While students of economics and various other streams are always eager to delve into the world of research, we often do not know where to start. Data may often look overwhelming to our untrained eyes, and the tools unfamiliar. It's necessary to learn how to collect data and analyze it gradually, one step at a time. This session intends to provide an overview of data analytics - what is it, why is it important, and most importantly, how do students deal with it? Tune in this Friday, 11 June 2021, at 4 PM to take your first step as a research enthusiast to understanding what data analytics truly means.

Topic: Data Analytics for Budding Economists
Date: Friday, 11 June 2021
Time: 4 PM
Session led by:  Khan Muhammad Saqiful Alam, Program Manager, Trust and Safety, South Asia Region, TikTok
Facebook Event Link​ | Live video link | Youtube link

The WHO first coined the term "infodemic" which is the rapid spread of an excessive amount of information that is typically unreliable. As the COVID-19 pandemic rages through and opinions become more polarized with the increasing use of social media and technology, it is easy to fall prey to the infodemic. There is need for investigative news and evidence-based information from reliable sources to manage the public health and sociopolitical crises of today's world.

Against this backdrop, we have arranged a session with Ms Zyma Islam, Reporter, The Daily Star, where she will talk about pursuing truth in the time of misinformation, what role media should play in closing the information gap and the challenges they face in doing so.

Facebook Event Link: Communication During an Infodemic: What We Are Doing Wrong - A Conversation with Zyma Islam
Guest: Zyma Islam, Reporter, The Daily Star
Host: Jinat Jahan Khan, Vice President, Economics Study Center
Date: 21 May 2021 at 7:30 PM
​
Zyma Islam is currently working as a Reporter at The Daily Star. Before joining the national daily as a full-time reporter, she was a Reporter at The Star Weekend, where she investigated corruption, money, environmental disasters, climate change, health, judicial system etc. She is known for her compelling, analytical and bold journalism.

Ms Zyma completed her BA in Asian Studies from Asian University for Women in 2013, and received her MA from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2015. 

Stata is one of the most commonly used general-purpose statistical software packages. It is popular for data analysis in various fields including but not limited to economics, sociology, political science, biomedicine, and epidemiology. The workshop aims to give students an overview of Stata and introduce them to the interface, type of files, simple command syntax, and share further resources that are required for basic data management and analysis. Once you grasp the basic functions through our session, you can start practicing and apply the skill for your practical use - be it for any course assignment, working on your own research project, or simply making your resume stronger!

Topic: Basics of Stata
Date: 10 February, 2021
Time: 7:00 PM
Facebook Event Link: https://fb.me/e/1vviJ3ftX​
Instructor: S M Abdullah, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka

S. M. Abdullah is currently working as an Associate Professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He completed his BSS and MSS in Economics from the same institution in 2009 and his MSc in Business and Economics from Lund University, Sweden in 2015. Mr Abdullah also served as a Research Associate at South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) prior to his academic career at the University of Dhaka. At present, he is also actively involved with ARK Foundation as a Research Fellow, creating evidence-based research in the field of tobacco. His broad research interest focuses on the issues related to the field of health economics, international trade and macroeconomics. With more than 10 years of teaching and research experience, Mr. Abdullah is adept at developing and implementing quantitative research techniques. His keen interest relies on the application and gradual development of a different econometric model with the exploitation of primary and secondary data.

Writing skills are an essential part of communication. Excellent writing skills allow you to represent your thoughts and views with clarity and ease to a far larger audience. Besides, having effective writing skills is now an important requirement in almost every job and industry. In this scenario, ESC hosted an Online Workshop on writing skills this time.

Topic: The Craft of Writing
Date: 23 January 2021
Time: 7 PM BST
Facebook Event Link: https://fb.me/e/17ecOGZxB 
Instructor: Ehsanur Raza, Editor of Toggle, The Daily Star

Mr. Raza began his career as an intern copywriter at Grey Group in 2006, eventually moving on to senior copywriter in 2009. He joined The Daily Star as a Senior Editorial Assistant in 2011. Spending almost a decade at this leading media outlet as an editor for Rising Stars, Shift, Bytes and Next Step, he is currently working as the editor of Toggle, the Daily Star's tech publication on startups, career, automotive and lifestyle enhancements. 
Mr. Raza also freelances as a design consultant to the organizations requiring assistance with print, digital and web-based applications. He has also been working as a cartoonist at The Daily Star since 2005.

ইএসসি সংলাপের এবারের পর্বের আলোচ্য বিষয় হচ্ছে- "বিজয়ের ৫০ বছর: সামাজিক অর্জন ও বঞ্চনার গল্প"। স্বাধীনতার পর থেকে শুরু করে সাম্প্রতিক সময়ে বাংলাদেশ দারিদ্র বিমোচন এবং সামাজিক সূচকে অভাবনীয় সাফল্য অর্জন করেছে। বিগত ১০ বছরে বাংলাদেশ বিশ্বের সবচেয়ে দ্রুত বর্ধনশীল অর্থনীতির ২০টি দেশের অন্যতম। কিন্তু এই উচ্চ ও স্থিতিশীল প্রবৃদ্ধির সুফল সমভাবে ও যথাযথভাবে বণ্টিত না হওয়ায় সমাজের পিছিয়ে পড়া মানুষেরা এই উন্নয়নের অংশীদার হতে পারেনি। ফলস্বরূপ সামাজিক ও অর্থনৈতিক বৈষম্যের হার বৃদ্ধি পেয়েছে। আর সেই সাথে বাড়ছে বিভিন্ন পর্যায়ে সহিংসতা। লিঙ্গভিত্তিক সহিংসতা বিশেষ করে নারীদের উপর শারীরিক ও মানসিক নির্যাতন, ধর্ষণ, আর্থিক নিয়ন্ত্রণসহ বিভিন্ন ধরনের পারিবারিক সহিংসতার ঘটনা বেড়েই চলেছে। তাছাড়া ধর্মীয় সংখ্যালঘু এবং প্রান্তিক জনগোষ্ঠীদের সামাজিক নিরাপত্তার অভাবে প্রায়ই বিভিন্ন অবমাননা ও সহিংসতার শিকার হতে হয়।

