For many years, the IAAEU has organised workshops on staff members' current research, and has invited researchers from all over Europe to present analyses related to these topic. The workshops provided a forum for intense discussions and the exchange of ideas. With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the IAAEU established the TriECON workshop series to facilitate discussions in a virtual world. Each workshop consisted of 6 to 8 online presentations on a particular issue.
On May 20, 2022, the TriECON workshop took place not via ZOOM, but this time we were able to meet on-site again on the seventh floor of the main building on Campus II of Trier University, where the IAAEU is located. The IAAEU's director, Laszlo Goerke, and the current guest researcher, Anthony Lepinteur, had compiled a program of six papers on Health and the Labour Market. The presentations, inter alia, covered issues such as the impact of heat and depression on labour market outcomes, the trade-off between health and wealth accumulation, and the potential role of machine learning for predicting well-being outcomes.
The workshop demonstrated that online meetings can complement 'real events', but cannot fully replace them. Each presentation prompted many questions and comments and was followed by a lively discussion. A quick request to speak up solved all communication problems, while no headset to be replaced or video conferencing program to be started again. Academic exchange at its best is back. A fine dinner and a short tour of Trier would not have been feasible in a virtual world either. Needless to say that even the return to an on-site workshop did not allow the participants to ignore the pandemic; they still had to wear face masks.
We look forward to the next 'real life' event in the TriECON workshop series in the fall of 2022.
On May 20, 2022, the TriECON workshop took place not via ZOOM, but this time we were able to meet on-site again on the seventh floor of the main building on Campus II of Trier University, where the IAAEU is located. The IAAEU's director, Laszlo Goerke, and the current guest researcher, Anthony Lepinteur, had compiled a program of six papers on Health and the Labour Market. The presentations, inter alia, covered issues such as the impact of heat and depression on labour market outcomes, the trade-off between health and wealth accumulation, and the potential role of machine learning for predicting well-being outcomes.
The workshop demonstrated that online meetings can complement 'real events', but cannot fully replace them. Each presentation prompted many questions and comments and was followed by a lively discussion. A quick request to speak up solved all communication problems, while no headset to be replaced or video conferencing program to be started again. Academic exchange at its best is back. A fine dinner and a short tour of Trier would not have been feasible in a virtual world either. Needless to say that even the return to an on-site workshop did not allow the participants to ignore the pandemic; they still had to wear face masks.
We look forward to the next 'real life' event in the TriECON workshop series in the fall of 2022.
