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Economic Scholars Program
Join us Friday, April 17, 2026
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 openings with the Federal Reserve.
To participate in this annual program, students can apply for one of the following roles:
- Peer Review Board Member: application window has now closed
- Presenter: application window has now closed
- Discussant: application window has now closed
- Session Chair: application window has now closed
The application window to participate in the conference has now closed. Please register to attend the conference virtually on Friday, April 17. Registration to attend in person has closed.
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, coauthored by other students, or faculty cosponsored. Proposals can have no more than four coauthors. If the proposal is selected for the program, there are a maximum of two 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.
For more information on submitting a successful proposal, watch the Preparing a Conference-Ready Proposal Training that was held on January 26.
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.
- 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 five 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.