19th RGS Doctoral Conference in Economics - Fiscal Challenges

We welcome high-quality contributions to the conference program and encourage doctoral students to submit their work and engage in discussions with peers. The conference is organised annually by the Ruhr Graduate School in Economics (RGS Econ), rotating between the institutions that founded RGS Econ: Bochum, Duisburg, Dortmund, and Essen. The conference provides a platform for early-career economists—like you—to exchange ideas, learn from one another, build networks, and potentially start collaborative research projects. RGS Econ faculty members, who will chair the sessions, are also available to discuss research ideas and offer feedback. Engage!

As a particular highlight, and aligned with this year’s focus on Fiscal Challenges, the conference will feature a keynote speech by Professor Lars Feld (University of Freiburg) and Professor Jens Südekum (Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf).

We hope the conference will continue to contribute to the advancement of economic research and research-based policy advice through dialogue and mutual understanding, by bringing together early-career researchers and prospective leaders from across Europe and beyond. Comments and suggestions for improving the conference are highly welcome.

Kind regards,
Prof. Dr. Christoph Hanck, Director RGS Econ
Prof. Dr. Christoph M. Schmidt, Director RGS Econ

Call for Papers - 19th RGS Doctoral Conference 2026

The submission deadline is December 31, 2025. We welcome submissions in all areas of economics from early career researchers.

You can submit your paper here.

Acceptance decisions will be made by the scientific committee and notifications of acceptance will be sent to submitting email addresses between January 12th and 17th, 2026. There is no participation or registration fee.

Aim and Scope

The aim of this annual, refereed conference is to provide a professional, stimulating, and international environment in which around 75 – 100 PhD students in economics can discuss their research results and ideas, establish informal networks, and initiate future collaborative research. The conference also connects early career with experienced researchers, including RGS Econ’s more than 45 faculty members from the universities of Dortmund, Duisburg-Essen, and Bochum, as well as the RWI, one of Germany’s leading economic research institutes. We consider full papers, both empirical and theoretical, from early-career researchers in all research areas in economics. The format of the conference consists of topical sessions containing three papers. Each presentation (20 minutes) will be followed by a discussion by another presenter in the same session (5 minutes) and a subsequent open discussion (5 minutes).

Keynote Speakers

• Lars Feld (Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Freiburg)
• Jens Südekum (Professor of International Economics at Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf)

Registration Desk

The registration desk is located in the foyer of the GD 03 Building.

Venue

Ruhr-University Bochum
Building: GD
Universitätsstraße 150
44801 Bochum
Germany

How to Get to the Conference

Travel Information

From Bochum’s main railway station, you can take the underground U35 (CampusLinie) to get to Ruhr University Bochum, which has its own stop. The U35 (going in the direction of Bochum Hustadt) runs every 5 minutes on weekdays and takes less than 10 minutes from the main station to the university.

Contact

Sascha Keweloh
Email: sascha.keweloh@rgs-econ.de
Tel.: +49 1520 4835597

About RGS Econ

The Ruhr Graduate School in Economics (RGS Econ) provides internationally competitive research-oriented doctoral training in economics in the form of a structured program. It is part of the Research Academy Ruhr and combines and builds on the expertise of one of Germany’s leading economic research institutes, the RWI – Leibniz-Institute for Economic Research, and of four economics departments of the University Alliance Ruhr: TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen, and Ruhr-University Bochum.

Conference Organization

Christoph Hanck (University of Duisburg-Essen)
Christoph M. Schmidt (Ruhr-University Bochum & RWI)
Thushyanthan Baskaran (Ruhr-University Bochum)
Sascha Keweloh (RGS Econ)