Venue: Technology & Innovation Centre, Glasgow
Date: 4 November 2025 (9.30-5.00)
Introduction
The Doctoral day will provide participants with an opportunity to listen to best practice from world leading Entrepreneurship academic scholars plus network with Doctoral peers. The doctoral day will also give attendees the opportunity to “test” their doctoral concepts with a different audience. The doctoral day will offer a poster session competition whereby doctoral candidates can submit a summary of their doctorate to date and obtain feedback from experienced Entrepreneurship academics. This Doctoral day is suitable for anyone at any stage in the Doctoral journey. The schedule for the day will be published in due course.
Doctoral Poster Competition
Attendees are invited to submit a Doctoral poster as part of the Doctoral day. Attendees can discuss their doctorate through their poster with academics and fellow students. The poster will be ideally presented on an A3 sized document and should provide an overview of the aims and objectives of the study, the key literature, the methodology and the likely contribution to knowledge. A certificate and prize will be awarded for the best poster in terms of imaginative design and critical content. Please bring a paper copy of your poster to the event if you wish to participate as we will display it during the event. However, participants can attend the day without submitting a poster.
If you have any queries, please contact: Professor Paul Jones on
Cost to attend: £55
To register to attend please click here.
Doctoral Day Agenda
| Time | Session Lead | Session Title | Session Purpose |
| 9.30-9.45 (15) | Prof. Paul Jones (Swansea University)
|
Introductions andWelcome. | Introduction and overview to the day from Professor Paul Jones. |
| 9.45-10.30 (45) | Prof. Paul Jones (Swansea University) | Achieving a Contribution in your Doctorate. | The session explores the importance of achieving a contribution in your Doctorate and the forms that can take. |
| 10.30-11.15 (45) | Prof. Niall MacKenzie (University of Strathclyde) | Achieving impact in your doctorate. | Impact is one of the priorities placed on all academics to maximise the reach and value of their research. How do you get your work into the right spaces? Who do you engage with? What does impact look like? This session explores these questions and the different routes to impact. The session is intended for doctoral students at all stages to help them understand what impact is and is not, and how we can shape our engagements with non-academic audiences to develop maximum value of society |
| 11.15-11.30 (15) | COFFEE BREAK | ||
| 11.30-12.15 (45) | Professor Paul Jones (Swansea University) | Surviving the Doctoral viva | This session considers the Doctoral viva examination. The session will consider best practices to both prepare for the viva and to excel during the viva. |
| 12.15-1.00 (45) | Prof Emma Macdonald (University of Strathclyde) | Conducting Research on Management Practices | The session will reflect on approaches to conducting empirical research that seeks to understand the day-to-day activities of business and management. |
| 1.00-2.00 (40) | LUNCH, Networking and poster session | LUNCH plus students get to discuss their posters with fellow students and academics. | |
| 2.00-2.45 (45) | Dr Amon Simba (Nottingham Trent University)
|
Deconstructing the art of crafting qualitative research | This session will consider best practice in the art of crafting qualitative research for a doctoral thesis. |
| 2.45-3.30 (45) | Prof Susan Marlow (University of Nottingham) | Publishing my Doctorate: becoming an Entrepreneurship researcher. | The session will give valuable insights into publishing your Doctorate and becoming an effective entrepreneurship researcher. |
| 3.30-3.45 (15) | COFFEE BREAK | ||
| 3.45-4.45 (60) | Prof Dilani Jayawarna (University of Liverpool)
Prof Paul Jones (Swansea University) Prof Susan Marlow (University of Nottingham) Dr Deema Refai (University of Leeds) Dr Amon Simba (Nottingham Trent University)
|
Meet the Journal Editors Panel
Representatives of: Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice Prof Susan Marlow Entrepreneurship & Regional Development Prof Dilani Jayawarna International Small Business Journal Prof Susan Marlow International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research Prof Paul Jones International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Dr Deema Refai Journal of Small Business Management Dr Amon Simba |
The session will allow you to question current Journal editors regarding best practice in academic publishing within the entrepreneurship discipline. |
| 4.45-5.00 | Dr Lorna Treanor (University of Nottingham & ISBE President)
Professor Eleanor Shaw (University of Strathclyde) |
Conclusion and Prize giving | This session will conclude the day and award best poster presentations. |
Speaker Biographies
Professor Dilani Jayawarna is a Professor of Entrepreneurship at the university of Liverpool Management School, University of Liverpool, UK. She is an Associate Editor for the Entrepreneurship and Regional Development (ERD) journal and a Consulting Editor for the International Small Business Journal (ISBJ). At the University of Liverpool Management School, she is the Director of Research for the Strategy, International Business and Entrepreneurship Group. Prior to taking on this role, she worked as the Director of the PGR programmes for six years. Her research interests are largely in the areas of entrepreneurship and small business management, specifically focussing on entrepreneurial household and life course, aiming to develop theory about entrepreneurial opportunity structures and their relationship to broader social structures.
