SUMMARY

The WEFI Fellows program currently consists of 10 Ph.D. students interested in pursuing research in entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial finance, and innovation. The group meets virtually with Mike Ewens bi-weekly for approximately 9 months out of the year (excluding Jan-Feb and a summer month). Meetings include student presentations of new ideas, practice job talks, mock interviews, and idea pitches. 

The Fellows program has been active since 2021 and has 10 former Fellows placed in academia and industry.  The emerging network is a resource for current and former Fellows.  The group coordinates meetings during major academic conferences. 

Why?

The primary goals are to help students — particularly those at schools without multiple faculty in entrepreneurship and innovation — refine their dissertation topic, learn more about the research area and build their network of fellow Ph.D. students. The small field and limited advisors are partially consequences of the research area itself: it is often interdisciplinary or pursued by researchers trained in different areas. Though many have successfully written a dissertation in this environment, the lack of seminar speakers, student colleagues working on similar topics and advisors with direct experience in the literature can leave them at a disadvantage or worse, stop them from pursuing certain topics.

Annual WEFI Fellows Conference

Each May, the graduates of the WEFI Fellows program organize an in-person conference each May at Columbia Business School.