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Event | 17 Jun 2025

2025 Training on counterfactual impact evaluation (CIE) methods

The Competence Centre on Microeconomic Evaluation at the European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) is pleased to host the 2025 Training on counterfactual impact evaluation (CIE) methods, which will be held on 17-18 of June 2025, at the Joint Research Centre in Ispra (VA), Italy. All participants to the CIE training are welcome to attend the NetCIEx workshop in the next 2 days, June 19-20, 2025 (complete CIE summer week).

Decorative
(© Laura Spirito)

17 - 18 june 2025, JRC Ispra (va), Italy

Objective

As part of the CIE Summer week 2025, this event aims to share good practices of evaluation of public programmes and to provide training on CIE methods. The target audience are policy officers and researchers from European Commission, policy and research institutions, who are interested in counterfactual impact evaluation and their applications.

This is a gentle introduction to major CIE categories with presentation of case studies and interactive group activities.

Format

The training consists of methodological sessions, which provide a gentle introduction to the main counterfactual impact evaluation (CIE) methods, and practical group sessions.

Methodological sessions: these aim to present each method in a clear, intuitive yet rigorous way, with illustrations from real impact evaluations relevant to the European Commission. 

Specifically, each session will: present the theory; discuss the data requirements and underlying assumptions; present the tests and validation procedures; provide detailed examples of successful applications.

Group sessions: These are interactive exercises where participants are divided into small groups and presented with a real research question relevant to policy making. Armed with some background context, each group will have to develop an evaluation plan, including a data collection plan.

Venue

Ispra Map
(© EC)

The Joint Research Centre in Ispra is the third biggest European Commission site after Brussels and Luxembourg. Established in 1960 as a nuclear research site, today it is considered as one of Europe's leading research campuses with many laboratories and unique research infrastructures. 

How to reach the JRC: The closest airport is Milano Malpensa Transportation can be organized from and to Malpensa airport and “Milano Centrale” Train Station Please send an email to ec-cc-me@ec.europa.eu  including the details of your journey (e.g. flight / train number, arrival time), not later than two weeks before the event.

Registration

To register for the training, please complete the form at this link  between 17 February and 15 May 2025.
Participation is free of charge, but participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation. A list of suggested hotels with transport to/from the JRC will be provided by the organisers at a later stage.

Partecipants to the training can also decide to attend the next two days of the summer school (NetCIEx Workshop). To register to the Workshop, please visit the dedicated page

Instructors

  • ARDITO Chiara
  • BERNHOFER Juliana
  • BERTON Fabio
  • BRUTTI Zelda
  • MARTINEZ SANTOS Fernando
  • PARUOLO Paolo

Training on CIE Methods

  1. Programme Day 1: June 17
    09:00 - 20:00
    • 09:00 - 09:30     Registration and welcome coffee
    • 09:30 - 10:00     Opening: why CIE is important for policy
    • 10:00 - 10:45     Introduction to CIE
    • 10.45 - 11:45     M1: Randomised control trials
    • 11.45 - 12:15     Coffee break
    • 12.15 - 13:00     Data for CIE
    • 13.00 - 14:30     Lunch
    • 14:30 - 16:00     M2: Regression Discontinuity Designs
    • 16:00 - 16:30     Coffee break
    • 16:30 - 18:00     Interactive group session
    • 20:00                 Social Dinner
  2. Programme Day 2: June 18
    09:30 - 18:00
    • 09:30 - 11:00     M3: Difference-in-Differences
    • 11:00 - 11:30     Coffee break
    • 11:30 - 13:00     M4: Matching designs
    • 13:00 - 14:30     Lunch
    • 14:30 - 16:00     M5: Instrumental variables
    • 16:00 - 16:30     Coffee break
    • 16:30 - 17:45     Interactive group session
    • 17:45 - 18:00     Farewell
  3. End of event