Lecturers, professors, and teachers spend ever-increasing amounts of time dealing with bureaucracy, box ticking and completing performance reviews, and ever-dwindling time doing the things they joined the profession to do: namely teaching and researching. While this should, and hopefully will, be addressed, for now, at least, it’s the way things are.

When applying for an academic position as a researcher, lecturer, or for a fellowship, a cover letter is usually required to accompany your CV or resume. Stating your particular interest in the role, and showing how your academic and work experience enables you to excel at the job, is the aim of a successful cover letter. They can be one of the most important parts of your application, giving the recipient an idea of who you are and what your relevant expertise is. Essentially, it's the first impression an institution will have of you, so it's important to get it right.

Whether you’re a graduate student giving a presentation for a course or a researcher presenting at a conference, being able to give an engaging and well-prepared presentation is a valuable skill for anyone in academia – in COVID times it is invaluable. Today, hardly a talk is given without an accompanying PowerPoint presentation full of flashy graphs, images, exploding sub-titles, and often far too many bullet points.

'The greatest science policy failure for a generation’ is how the editor of The Lancet, Richard Horton, described the UK’s COVID response last June. It was a widely shared sentiment  – made credible by the UK having one of the highest death rates in the western world. Fast forward to the present, and the government has finally claimed a ‘much needed win’ – a big one, too. Its vaccination programme has been rolled out with remarkable swiftness, and the country’s vulnerable populations are well on their way to inoculation. Commentators of every stripe have taken note.

What does it take to succeed as an economics student? What qualities make a good economics student – one who thrives at university, enjoys their economics degree, and then, once it's all done and dusted, who goes and gets a good job? These are big questions – there's no doubt – and their answers may not immediately be clear. 

There are many excellent economics blogs out there. Whether you want to read commentaries on economic policy, find out what people are currently researching, or simply keep up-to-date with the latest economic happenings across the world, there are blogs for all tastes.

The internet has given us many things: unlimited information, ever-expanding interconnection, myriad means of procrastination - in some places it’s even helped birth democracy. But as one hand giveth, the other, as is often the case, taketh away. And in the UK, it looks like the gift of online shopping may come at the expense of our high streets - and the thousands of livelihoods they maintain.

When you apply for an economics PhD, you will need to write not just a research proposal but also a letter of motivation. This letter describes why you wish to undertake a PhD and why you would be well-suited to researching your proposed topic. But what needs to go in this letter, and what tone is appropriate for it? To give you some ideas, INOMICS is sharing a sample economics letter of motivation, as well as offering advice on how to write your own, so you can maximize your chances of getting accepted. If you plan to start your PhD application this autumn, you can download our free guide "How to successfully apply to a PhD in Economics".

Whether you are a seasoned researcher or a new economics student, it pays to know which journals are the most prestigious and well-known for certain topics. They can help you find the right papers for a literature review, stay on top of the latest research in the field, and even help you set your own publishing goals.

Teaching in any capacity, let alone in economics, can be a daunting prospect: the prepping, marking, not to mention the actual teaching. It’s hard work. This reality is most acutely felt when you are starting out or moving institutions and having to settle in somewhere new. In both instances, the pressure and workload can feel intense. That is why it's useful – if not essential – to be aware of all the support that's out there, most of which – conveniently – is free and accessible online. So, without further ado, here are ten of our favourite tools for helping teach economics.

​Development aid: what is it good for? Well, according to much research the answer may well be absolutely nothing. In fact, it may well be worse than nothing. When judged against its aim of ‘instigating economic development and alleviating poverty’, its record is so dismal it looks as though aid actually hinders the achievement of its own stated goals. And the curious thing is this seems to be something of an open secret. Even to an untrained eye the big numbers pertaining to development aid don’t look right. Take Africa, for example. Over $1 trillion dollars has been pumped into the continent in the last 50 years, and how much has it benefited? How many African countries are actually in a better condition now than they were before receiving aid?

Starting a PhD is an incredibly daunting task. Normally at least 3 years, there are some challenges that you are almost certainly going to have to face during the program. Below we look at some of the biggest (and most common) problems that PhD students encounter.

The topic of economics is rich with great writing, and many books have been published over the years that tackle economic issues for a popular audience. Here is our list of ten of the best books in the area of economics. Many of the books here are economics bestsellers, but we have included a few lesser-known titles that have had an important impact on how the public perceives economics. Some titles, too, are interdisciplinary, combining science, psychology and economics to explain history and human processes; others are narratives of events. All, though, are well worth a read.

Few would contest it as the ideology of our political age. Ever since the 1980s, it has dominated western politics, underpinning governance, influencing culture, and leaving its indelible mark across society. During this time its core tenets were rarely challenged and only its peripheral aspects tweaked. The 2008 financial crash, however, changed this, shaking confidence in an ideology whose name, up until that point, was rarely ever spoken. With the loss of savings, skyrocketing inequality and falling living standards that followed, people wanted answers and began to question the political system that had facilitated such a disaster.

If you're thinking about which direction to take your research career, one possibility is the professor route, teaching and researching in a university context. This is one of the most desirable jobs among young academics, and something that people often strive for. But what are the pros and cons of working as a college professor?

2021 began not only with an understanding that COVID-19 restrictions would likely continue for some time, but that the effects of Brexit – Great Britain leaving European Union – would also start to be felt. That Brexit would bring about changes to the UK/EU border was known for months. And yet, when it happened, most of the carriers and state institutions were not ready, creating (or rather, extending) the chaos in ports and near the Eurotunnel.

A great way to make your presentations or papers slick and memorable is to improve your graphs and diagrams. The standard graphs produced by software such as Excel or SPSS can convey the required information, but tend to lack style as these tools have limited customisation options. Other software exists for the singular purpose of configuring your diagrams, including many which are open-source and hence freely available. As an economist, it's important to make sure your graphs are looking as good as possible, as they are essential for winning over and keeping the attention of your audience.

Whether you are applying to a structured program like those typically found in the United States, an independent research PhD like those in much of Europe and elsewhere, or a hybrid of the two, the first step is to gather your thoughts (and paperwork) in an effort to convince the admissions board that you are the most qualified and motivated candidate for the position.Regardless of location or discipline, your application will almost certainly include a personal statement, transcripts, copies of your previous degrees and letters of recommendation. If you plan to start your PhD application this autumn, download our free guide "How to successfully apply to a PhD in Economics".

Taking the step towards doing a PhD is a big decision, and one that shouldn't be made without the proper research and consideration. Once taken, however, it can be an extremely valuable experience and one that can set you up nicely in the future. Here we consider some of the things you should definitely think about before taking the plunge.

The current moment is one defined by crisis. It can be found everywhere: in the climate, economy, mental health, even in democracy. It’s so ubiquitous as to have almost become the new norm. Amid the chaos, politics has struggled to keep up, its landscape is in permanent shift, its rulebook long thrown away. New formations have emerged, metastasized, sometimes died, and occasionally taken over - developments often surprising and hard to make sense of. What’s clear, though, is that polarisation has set in. From Bernie to Bolsanaro, from Modi to Make America Great Again, the voices now heard, the names that fill newspaper columns, are reminding us just how wide the political spectrum is. For many, it's a terrifying prospect, for others, it’s a thrilling and necessary reset. For the centre, as developments in the US and UK are showing, it may well spell death.