“The Summer Institute has become a right of passage in economic geography. It’s the can’t-miss, traveling genius loci where young scholars in the field can forge connections across continents that produce conference panels, special issues and other collaborations for years to come. It’s been less than a year since I attended and it’s already responsible for one conference panel, and a special issue is in the works.”

Mark Kear, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Geography and Development, University of Arizona

“The Summer Institute provided me with invaluable tacit knowledge. As a graduate student finishing my PhD, the program helped me not only to conceptualize the field of economic geography, but also to imagine my own place within it. Early conversations with peers that I met in Madison during that week in 2006 continue on to this day.”

Marion Werner, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, SUNY-Buffalo

“An extraordinary example of how an academic meeting with mutual learning should look like. The Summer Institute is the number 1 meeting for young scholars in economic geography. The most inclusive atmosphere and the most innovative programme I have ever seen in a scientific workshop. The Summer Institute was a very important stepping stone in finding my intellectual home in economic geography.”

Márton Czirfusz, PhD, research fellow, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences

“I had the opportunity to attend the Economic Geography Summer Institute in Zurich in 2012. The opportunity was perfectly timed for me as I was about to embark on my dissertation fieldwork in the Fall of that year. First of all, without the financial aid the Institute provided, it would not have been possible for me to attend and I am grateful to the organisers for making that happen for me. The Institute was very well organised and reflected the hard work that went into it by the organisers as well as the hosts. The faculty represented a whole range of perspectives within the field of economic geography. Their talks at the Institute not only provided a great history of the diverse set of past and ongoing research in the field but also provided an insight into the new and cutting edge theoretical explorations being engaged in. Personal one-on-one discussions with the faculty also allowed me to better focus and contextualize the research questions I was about to examine in my own work. Aside from theoretical engagements in economic geography, the discussions also focused on other interesting issues such as practical applications in policy, negotiating the precarious job market, and academic writing and publishing.”

Aman Luthra, doctoral researcher, Department of Geography & Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University

“Attending SIEG 2012 was a unique opportunity for me. In addition to the thoughtful discussions with all the important scholars that organized the event, it has offered me a more integrated global perspective of critical economic geography.”

Stelios Gialis, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Aegean, Greece