Topic outline

  • The research workshop for Aalto Econ PhD students kicks off on Wednesday September 9th at 14:30 at the 4th floor seminar room.

    During the workshop you will write one research paper and give two presentations. With luck, a version or an offshoot of your paper will end up as a chapter in your thesis, but that is not the main goal. The main goal is simply that you gain experience in writing a complete research paper from beginning to end (though not necessarily in that order). That can be harder than it sounds!

     In the first meeting we will discuss the logistics of the workshop and set the schedule.

     You have three required tasks prior to the first meeting:

     (1) Make an outline of your planned paper. The outline should list the planned sections and subsections, each with an informative title and, if necessary, additional bullet points explaining the main points of each section. One page is a good length for the outline, two is the maximum.

    The plan is in no way binding, but it gives an idea of what the aim of your research is and how you plan to communicate its results.

     (2) Make a similar outline of a published paper that you found interesting and well written. That paper should be in your broadly-defined field of research. (The point is to provide one good example, not to find your most favorite paper ever).

     Bring a printed copy of (1), (2), and the abstract of the paper you used in (2) for everyone (N=7). Prepare to discuss and explain your handouts briefly.

     (3) Read and prepare to discuss John Cochrane's "Writing Tips for PhD Students.”

    http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john.cochrane/research/Papers/phd_paper_writing.pdf

     

     

    A task for the second meeting that you can already begin to think about:

    (4) An ideal abstract for your proposed paper, 100-150 words. At this point, it is a piece of fiction! In the likely event that  you don't know the results of your research yet, make a guess or a wish of what they could be, and then write the abstract based on that best-case scenario. Have two journals in mind as possible publication outlets (in your best-case scenario).  Include also copies of abstracts from those journals for two articles that you found good and informative. They don't have to be on a topic that is close to yours, but they should be roughly in the same field (micro/macro theory/empirical).

     

    Finally, notice that you can choose to take this seminar for credit. If you pass then you get 6 credits that can be used towards the Aalto-BIZ common core requirements. A mandatory requirement is to submit the final paper by noon on January 16th, 2017.