PHDBA279S (Spring 2011)

• This page is in the BPP category
• The previous version of this page is available here: The 2010 Fall BPP Student Seminar (PHDBA279S) - Student Version

PHDBA279S is the PhD in BPP Research Seminar, generally known as the BPP Student Seminar. It is a weekly seminar where students present their research to other students in the group. This is a required seminar for BPP students in the 2nd year and above. For Spring 2011 Steve Tadelis will be the supervising faculty member.

There is an "official version" of this page, that the faculty can access. It is not important to keep the two syncronized. We can post the "final" results of the exploration that will take place on this page to that page once we are done.

Class Details

The class is as follows:

• Thursdays from 1pm to 3pm - This time slot is as posted in the online schedule and may be open to debate.
• In F555
• With Steve Tadelis
• Starting 20th January (Instruction formally begins Tuesday January 18th) and ending April 28th (classes formally end Friday April 29th)
• Thurs 24th March is listed in the Official Academic Calendar as Spring Break
• By tradition/convention the presenter brings "classy" chocolate for all to share

Priority for Scheduling

The order of priority for scheduling is:

• Sixth Years (Justin)
• Fifth Years
• Fourth Years
• Third Years
• Second Years

Please add yourself (first name only will do) in to any date that you would like to present, noting that the priority above applies. Within years it is first-come-first-served (yes there is a history function to check!). During the first class we will have a clearance. But if you feel sure that you have a date (i.e. because you are a sixth year, or fifth year and Justin has already chosen, or all fifth years have decided and you are a fourth year, and so on by induction) you can turn your name bold. A list of all BPP students is here. Note that there are 14 current BPP students in years 2 through 6, and 14 slots (yeah!).

Schedule of Classes

THIS SCHEDULE IS FINAL AND WAS AGREED WITH STEVE

• Thurs 20th January - No Class
• Thurs 27th January - No Class
• Thurs 3rd February - Orie
• Thurs 10th February - Tarek
• Thurs 17th February - Neil
• Thurs 24th February - Ed
• Thurs 3rd March - Vito
• Thurs 10th March - Dylan
• Thurs 17th March - Pablo
• Thurs 24th March - SPRING BREAK
• Thurs 31st March - Amy
• Thurs 7th April - Sharat
• Thurs 14th April - Bo
• Thurs 21st April - Lucy
• Thurs 28th April - Job Market Recap (or 5th/6th years)

Proposed New Institutions

The schedule above is what happened using a by-senority-then-first-come-first-served system. This schedule seems to be socially sub-optimal (i.e. it doesn't maximize social welfare). Orie sent an email noting this and proposing a new system:

I’d like to point out that we have some issues with the schedule. 
For example, that the 2nd years are presenting very early in the semester after having 
presented late in the fall, and almost everyone else is in pure rank order. 
After some discussion here is what I propose for norms so that the online date 
selection matches better what used to happen in the scheduling meeting.

In general, everyone should pick by seniority, but with the following conditions: 

For the Spring:
-Job market candidates get spots only after everyone else has chosen. 
-Those with specific plans for orals in the spring have first priority 
-2nd years don’t get stuck early in the spring after presenting late in the fall. 

For the Fall:
-3rd years (who have just completed 2nd year papers) present early
-2nd years each get half a slot, and present relatively late in the semester
-Job market candidates get priority, but are encouraged to present early in the 
semester, especially before their OEW slots and other outside presentations.
 
These are still subject to gaming, but I hope we would all stick to the spirit of these.

Ed feels that the easiest way to operationalize Orie's proposal is to change the senority order to the following:

Fall Term

1. Job Market Candidates
2. Second Years as a group for a single slot
3. By Senority (with the third years last)

Spring Term

1. Those taking their orals
2. 2nd Years
3. By senority (except for job market candidates)
4. Job Market Candidates

An alternative that should also work, and which still affords more seniority to program order is:

• Each term is broken into a first half and a second half.
• There are two rounds. You may choose in only one round.
• In the first round senority is by program order (6th year -> 2nd year), but you may choose only from the first half of the slots (or wait until the next round).
• In the second round both halves are open and the senority is as in Ed's proposal above, but pre-chosen slots from the first round in the first half can not be bumped.

The status quo is not the senority system that we have used to date on the wiki. Rather, it is whatever schedule Steve (or whomever is running the seminar) would impose on us.

As always, please feel free to discuss this on the Discussion Page.