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Economic Scholars Program
An undergraduate economics conference that allows economic students globally to share their work, participate in an economic research conference, network with peers, and discover future opportunities.
Program summary
The Economic Scholars Program is a global economic research conference presented by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. This hybrid event allows undergraduate students to share their work, understand what it’s like to participate in an economic research conference, network with peers, and discover internship and employment opportunities with the Federal Reserve.
To participate in this annual program, students can apply for one of the following roles:
- Peer Review Board Member
- Presenter
- Discussant
- Session Chair
Applications for the program open in January, official dates for the 2026 program are to be determined. See detailed qualifications for each role in the tabs below.
Role Overviews
Students can apply to be a member of the Peer Review Board. Peer Review Board members evaluate all conference proposals against a rubric to determine which papers should be presented during the event. Members of the Peer Review Board are also eligible to enter their own proposals for consideration.
Qualifications
To qualify, students must:
- Apply by program deadline.
- Be a current undergraduate junior or senior studying economics.
- Be currently enrolled in or have completed intermediate macroeconomics and microeconomics courses.
- Be available to attend two one-hour virtual training sessions that will cover the expectations of Peer Review Board members.
- Be able to demonstrate the ability to successfully evaluate a proposal against a rubric.
Students conducting original research in economics can apply, using the proposal template, to present their research. Papers can be empirical, theoretical, or analytical in nature. Research can be independent, co-authored by other students, or faculty co-sponsored. Proposals can have no more than 4 coauthors. If the proposal is selected for the program, there are a maximum of 2 presenters per proposal.
A Peer Review Board will review all paper proposals and evaluate them based on a rubric to determine acceptance for presentation at the event.
Qualifications
To qualify, students must:
- Apply by program deadline.
- Submit a research proposal using the proposal template as a Word document to clev.ESPproposal@clev.frb.org, on or before the deadline. Use the 2025 training on how to Prepare a Conference Ready Proposal as a resource.
- Note: Alternative proposal formats will not be accepted.
- Register for and attend the conference (virtually or in-person).
- Be a current undergraduate student studying economics.
- Be available to attend a 90-minute virtual training session.
During the event, discussants help audience members better understand the work and help the author understand what can be done to improve it. They read proposals carefully and take time to understand the contributions, strengths, and weaknesses of the work, and then provide comments and suggestions for the author to consider. Discussants should be prepared to deliver 5 minutes of remarks following the presentation.
Qualifications
To qualify, students must:
- Apply by program deadline.
- Register for and attend the conference (virtual or in-person).
- Be a current undergraduate student studying economics.
- Be currently enrolled in or have completed intermediate macroeconomics and microeconomics courses.
- Be available to attend a one-hour virtual training session.
Session Chairs are responsible for timekeeping during the session, introducing presenters and discussants, and managing questions from the audience.
Qualifications
To qualify, students must:
- Apply by program deadline.
- Register for and attend the conference (virtually or in-person).
- Be a current undergraduate student studying economics.
- Be available to attend a one-hour virtual training session.
Comments from Past Participants
