Orientation, Math Camp Begins for First-Year Economics Ph.D. Students

29 July 2015 3:05PM

First-year economics Ph.D. students arrived on campus Monday for orientation and math camp. The incoming class of doctoral candidates comprises 20 students — five women and 15 men — from Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Russia, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, and the United States. In total, the department received 734 applications for 2015 admission.

“Our applicant pool was very competitive, and we were only able to make offers of admission to about 10 percent of applicants,” said Department Chair Craig Burnside, who has taught the first-year macroeconomics sequence and served as co-director of Ph.D. admissions. “The new students are highly qualified and show a lot of promise, and I’m looking forward to meeting them all.”

But first, the students need to make it through math camp.

Math camp — officially known as ECON 700 Mathematics for Economists — is a three-week crash course in basic real analysis, linear algebra, optimization, probability, and a brief introduction to Bellman equations.

Instructor Margaux Luflade, a current fourth-year student in the economics Ph.D. program, said she offers a proof-based approach and adapted problems from actual first-year classes as much as possible.

“Even though many students will never find the need to rigorously prove a theoretical result in their research, I think it’s vital for everyone at this point to know how to conduct a rigorously logical argument, and to follow one when needed,“ Luflade said. “I also think that proving a mathematical result can teach you how to ask yourself questions about what you know and what your objective is, and give you some investigative reflexes that are useful for research.”

In addition to providing a solid foundation upon which students will build their academic careers, math camp enables them to forge relationships that will help them get through the first year and beyond. Luflade emphasized the importance of these relationships when she and three other Ph.D. students offered the new students advice.

Margaux Luflade

Know how and when to ask for help, and don’t feel shy or ashamed — it’s not only you. Too few students dare to ask for help when they are stuck or don’t understand something. The answers you get not only will save you time and energy but also probably teach you something new. When you get to work on your own research in the upper years, you realize how valuable it is to explain to classmates and/or advisers what isn’t working or where you are stuck. Being able to clearly explain your problem to someone is a key skill for a researcher. By opening these channels of communication, you can come up with research ideas and joint projects, as well as develop very valuable work relationships with your classmates (and, you’ll cheer each other up). 

Kate Maxwell

I advise to take time off when necessary (and it is necessary — no one can work well for 15-plus hours every day). When you are not able to work anymore, then you should take a break and try not to fret over not working. Otherwise, you will neither make progress nor recharge.

James Thomas

First-year material is very useful for your development as an economist; however, first-year performance does not predict success as a researcher. It’s not a waste of your time, but it also won’t determine your entire future.

Maria Zhu

The mentor-mentee program is a rich and well-established resource that has the potential to provide invaluable support for students in their first year. From once-a-semester lunches together to awkward hand waves between mentors and mentees in passing, every interaction is a strongly positive interaction that first-years will remember with great fondness years later.

Unfortunately, pairings are made with limited information, and sometimes these matches end up being less than optimal. If you and your mentor end up not being a great match, that's not the end of the world. Almost everyone in this department is extremely friendly, and you should feel more than welcome to seek out other upper-year students for de facto mentoring: My email is maria.zhu@duke.edu and John Singleton's email is john.singleton@duke.edu.

Learn more about our Ph.D. program.