বিগত কয়েক দশকে অন্তর্ভুক্তিমূলক সমাজ গড়ে তোলার জন্যে প্রণীত নীতিমালার কার্যকারিতা এবং নারী, প্রতিবন্ধী, লিঙ্গ ও যৌন সংখ্যালঘু, আদিবাসীসহ সমাজের বিভিন্ন প্রান্তিক জনগোষ্ঠীর বর্তমান পরিস্থিতি বিশ্লেষণ করাই এবারের এই পর্বের মূল লক্ষ্য। তাছাড়া আগামী এই পর্বটিতে ড. রেহমান সোবহানের দরিদ্রতার সংজ্ঞার উপর ভিত্তি করেও আলোচনা করা হবে। তাঁর মতে, দারিদ্র্য হলো এমন একটি প্রক্রিয়া যা সমাজের উল্লেখযোগ্য অংশের মানুষদের উন্নতি করার এবং বিভিন্ন সিদ্ধান্ত নেওয়ার ক্ষেত্রে ন্যায্যভাবে অংশগ্রহণের সুযোগ থেকে বিরত রাখে।

বিষয়: ইএসসি সংলাপ পর্ব ৬ - "বিজয়ের ৫০ বছর: সামাজিক অর্জন ও বঞ্চনার গল্প”
তারিখ: ১৯ ডিসেম্বর, ২০২০
সময়: সন্ধ্যা ৭টা

সভাপতি:

অধ্যাপক ড. এম এম আকাশ - চেয়ারম্যান, অর্থনীতি বিভাগ, ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়

বক্তা:

ড. বিনায়ক সেন - গবেষণা পরিচালক, বাংলাদেশ ইন্সটিটিউট অব ডেভেলপমেন্ট স্টাডিজ (BIDS)

মহুয়া পাল - সহপ্রতিষ্ঠাতা, অ্যাক্সেস বাংলাদেশ ফাউন্ডেশন

খুশি কবির - সমাজকর্মী; কো-অর্ডিনেটর, নিজেরা করি

সঞ্জীব দ্রং - সভাপতি, ইন্ডিজেনাস পিপলস ডেভেলপমেন্ট সার্ভিসেস (IPDS)

The fifth episode of ESC Dialogue focused on how the race to a Covid-19 vaccine will influence the global economic landscape, its implications in Bangladesh, and how we can ensure equitable access to the vaccine. We had an engaging session where panelists discussed multilateral relations, aid dependence, importance of collecting health data, and ensuring equity over equality while remaining optimistic about a successful distribution of vaccines.

Topic: Vaccine Diplomacy: Prospects and Challenges for Bangladesh
Date: November 28, 2020

Session Chair:
Dr Rumana Huque, Professor, Economics, University of Dhaka

Panelists:
Dr Delwar Hossain, Professor, International Relations, University of Dhaka
Dr Ashikur Rahman, Senior Economist, Policy Research Institute
Dr. Senjuti Saha, Scientist, Child Health Research Foundation (CHRF) Bangladesh

Media Coverages:

​The Financial Express
The Independent BD
Bonik Barta
Bdnews24
United News Bangladesh

Due to the pandemic, the third chapter of Bangladesh Economics Summit was very different from its previous iterations. This year, BES focused on the socioeconomic consequences of COVID-19 and assessed the response from different stakeholders in tackling the crisis. The theme for the third edition of BES was ​“The Impact of COVID-19: Exposing the Fault Lines of Bangladesh Economy.” ​The events were designed and organized to engage people into thinking about the central theme. Academicians, policy-makers and young economists shared the platform to explore the solutions to such problems. 

The summit consisted of the following segments:

• BSDED Volume III Launching Ceremony
• Launching of ESC’s Report titled “Assessing the Fault Lines of Bangladesh’s Healthcare Sector: Implications for Future Policy Response”
• Panel Discussions
• Public Lecture
• Policy Debate
• Economics Quiz Competition
• Essay Competition
• Book Review Competition

The Daily Star was the Media Partner and the EMK Center was the Outreach Partner of this summit.

The first episode in the series ‘Roadmap to Research’ was conducted virtually with young researchers from renowned institutes where they discussed job opportunities in the research sector and guided current undergraduate students on how to pursue a career in this field. The guest speakers shared their own experiences to help students gain a better understanding of the skillset required in this sector.

Guest Speakers:
Mahtab Uddin, Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka
Fatema Mohammad, Research Assistant, Power and Participation Research Centre
Mustahsin-ul-Aziz, Education Economist, World Bank
Semab Rahman, Research Associate, Brac Institute of Governance and Development