tips for Economics Research Papers – 2021-2022 Edition, IZA Discussion Paper, No. 15057, IZA – Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn, link. > very comprehensive!
Shapiro, Jesse M. (n.d.), Four Steps to an Applied Micro Paper, link.
Cochrane, John (n.d.), Writing Tips for Ph.D. Students, link.
Dudenhefer, Paul (2009), A Guide to Writing in Economics, link.
McCloskey, D. N. (1987). The Writing of Economics. Macmillan Publishing Co., New York .
Thomson, William (1999), ‘The Young Person’s Guide to Writing Economic Theory’, Journal of Economic Literature 37(1), 157–183.
Thomson, William (2001), A Guide for the Young Economist, MIT Press.
Varian, Hal R. (1994), How to Build an Economic Model in Your Spare Time, link.
Coding
Shapiro, Jesse M. and Matthew Gentzkow (2014). Code and Data for the Social Sciences: A Practitioner's Guid, link.
Ristovska, Ljubica (2019), Coding for Economists — A Language-Agnostic Guide to Programming for Economists, link.
Talks