Recap: 11TH DENEB PHD WORKSHOP ON DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS

On April 17th, ISDC hosted the 11th edition of the DENeB PhD workshop on development economics with the title “Navigating the Nexus: Climate Change, Agriculture, and Health”, funded by the Geo.X network’s ECS Community Grant

In January 2026, the DENeB network invited PhD students within the Geo.X network and beyond with an interest in development economics to submit their research work at the intersection of climate change, agriculture and health. After a successful event in the past year, sponsored by Geo.X, this year the quality and quantity of submissions increased further - more than 50 papers were submitted this year. The organizing members of DENeB carefully reviewed the submissions and selected 8 high-quality papers for presentations. Once the programme was finalized, Geo.X scientists from different disciplines and DENeB members were invited to register to the event to participate and provide critical feedback to the presenters.

There was high demand to participate at the event. We capped the number of attendees at 30 to make sure to provide an environment that allows for critical feedback in an intimate atmosphere. After some no-shows, 26 people attended the event. 

We were delighted to have Karlijn Morsink (Utrecht University) with us after she had to cancel last year due to health reason. She kicked off the event with an inspiring keynote presenting her research agenda around evaluating agricultural insurances and calling for close collaboration with implementing partners, NGOs and public players. Her vast experience collecting data in Eastern Africa, sharing insights into her approach of deep diving into her research topics and valuing extensive interactions in the field left an excellent impression with attendees. Tilman Brück (ISDC) then discussed the keynote in detail.

After that, the selected 8 PhD students from different institutions presented their paper in a scientific and friendly environment, receiving questions and constructive feedback. Sufficient time was granted to each doctoral student to present and then discuss their research. Every presenter was assigned a discussant, with a total of 20 minutes presentation and 20 minutes discussion. Topics ranged from climate shocks, environmental impacts, over reproductive health, to intimate partner violence and historical impacts of military conscription on migration. The programme is attached in Appendix 1. Participants were also invited to a catered lunch at the ISDC office.

The organizers: DENeB is a group of early-career development economists based in the area of Berlin. DENeB members organize different activities such as seminar series, an internal workshop, a monthly writing group, a newsletter with job opportunities and call for conferences. One of the main goals of DENeB is to connect researchers interested in similar topics from the different institutions in the Berlin and Potsdam area.