Summer Institute on Field Experiments 2017
Institute Dates: July 9-13, 2017
Location: The University of Chicago
The third annual Summer Institute on Field Experiments (SIFE) will be held at the University of Chicago July 9-13, 2017. SIFE partners 20 of the brightest young scholars in the world with organizations interested in using field experiments and behavioral economics to answer their most compelling business questions. By participating in SIFE, scholars gain training in the field experiment method and connections with business and government partners. The Institute seeks organization partners who are willing to be "matched" to the most promising of the Institute's participants to work together and design solutions to problems they face. Organizations gain research-based insights into how they could revolutionize their policy development, business processes, or charitable programming. The first two SIFE conferences were great successes and generated several research collaborations.
The Institute is led by University of Chicago economics professor and chairman John List, and features lectures by the world's leading economists. Co-organizers include Dr. Luigi Butera, Research Scholar at the University of Chicago, and Prof. Michael Price, Georgia State University.
SIFE Coordinator: Claire Mackevicius. The Summer Institute is funded by a generous grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Thank you to our partner, the University of Chicago.
Recent years have seen an enormous increase and interest in research using experimental methods in the field to address questions across a broad range of topics in economics. Yet for young researchers, carrying out a field experiment may be daunting. Many young scholars have not been trained on field experiment methods, and may not have connections in business or government required to carry out experiments.
Seeking Organization Partners
The Institute is looking for organization partners who are open to new and bold ideas that will revolutionize the way they develop policy, do business, or provide charitable programming. At the end of the four day Institute, organizations will have a outline of experimental design, and will work together with researchers to further develop, carry out, and evaluate the proposed solutions. Organization partners should be willing to work closely with researchers to field test solutions, and must be willing to allow research publications to come from the partnership. We expect the institute to serve as a catalyst for field experiment research and strong researcher-organization partnerships.
Seeking Researchers Interested in Partnership
The summer institute aims to bring in the brightest 20 young scholars in the world through a competitive application process each summer with the following objectives:
- Train the most promising young scholars in the world in the field experiment method.
- Position young scholars for success by providing connections within business and government and helping them identify practitioner needs.
- Use the institute as a catalyst for field experiment research in business and government.
As part of the institute, scholars will listen to lectures from leading economists on the best practices of field experimentation. Then, scholars will receive real-world problems, which have been submitted to us from industry and government, and will spend the summer institute week outside of lectures working independently or in a team to develop proposed testable solutions.
Finally, in the last day of the institute scholars will present their work and the most promising individuals/teams will have the opportunity to be matched with our industry and government partners to carry out the project. The institute also includes networking opportunities with fellow scholars.
The Institute is free of charge for both scholars and firms; scholars will receive a travel allowance.
Key Dates
- Researcher applications are now closed. Researcher applicants will be notifed of acceptance by May 25, 2017.
- Organization application form. Practitioners will be notifed of acceptance by May 25, 2017.
- Institute dates: July 9-13, 2017 at the University of Chicago.
Questions? Please email sife@uchicago.edu.
