Economic Scholars Program 2025

The Economic Scholars Program is an economic research conference. 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. 

• April 3 – Presenters training
• April 4 – In-person registration closes (virtual registration will be open throughout the program)
• April 8 – Discussants and Session Chairs training
• April 21 – Economic Scholars Program

See our detailed flyer for more program dates.

How can students get involved?

• Participate as a Peer Review Board Member. Applications have closed.
  • 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.
• Become a Presenter. Applications have closed.
  • Students conducting original research in economics or finance are encouraged to submit a proposal based on their independent research. Research can be independent or co-authored by other students and can be empirical, theoretical, or analytical in nature. A Peer Review Board will review all proposals and evaluate them based on a rubric.
  • Students must submit the research proposal using the 2025 Proposal Template as a Word document to clev.ESPproposal@clev.frb.org, on or before March 12, 2025. Note: Alternative formats will not be accepted.
• Become a Discussant. Applications have closed.
  • Discussants help audience members better understand the proposal and help the author understand what can be done to improve the work. They read proposals carefully and take time to understand the contributions, strengths, and weaknesses of the proposal, and then provide comments and suggestions for the author to consider. Discussants should be prepared to deliver 5–7 minutes of remarks following the presentation.
• Serve as a Session Chair. Applications have closed.
  • Session Chairs are responsible for timekeeping during the session, introducing presenters and discussants, and managing questions from the audience.

Please view sessions from the 2024 Economic Scholars Program using the video links in the 2024 program agenda to see these roles in action.