Southwest Workshops in Economics Education, Teaching and Scholarship (SWEETS)

SWEETS supports, trains and provides networking opportunities to academic economists who teach in the Southwest of England. It aims to provide spaces for academics within the region to collaborate on economics education projects and incubate new ideas in economics scholarship.

Forthcoming events

Annual Workshop: Are we assessing the right skills? Collaboration, learning, and work in a changing world

Dates and Location: Wednesday 13th May 2026, University of Exeter
Workshop Fee: No fee
Application/Submission Form: Details to follow in due course

The annual SWEETS workshop is a 1-day workshop held at a Southwest institution to provide a space for all academic economists to discuss new teaching ideas and find new collaborators for scholarship projects. The theme for the 2026 Workshop is collaboration, learning, and work in the discipline of Economics in a changing world. We invite Economics educators, researchers, and industry professionals to engage in a dialogue on the future of assessment and its alignment with the realities of today’s rapidly evolving professional landscape. The event will explore how educational practices—from curriculum design to learning activities and assessment strategies—can better prepare students for the complex, dynamic environments they will encounter beyond university and effectively support the development of essential professional competencies such as teamwork, adaptability, critical thinking, and real-world problem solving.

Past Events

Annual workshops

The Future of the Economics Degree: Who? What? How?

Tuesday 13th May 2025, University of Bristol

The second SWEETS workshop focussed on the future of the Economics degree and the ways to adapt our teaching accordingly, with panellists including Carlos Cortinhas (University of Exeter), Sumit Dey-Chowdhury (Office for National Statistics) and Sarah Smith (University of Bristol).

See the full programme (PDF)

Economics Education Landscape in the UK: From University to Graduate Jobs

University of Southampton – Tuesday 14^th May 2024

The inaugural SWEETS workshop focussed on the Economics Education Landscape in the UK and the requirements of graduate economists in the workplace, with panellists including Tom Aldred (Government Economic Service), Dr Cloda Jenkins (Imperial College London) and Prof. Michael Tomlinson (University of Southampton).

See the full programme (PDF).

Summer School

Summer School: Experimental Methods for Scholarship Research

Dates and Location: 9th-11th June 2025, University of Southampton

This workshop, in collaboration with C-BEAR and NCRM, is for anyone who wants to enhance their scholarship research portfolio by improving their understanding of experimental research methods. Participants will learn about how they can test and evidence impact of interventions in the classroom and translate this into scholarship publications. Experts sharing their knowledge include Fabio Aricio (UEA), Caroline Elliott (Warwick), Thomas Gall (Southampton), Doug McKee (Cornell), Paolo Spada (Southampton) and Jadrian Wooten (Virginia Tech).

Contact

Organising Group:

• Daniel Cernin (University of Southampton)
• Carlos Cortinhas (University of Exeter)
• Szabolcs Deak (University of Exeter)
• Arpita Ghosh (University of Exeter)
• Annika Johnson (University of Bristol)
• Anastasia Papadopoulou (University of Bristol)
• Stefania Paredes Fuentes (University of Southampton)
• Mike Peacey (University of Bristol)
• Jana Sadeh (University of Southampton)