One of the most important factors affecting the total experience of your semester studying abroad are the friends that you make. While some students go on a study exchange with a friend or a few from back home, many decide to go abroad by just themselves.

If you're attending an academic conference for the first time, it can be a rather overwhelming experience! Follow these five tips to make your conference trip as smooth and productive possible.

Czech higher education dates back over six hundred years. In 1348 Emperor Charles IV founded a university in Prague, now called the Charles University, which is the oldest academic institution in Central Europe. High quality education and research, especially in Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, therefore has a long tradition in the Czech Republic.

The new academic year is about to begin, so follow these ten tips for a successful start to the year!

Attending an academic conference is a great way to hear about new research in your field, to network with other researchers, and to present your own work to an engaged audience and receive feedback. Conferences are generally open to anyone from the field who wants to attend, however, you will get much more from the experience (and be much more likely to receive funding for your trip) if you are presenting some of your own research at the conference. But how do you get accepted to present at a conference? Today we're sharing some tips on this topic.

Co-teaching has become popular in recent years, especially in university teaching training. It involves two teachers, one experienced and one in training, coming together to teach a class together. They share the instruction, the setting of tasks, the marking, and the physical classroom space. The idea is that for a profession like teaching, in which teachers are constantly learning even after they finish their teacher training, more direct instruction is helpful. Observing and interacting with a more experienced colleague allows new teaches to learn more and get guidance if they are having any classroom issues.

Applying for an academic job can be a frustrating process. If you've been rejected from an academic job and you're stewing over why, read on to find out the reasons that your job application might have been unsuccessful.

Applying for academic jobs can be a fraught process! If you haven't had much experience with the academic job market, it can be hard to learn as it is quite different from applying for places at a university to be a student. Even if you have experience with applying for professional jobs, there are different norms in academic hiring which can take some time to grasp. To help you through this process, today we're covering some of the things that can go wrong during academic hiring, so you know what to look out for and how to prepare yourself.

When you think about what skills a student needs to be successful, you probably think of academic skills like research or academic writing. If you're becoming a student for the first time, this can be intimidating – you've never learned those skills before! But there are lots of other skills you will have picked up in your life which will help you through your studies. Consider the following:

If you are thinking about moving from the field of economics into business, here are some tips on surviving the shift.

Hard skills are abilities such as technical skills, programming, or factual knowledge, which can be tested and which generally form the basis for academic assessment. These skills are surely important for you to achieve your career goals. However, there are other important skills which aren't usually taught, but are just as vital for success. They are known as soft skills, and today we're considering some of the soft skills you'll need to distinguish yourself in a career in economics.

With the arrival of reliable, high-speed internet, distance learning for university students has become much more feasible. Students can now sign up for single classes or whole courses to be taught online, which may include streaming lectures, live Q&A chats with tutors, and submitting coursework electronically. But how does an online course compare with a traditional course at a brick and mortar university? Today we're looking at both the pros and cons of learning online.

When you're starting out as undergraduate student, there is so much to think about and to remember that it can be hard to know how to manage your course load. With that in mind, these tips can help you balance your courses so that your undergraduate experience can be as rewarding and positive as possible.

If you're a student and you'd like the chance to refine your language skills, to travel to a new place, and to enhance your CV, then you should consider attending a summer school. The opportunity to study and acquire specialist skills over the summer is useful for everyone, but especially for students of languages! For those who are studying Spanish, here we've compiled a list of the best summer schools for 2016. You'll have lots of opportunities to practise your speaking skills, as well as to brush up on your grammar and cultural knowledge.

Make the most of your summer break, and sign up for a summer school! You can learn new skills, visit a new place, and meet fellow students with similar interests to you. For those of you who are studying a language like English, summer schools can be especially helpful as they give you lots of opportunities to practise speaking with other learners and experts. If you're considering attending a summer school this year, now is the time to start looking for schools, and we're here to help with this list of the top 10 summer schools for English in 2016. Remember to apply early, as these schools will fill up fast! 

Writing up your master's thesis is a big job, and you need to take some time to think about administrative issues as well as the content of your thesis. We've talked before about the final steps you need to take to make sure that your PhD thesis is ready to submit. Today, it's the turn of the master's students. If you're finishing up your master's, take a look at this checklist and make sure you're ready with everything you need to submit your thesis.

As businesses and individuals become more aware of climate change and environmental issues, a stronger focus is being put on the ways in which we use resources – especially energy. A whole industry has grown which supports the production and management of energy resources, as well as advising companies on how they can become more energy-efficient. With the growth of this industry, new career paths have opened up from many fields which are related to energy research or consumption. 

To keep up to date with the latest news in economics and business, there's more that you can do than just reading! Events such as lectures, workshops, and debates are excellent ways to keep up with developments in your field. Plus, they give you the chance to meet and network with other people in your field and to hear new perspectives on your work. If you're interested in attending events in economics or finance, then today's article is a list of some of the greatest events coming up soon from around the world.

Do you want to study at a university at the undergraduate or postgraduate level, or join a professional organisation in an English-speaking country? Then IELTS Academic is designed for you.

If you're thinking about doing a master's degree in economics, or you're already studying for one, then you're sure to be interested in the job prospects for economics students. What kind of job can you get with a master's in economics, and in what kind of organisations do graduates end up working? We covered this issue last year, but now we've got new data on the employment of economics students for this year, so we're sharing an updated perspective. Read on to find out more about the kinds of careers which are open to those who have studied a master's in economics.

Peer review is one of the cornerstones of academic progress, and it's vital that papers are reviewed by a knowledgeable party before they are published, in order to maintain quality. You see lots of advice for authors of papers, but rather less for peer reviewers. If you've been asked to review a paper, here are some tips on how to do a great job and to provide a review which is helpful to the editors and authors.

Guilherme Morlin is a Brazilian currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Economics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Guilherme is also our lucky winner of $100 Amazon Gift Card in the recent INOMICS Review Prize Draw. Students and researchers from all over the world took part in the contest by submitting reviews of the universities and institutions where they study or work.

Carolina Pan is an Argentine student, currently in the last year of her PhD program in International Economics at Brandeis University, USA. We chose her as the winner of our Conference Grant Contest 2015 and awarded her with a €500 grant. The prize helped her to attend the 3rd Geography of Innovation Conference organized by the University of Toulouse and Sciences-Po Toulouse in France. Participants from over 50 countries took part in the contest by submitting short explanations about their personal reasons for going to their chosen event. You can see her winning answer here.

There are lots of technological tools available to help support professors in their teaching, research, and administration. But these tools aren't just for your home computer – there are lots of apps for mobile devices which can be useful in university life too. We've covered top apps for students before, and today we're listing some of the best mobile apps for professors.