Source: Estadística de Variaciones Residenciales y Estimaciones de la Población Actual, INE.

With the application deadlines for PhD and Master’s courses in Europe approaching, we decided to post a list of Top 10 European Economics Departments to support your decision when choosing the right institution. As all university rankings have their flaws and there is an obvious shortage of rankings for specific disciplines, we combined two ranking systems in one table: RePEc, Top 25% Economics Departments (February 2013) and QS World University Rankings by Subject (2012).

Data Source: RePEc, Top 12.5% Asia, as of January 2013

After our post last summer about the trend for conferences and prizes aimed at young economists, several further events are coming up this year, which could be of interest to PhD students and young researchers. Some of these are specifically for students or junior academics whilst others offer financial support or prizes to those attending or presenting papers at the meeting.

Source: National Science Foundation, NSF/NIH/USED/USDA/NEH/NASA, Survey of Earned Doctorates

With ice on the ground and a chill in the air (at least for those living in northern climes), it is nice to think about the summer and all of the welcome things it brings: warmth, flowers, and, of course, new career and training opportunities.

Source: Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (China), The Survey of Earned Doctorates, National Science Foundation (US)

Following the entry on this blog last month about countries with the most top 100 economics departments according to REPEC data, I thought it a worthwhile pursuit to look a little more into these rankings, and to seek out some alternatives to that offered by REPEC.

In today’s global world, the transfer of information is crucial to success. Since the start of the recession in 2008 financial issues have increasingly been among the hottest discussion topics around the world – in particular the balancing of books and budgets, whether in supranational financial unions like the EU, individual countries, businesses or households. From the academic perspective, there is still much to be explored in the world of finance.

Following our earlier post from November about Economics Conferences in 2013, we have now published a (chronological) list of Conferences in Economics and Statistics taking place in the Asia-Pacific Region. If you know of other interesting, economics-related events in the region, please share these with us in the comments at the end of this post.

Data Source: RePEc

Considering the remarkable technological progress and the spread of social media in the last few years, it can be challenging to teach and involve students when using an old-fashioned lecture style. Shelving overhead projectors and boring PowerPoint slides, some professors have converted to “education 2.0”, integrating new tools and applications into their class format.

When I was about to receive my Bachelor diploma, I was confused. I knew where I wanted to work, but I didn’t know how to get there with a Degree in Law. I also knew that I needed to steer my professional training towards economics, but I didn’t know how. The problem was that I just didn’t have enough credits in any economics-related disciplines to meet the requirements of the majority of study programs available. After having weighed all the options, I made up my mind to apply for an MA in Public Policy and to try to focus on economics-related disciplines.

Source: Survey on Research Funding for the Social Sciences in Europe, Ramon Marimon, Igor Guardiancich, Mike Mariathasan, Eva Rossi, European University Institute, 2011

The China Economic Review from last month ran an interesting piece by John van Fleet about the 150,000+ Haigui (海归) currently studying in the USA (Haigui, literally “Sea Turtles” is the name given to Chinese students studying abroad). Van Fleet discusses not only the challenges of interaction between international and domestic students, but also the economic impact for both host and origin country.

What happens to economics students once they complete their first degree? Here is a snapshot of economics graduates’ activities detailing their occupation six months after graduation.

A few weeks ago I came across an interview on TechCrunch with Brian Kibby, the president of McGraw-Hill Higher Education, discussing his positive outlook on the future of e-books, e-content and generally the future of what he calls ‘super adaptive learning.’ Contrary to what one might expect from a textbook publisher, Kibby explains in the interview that he expects to see a significant increase in the adoption of e-materials within the next year and full adoption within three years. Optimistic?

Unemployment For College Majors

Source: Survey of the labor market for new PH.D. hires in economics 2011 – 12, Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas:

The financial sector in the UK is and will continue to be a major driver of economic growth, and the long term prospects are good both for the sector and for jobseekers. In fact, a recent report from Oxford Economics predicts that the Financial Sector will be the main driver of British economic growth over the next two decades. In the short term, though, stagnation and hesitation among big financial companies is being mirrored by a sense of opportunism in smaller ones. The result is a greater diversity of opportunities in the financial sector, and a different landscape of employment prospects for professionals at all stages of their careers in finance.