“The Summer Institute in Economic Geography is a fantastic venue to engage with emerging debates and practices in the discipline and to network with both early career and established scholars. As a participant at the Institute (2014) I gained practical knowledge about teaching and professionalization that has greatly aided my development as a new faculty member. I also made academic connections that have led to collaborative research projects with colleagues from around the world.”

Theresa Enright, PhD, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto

"The Summer Institute was a great opportunity to learn more about how economic geography has evolved and to debate the exciting directions in which it is going. There was real critical, productive engagement between very different approaches and areas of research—much more so than at many conventional academic events. In discussions of the challenges of working in academia today, I appreciated the open and supportive way that the group worked together, which looks set to continue in a lasting network."

Amy Horton, doctoral researcher, Queen Mary University of London

“As an early-career researcher I could not imagine a better event that would help me to learn so much about my chosen discipline and put me in touch with so many other scholars interested in economic geography. The opportunities to interact with other academics (both other young researchers and well-established scholars), to exchange research ideas and to initiate future collaborations which the SIEG event in Frankfurt offered to me are exceptional in every respect and cannot be matched by any other event which I have taken part in, or which I am aware of. The idea behind SIEG, the commitment with which it is organised and the benefits which it offers to its participants are truly invaluable. I would wholeheartedly recommend SIEG to every young economic geographer whose ambition is to become a high-quality researcher and academic. There’s surely no better place to start!”

Piotr Niewiadomski, PhD, Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Aberdeen

“As an alumnus of the first Summer Institute (2003), and a recent featured speaker (2014), I can say that it is one of the most significant and valuable professional events held regularly in the field of economic geography. Not only does the Institute provide participants with an opportunity to engage in intensive, stimulating, collegial, and highly substantive discussions about the field and emerging research agendas, it also serves a valuable role by helping current and recently graduated PhD students to understand the academic enterprise and the challenges of, among other things, navigating the publishing and professional worlds we work in. Several of the friendships and professional ties that began at the Institute I attended in 2003 have played a central role in my career development and I have seen many alumni emerge as leaders among the current and next generation of economic geographers. This is a vital initiative, one that strengthens and sustains the field by imbuing in its participants a sense of purpose, identity, and commitment to research and teaching that can deploy economic geography concepts and theories in ways that help us better understand the causes and potential solutions to pressing socioeconomic, political, and environmental issues worldwide.”

James T. Murphy, PhD, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Geography, Clark University

“The 2012 Summer Institute in Economic Geography is the highlight of my experience with conferences and forums. Whilst fortunate to practice geography in New Zealand it comes with isolation from other economic geographers and geography conferences, and this tends to be reproduced at large events such as the AAG and RGS-IBG. As a platform, the Summer Institute, constituted by a group of prominent and emergent economic geographers, provided five days to specifically come to know each other and our diverse work, and discuss perspectives of economy geography around a set of disciplinary debates. Rather than just giving a paper and/or attending a conference session, I came away from the Summer Institute with an enriched perspective of economic geography (and economic geographers), a new set of relationships and opportunities for future research collaboration, and importantly, a commitment to being an economic geographer and contributing to our discipline.”

Stephen FitzHerbert, doctoral researcher, University of Auckland; Senior Tutor, Department of Geography, Massey University