Helena Skyt Nielsen is a Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics and Business Economics and a research fellow at TrygFonden's Centre for Child Research, CESifo and IZA. She holds a PhD in Economics and Management from Aarhus University (1999). She is currently the Deputy Head of Department - Research.

Helena's research interests concern empirical labour economics, in particular family and education economics. Her research makes use of randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental methods. She is currently in charge of a research programme on development of math skills at TrygFonden's Centre for Child Research.

Helena has taught Public Policy and Public Finance, Economics of Education, as well as a range of other courses. She supervises graduate students specializing in education, family, and labour economics, with a focus on applying register data and advanced microeconometric methods.

Helena has collaborated with public authorities on policy innovation based on RCTs and quasi experiments. She has conducted impact assessment of e.g. ”Forsøg med to-lærerordning”, “National forsøgsordning for skolemad”, “Co-læring med NEST elementer i almenundervisningen”, READ, NEST, busing and school displacement programs in the City of Aarhus. Her research has qualified the debate on e.g. the minimum age of criminal responsibility, financial aid, national testing, math exams and coursework.