Universities around the world are currently experiencing a crash course in online education. The coronavirus pandemic has shaken the sector in a big way, leaving professors and students struggling to complete the academic year off campus and having to prepare for the next one under very uncertain circumstances. Although online learning has been around for at least two decades, adapting all courses to remote forms of education is proving a steep learning curve for most institutions. Applying a basic economic principle and considering some of the evidence on online versus traditional teaching methods can help to assess the likely effects of recent campus closures on student learning outcomes and to see how course provision and programme design may develop in the longer term.

'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.

To become an effective marketer of universities, it is necessary to know your target group. In the 21 Century, the so-called “millennials” are often at the centre of the marketing strategies of universities worldwide. Millennials are often insulated from traditional marketing techniques, as this generation of young adults have lived through the social media revolution, use mobile devices on a daily basis, and solve real life problems through online research and social media channels.

When you submit your paper to a journal, as well as the paper itself you will need to include a cover letter. This cover letter is addressed to the editor of the journal and acts as a guide to the contents of your paper. In many ways, the cover letter can be as important as the paper itself in terms of getting accepted to a journal. So you should take your time with your cover letter and make it as good as possible. Here are tips on polishing your cover letter for a journal submission.

For this week's top career paths article, we're looking at the potential careers which are open to those who have studied economic history.

The current circumstances can be tough: being isolated from families and friends is difficult, and having to spend most of our time inside isn’t particularly healthy. However, there is one thing you can spend a lot of time doing which will improve your quality of life exponentially: reading!

The 1932 book "Booms and Depressions" by Irving Fisher, along with his 1933 Econometrica paper "The Debt-Deflation theory of Great Depression" earmarked the start of a new era for modern macroeconomics and financial literature. This article reviews the book in light of the current economic and financial scenario.

Economics PhDs are aware of the transferable skills they should master to land a job in industry. But what about the reverse: is prior industry experience valuable for a PhD program?

We spoke to top hiring managers Kalpana Kochhar, Director of Human Resources Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Jordi Roca Solanelles, Head Manager of the University of Barcelona’s School of Economics (UB) and Professor Dr Florian Englmaier, Professor for Organisational Economics as the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), to discover what challenges economics post-graduates should expect from prospective careers in some of the biggest institutions around.

Although we’ve been told time and again that the pandemic doesn’t care about who you are, in reality it hasn’t affected everyone equally. Senior Editor William Pearse has already written about how COVID-19 has been harder on those from ethnic minorities and on poorer communities in the UK.

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.

Esteemed economist, Stanford Professor, and friend of INOMICS, Matthew O. Jackson, generously took time out of his busy schedule to take part in the third INOMICS Handbook Questionnaire. Opposite him, in his customary role of quizmaster, was Professor Marcel Fratzscher, president of the DIW Berlin, and one of Germany’s leading voices in macroeconomics. Observing tradition, and as a nod to those involved, the encounter has been dubbed ‘Fratzscher v Jackson’.

The following is an analysis of data taken from the INOMICS Salary Report 2018 - downloadable for registered users here. Specifically, it looks at the average salaries of PhDs, Post-Docs, and Full Professors, working in economics over the last 5 years, in the U.S, the U.K, Germany, and Italy. It is the 4th instalment in a series of insights handling the Report’s findings. The first three can be found in our insights section.

A business degree can be a great investment with fantastic future career options. When supported with a solid understanding of economics, in the job market you'll find that you are an attractive candidate to a whole host of different employers. However, if you're thinking about taking a business economics degree, or are just about to graduate, you might wonder what exact career options are open to you. Here are five of the top career paths.

If you're in the field of business, whether you're a student, a researcher, or an entrepreneur, then you'll know how important it is to keep up to date with all the latest developments. To help you with this, we've compiled a list of the top academic journals in business, so you can know where to look for all the latest cutting-edge research.

The following is an analysis of data taken from the INOMICS Salary Report 2018 - downloadable for registered users here. Specifically, it looks at the average salaries of economists working in academia and the private sector according to their level of seniority. It is the third instalment in a series of insights handling the Report’s findings. The first two can be found in our insights section.

The increasing importance of evidencing teaching effectiveness In recent years, the UK higher education environment has noticeably changed. Research Assessment Exercises and then the Research Excellence Framework have highlighted the importance of academics not only being research- active but regularly publishing high quality outputs in internationally recognised academic journals.

In the collective consciousness, the economist exists as a middle-aged man, bespectacled and clad in a suit, whose unhealthy pallor betrays a hermit-like lifestyle led in the confines of a library. Of course, this image isn’t a particularly fair reflection of the discipline, or its practitioners. Some, for instance, will be aware that in the last few years a number of economists have experimented with contact lenses. Nevertheless, the stereotype remains instructive: the large majority of economists are men, and given the positions they hold, and influence they exert, such homogeneity is a cause for concern.

Applying for funding is a major part of life for every academic, so it’s something you’ll have to be prepared for as you reach the postgraduate stage and beyond. Here are 10 tips for applying for funding as an economist.