University of Essex

Training and Support

A range of mandatory and informal research training programmes are offered to all doctoral students after they have been enrolled on to the PhD programmes of the School. In order to help students prepare their formal proposal, and to enable them to obtain insights into a variety of critical areas, a full workshop schedule is organised for all students. These workshops are conducted by the staff of the School, its associates (Enterprise Fellows and others), and guest events run by visiting academics from a variety of international institutions.

Apart from the introductory workshops, the School provides for various developmental workshops for all research students, each year and at different stages of their study, to enable them to access information on new ideas, new paradigms of research in relevant areas of study, and new methodologies.

All research students are also given the opportunity to participate in a variety of seminars, workshops, conferences and other related events, run by either the School or by external organisations. Students are also encouraged to attend research workshops and related events at the Colchester campus. Attendance at all such events are provided for by the School, and costs are met within an earmarked budget for such activities. Students are also encouraged to attend doctoral workshops organised as part of key academic, refereed conferences, to enable them to become early participants in the wider research community and to develop appropriate networks among peers in different institutions.

The Enterprise Fellowship Scheme allows students the opportunity to refer to a wide range of academic and practitioner experts at an individual level, both when the Fellows are on campus and through different forms of correspondence. Plans are also in preparation for research students to join international exchange programmes with leading institutions in China, India, Europe, and the USA.

All students are offered the opportunity to obtain further training through direct participation (under the supervision of research staff) in research projects, subject to the availability of adequate funding for such projects. Such participation generally involves separate payment for students’ time on the project, subject to the availability of funding.

Research training at the School of Entrepreneurship and Business is not deemed complete if students are not seen to be an integral part of the School and its wider academic community. To this end, every effort is made to provide extra-curricular support in the form of personal development workshops, participation in relevant meetings of the department, introduction to teaching practice, and support for the organisation of student-managed research events.

All students are provided with access to different departmental resources, the University library (books, journals and related resources), a variety of databases and research-related software (including appropriate training in them).