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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nPro tip: Visit the cities outside Helsinki (Lappeenranta, Kuopio..) to experience the authentic Finnish autumn. If not, there are some pretty nice places to enjoy the autumn in Helsinki as well!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In my experience, the research seminar was divided\ninto 4 checkpoints:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- First Meeting and Thesis Topic Submission<\/li>
- Thesis Supervisor and Methods Lab Paper Presentation<\/li>
- Seminar Report and its submission <\/li>
- Seminar Report Presentations and Discussant Presentations <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
First Meeting and Topic Submission<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
All meetings were held online (as well as all the classes), owing to the\npandemic. Held in the first week of September, the seminar\u2019s first meeting was\na short introduction to the structure of the course. We were familiarized with how\nthe course will proceed, the deadlines and the outcome expected from the\ncourse. The professors\/thesis advisors also introduced themselves and their\nareas of interest for our reference. We were familiarized with the functions of\nthe methods lab. The Method\u2019s Lab is set up to help students with the data\ncollection and guidance regarding the econometric methods.<\/em> Then, we were\ninvited to introduce ourselves and our possible thesis topic if we had\nsomething in mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thesis topic (Planning Report) submission: After the first meeting was held, we were given\naround 15 days to come up with our finalized thesis topics and a short 2-3 page\ndescription of the objective of the thesis, the methods we were planning to use\nand the data-collection-procedure (if-any) we had in mind. This planning report\nwas expected to be submitted by 22nd<\/sup> September (approximately 15\ndays after the first meeting).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thesis Supervisor and Methods Lab Paper Presentation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The thesis supervisors are assigned to the students after the thesis\ntopics and the short descriptions are submitted. The students then have a\nchance to have meetings with their supervisors to discuss their proposed\nmethods and get guidance for the way forward in order to get started with the\ndata collection. During my course, the meetings with the supervisors took place\nabout a week after the thesis topic submissions i.e. in the first week of\nOctober. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Methods Lab: During the same time (September last week), we had\nour first methods lab session where we were introduced to the two method\u2019s lab\nassistants. The methods lab supervisors were two post-doctoral researchers at\nHanken to support the thesis project. The methods lab is designed to focus on\nhow empirical research in economics is done and to help those students who plan\nto do theoretical work or run simulations. A couple of sessions were organized\nin the beginning of the fall semester for those who had registered for the\nseminar. These sessions focused on how research and especially empirical work\nis done in economics (i.e. overview of steps and the process, including tips\nfor data sources and gathering especially in economics, discussion of the\nchoice of econometric methods via examples, general advice on the choice of\nsoftware, etc). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lab subsequently continues on an individual basis. These sessions\ncould offer personalized advice to the students regarding methodological issues\nrelevant for him\/her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In our first methods lab session, we were given an assignment for the\nnext session: to select and present a peer-reviewed research paper related to\nour thesis topic. The presentation was held in the last week of October (26.10)\nand each of us was to do a 20-minutes\u2019 presentation and an additional 10\nminutes\/presentation was reserved for Q&A. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The short presentation of a peer-reviewed paper related to our thesis\ntopic proved to be very helpful for me as I went through many research papers\nin my chosen topic and studied them to critically analyze and present of them\nto my class. The econometric methods used in these previous research papers\nguided me for my own thesis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drafting the Seminar Report and Submitting it<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The seminar report is approximately 20 pages long and is designed \u201cin\nthe focus of a detailed and critical, but constructive seminar discussion in\nthe seminar group\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This report should include a theoretical discussion of the thesis topic\nas well as its main background research papers (literature review). It should\nalso enunciate the empirical methods to be used and provide a convincing\nargument\/presentation of the methods. Moreover, it should include a\nwell-defined and precise plan of how to continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For designing the seminar report, we may book sessions with our thesis\nadvisor, take guidance from the methods lab assistants and our peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the seminar report is the foundation of our thesis, we were\nadvised to work diligently and meticulously on its preparation. We started\npreparing the seminar report since the start of October, going through many\nresearch papers and building the theoretical part of the report. We also\ndecided on the data-collection and empirical methods with the help of our\nadvisor. The deadline for the submission of the seminar report was December 3,\na week before our seminar presentations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seminar Presentation and the role of the Discussant<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The seminar presentations were held approximately a week after the\nseminar report submission deadline (9-14 December). 60 minutes were allocated\nfor the presentation of each report (35 minutes presentation + 10 minutes\ndiscussant presentation + 15 minutes Q&A). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further, each participant was assigned to serve as a discussant\n(opponent) of another student\u2019s seminar report. The discussant was strongly\nencouraged to prepare a carefully structured PPT, or equivalent, to support\nhis\/her presentation, outlining the key areas of improvement for his\/her\nopponent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our seminar presentations were held virtually in a highly professional\nsetting, with each participant being timed and critically analyzed by both the\nthesis advisor as well as the other participants. The discussant presentations\nwere also highly informative and educational, in addition to making the\npresentations more engaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afterthoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The economics research seminar course for thesis writing proved to be a\nrigorous and valuable experience for me as it pushed me to follow a previously\nwell-defined timeline. It also allowed me to critically analyze the seminar\nreports and presentations of my peers in a professional setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had fun taking part in this course (the course is mandatory) and\nretrospectively, I would choose to take part in it even if it wasn\u2019t compulsory\nbecause of the immense help that I could get because of it. Overall, my\nexperience in the research seminar was amazing and I would recommend it to\nanyone planning to write their master\u2019s thesis in their second year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hope you have a wonderful spring! Please don\u2019t hesitate to contact me\nin case you have any questions regarding any of the economics master\u2019s courses\nat Hanken or anything regarding the life of an international student in\nHelsinki!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Email me at: reetuparna.vishwanath@student.hanken.fi<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Looking at the computer screen, day in and day out, reading lectures, research papers and looking up data for the regression analysis, thesis writing is no cakewalk. When I joined the research seminar for thesis writing in September (it is a 5-credit mandatory course at Hanken), I was looking to have some guidance for this … <\/p>\n