20th RGS Doctoral Conference 2026

About the Conference

It is our pleasure to welcome you to the 20th RGS Doctoral Conference, hosted this year at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Campus Duisburg. We invite doctoral students from all fields of economics to submit their work and join us for two days of research presentations, discussions, and exchange. The conference is organised annually by the Ruhr Graduate School in Economics (RGS Econ) and rotates between its partner institutions in Bochum, Dortmund, Duisburg, and Essen.

The conference provides a platform for early-career economists to present their research, receive feedback, exchange ideas with peers and RGS Econ faculty, and build connections across institutions and fields. RGS Econ faculty members will chair the sessions and contribute to the discussions.

A special feature of this year's conference will be two keynote lectures by Professor Christoph M. Schmidt and Dr. Benjamin Weigert. Their talks will address different aspects of research-based policy advice and the role of economic research in informing public policy.

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.

Kind regards,
Prof. Dr. Christoph Hanck, Director RGS Econ
Prof. Dr. Almut Balleer, Director RGS Econ