SIER 2016 took place in Abomey-Calavi and Cotonou from December 12 to 17. It consisted of three sessions, which are described in more detail in the program
- Session 1: Training on Research Design (December 12-13)
- Session 2: Presentation of Research (Conference) (December 14-16)
- Session 3: Policy Forum and ASE Commencement Day (December 17)
SIER Overview
Beginning on Monday, December 12th, the Summer Institute for Economic Research (SIER 2016) ended Saturday, December 17th, with the Policy Forum and the graduation ceremony of the first cohort of masters students of the African School of Economics, at the “Palais des Congress” de Cotonou.
From Monday to Tuesday, around 100 participants were trained on research design, by instructors from Yale (USA), Makerere (Uganda), Navarra (Spain) and Paris 10 (France). Wednesday to Friday, featured conference presentations and put many ASE students on stage. The presenters spoke on terrific economic research related to issues such as conflict, climate change, and sub-regional cooperation.
During this time, the mayor of Abomey-Calavi, the town where ASE is located, Georges Bada, paid a visit to the school, he was very impressed by what he saw and encouraged everyone to keep up with the academic excellence.
The policy forum on Saturday started with a debate on advanced scientific research in Africa, with Professor Kizito Omala from University of Makerere (Uganda) and University of California at Berkeley (United States) as a chairperson, and as speakers, Professor Léonard Wantchekon, founder of ASE and professor at Princeton University (United States) and Wilfried Gangbo a Mathematics professor at UCLA (United States)
In the second part, the audience listened to Léandre Adifon, vice president of Enterprise Systems Engineering and Advanced Technology (USA). His address was titled “The Technological Challenges and Opportunities of Developing Countries by 2030”. Aristide Adjinakou, a counsellor of the President of Benin, attended the address as well.
Testimonials SIER 2016
“I was pleasantly impressed by the curiosity and the attention of the students at the Summer Institute. Most of them have very clear in mind which carrier they want to pursue after their graduation at ASE. And over the many interactions I had with them, they asked me several questions about what it is like to study abroad, and in particular in the United States. I felt that faculty and staff at ASE are doing a brilliant job in shaping a talented generation of students, who I am sure will have bright careers in many fields. Their strong commitment was evident to me even from the very short experience I had with in Cotonou”. Giorgia Barboni (Princeton University)
“I must say that the SIER was a fruitful academic venture. The presentations were extremely impressive, and even more the work of the graduate students were at a global standard. I am certain that if the young who presented keep aiming that high and couple it with high integrity, Africa’s future is promising. I desire to associate with this network! Oh, not to forget the fabulous graduation ceremony!” Kizito Omala (University of Makerere; University of California at Berkeley)
“I would say that it has been a great experience for me! Amused by the interest of some of the students in doing good research projects in time series. I hope I will be able to collaborate with some of them! I did a short (2 hours) course in time series and a presentation on fractional integration techniques. I enjoyed some of the presentations I attempted on Wednesday morning. Both the ASE and the SIER are great experiences! Hope to continue in the future” Luis A. Gil-Alana (University of Navarra)
“It was an invigorating experience for me because I participated as part of the team co-ordinating the curation of tweets on social media. I particularly found the teaching on Impact Evaluation and the conference presentations very interesting, they were all enlightening. I believe the African School of Economics (ASE) and the Summer Institute for Economic Research (SIER) has the potential of becoming one of the best institutions and conferences respectively in Africa if the current momentum is maintained”. Chinasa Ikelu (Pre-Doctoral student at ASE)
