Gábor Nyéki

General advice

• Interview with Esther Duflo:
  • “The best papers to write are those that you would have liked to read but do not exist.”
• Doing Research by Paul Niehaus.

Writing

• Write a Rapid Prototype First by Terence Tao:
  1. Write a quick skeleton of the paper. Approximately state the key lemmas, propositions, theorems, and definitions. Omit the proofs.
  2. Write down enough of the proofs that you can make the statements of the lemmas, etc., precise.
  3. Write the key portions of the argument. Make sure that the propositions flow from the lemmas, etc.
  4. Fill in the remaining gaps in the paper.
• Four Steps to an Applied Micro Paper by Jesse Shapiro:
  1. Aspirational introduction.
  2. Research.
  3. Robot.
  4. Contractual introduction.
• How to Write Papers so People Can Read Them by Derek Dreyer (see slides):
  • “Old to new”: start each sentence with information introduced before.
  • “One paragraph, one point”: each paragraph should have one main point, expressed in one point sentence near the beginning. The “theorem–proof” model of paragraphs.
  • “Name your baby”: give unique names, use them consistently.
  • “CGI” model for abstract/intro: context, gap, innovation.
• Writing Tips for PhD Students by John Cochrane:
  • “First describe what you do, then explain it, compare it to alternatives, and compare it to others’ procedures”.
  • “Every word must count. […] Does each sentence say something, and does it mean what it says?”
• How to Write a Great Research Paper by Simon Peyton Jones.
• The Young Person’s Guide to Writing Economic Theory by William Thomson.
• Mathematical Writing by Donald Knuth, Tracy Larrabee, and Paul Roberts.
• Ten Simple Rules for Mathematical Writing by Dimitri Bertsekas:
  1. Organize in segments.
  2. Write segments linearly.
  3. Consider a hierarchical development.
  4. Use consistent notation.
  5. State results consistently.
  6. Don’t overexplain—don’t underexplain.
  7. Tell them what you’ll tell them.
  8. Use suggestive references.
  9. Consider examples and counterexamples.
  10. Use visualization when possible.

Giving talks

• How to Design Talks by Ranjit Jhala (see slides):
  1. Story: the path to your goal. Identify your goal, pick good landmarks on the path. Definition before use. Minimize bandwidth.
  2. Scenes: short paths between landmarks. Work backwards, starting with the scene’s last slide. Show, don’t tell.
  3. Frames: what is on each slide. Be minimal, make the focus obvious. Or be incremental. Or highlight the focus.
• 10 Tips for Academic Talks by Matt Might:
  1. The audience determines the talk.
  2. Practice almost makes perfect.
  3. Nervous energy is exploitable.
  4. Every talk should motivate a problem.
  5. An academic talk is about an idea, not a paper.
  6. Slides must not overwhelm the viewer.
  7. Images and diagrams are better than text.
     • See also: Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham’s Favorite Figures.
  8. Math’s benefit must outweigh the loss of attention.
  9. Style matters.
  10. Questions are not random.
• How to Speak by Patrick Winston.
• Tips + Tricks with Beamer for Economists by Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham.
• How to Give an Applied Micro Talk by Jesse Shapiro.

Physical and mental health

• Yoga for Hips, Hamstrings, and Lower Back with David Procyshyn.
  • Because sitting all day is actually, genuinely bad for you.
• Loving-Kindness Meditation with Emma Seppälä.
• Body Scan Exercise with Jon Kabat-Zinn.

Miscellaneous

• Stanford’s First-Year Economics Core by Luke Stein.
• Code and Data for the Social Sciences: A Practitioner’s Guide by Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse Shapiro.
• Journal Turnaround Times by Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato.
• Causal Inference Animated Plots by Nick Huntington-Klein.
• Econometrics Animations by Robert Östling.
• EconGraphs by Chris Makler.