Paul Jones is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Swansea University. Professor Jones has undertaken research in entrepreneurial behaviour and small business management, information technology adoption and entrepreneurship education during his academic career to date. Prof. Jones is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research, and Associate Editor of the International Journal of Management Education. He is also Series Editor of the Emerald Book Series Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship Research. He has to date, supervised 21 doctoral students to completion and examined 75 doctoral thesis both in the UK and internationally.
Emma Macdonald is Charles Huang Chair in International Business & Innovation and Director of the Stephen Young Institute for International Business at Strathclyde Business School. She is Vice Chair – Sustainability for the British Academy of Management (BAM). Her research interests include international and sustainable business, innovation and marketing. She has published in numerous leading journals including Journal of Marketing, Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, Technology Forecasting & Social Change, Journal of Cleaner Production, and Harvard Business Review. Her prize-winning research includes journal ‘best paper’ prizes in Journal of Product Innovation Management (2023, 2018) and ‘best paper finalist’ in Journal of Academy of Marketing Science (2024). She consults to organizations in private and public sector organisations on topics of innovation and markets. Prior to becoming an academic, Emma worked in marketing research and telecommunications marketing.
Professor Niall G MacKenzie is the Head of the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Innovation at Strathclyde Business School and Editor in Chief of Business History. He has published work in Entrepreneurship, Theory and Practice, Business History Review, Journal of Management Studies, Human Relations, Regional Studies, amongst others. His research focuses on business history, entrepreneurship, and strategy, often with a policy dimension. To date he has raised over £1.2m as principal investigator and over £10m as co-investigator on research projects. He serves as a non-executive director for Moray Wellbeing Hub, a social enterprise, and Angel Capital Scotland, the national association for angel investors in Scotland.
Professor Susan Marlow is a nationally and internationally recognised scholar within the field of entrepreneurship having a particular expertise in the influence of gender and diversity upon entrepreneurial behaviour. Her research has been published in FT Top 50 US journals and other top-rated US and UK journals across a range of theoretical disciplines. On the basis of her reputation and expertise, she was awarded a Queen’s Enterprise Award, has been invited as a visiting academic to universities across the globe, delivered numerous keynote addresses at national and international events, contributed to television and media outlets, led a successful debating team at an Oxford Union and has a track record of extensive external and internal research funding. Professor Marlow’s research is actively integrated into her teaching where student and peer feedback are consistently excellent. Further to research and teaching activities, she contributes to her community of practice as a member of the Chartered Association of Business Schools editorial journal ranking group, is a Fellow of the UK Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship and member of the European Council for Small Business. Professor Marlow is also the UK Editor for Entrepreneurship, Theory and Practice, the top ranked journal in our field and FT top 50 indexed plus, Editor of the International Small Business Journal and acts as co-editor for two Routledge entrepreneurship book series and in 2021, was awarded the best paper prize for 2020 by the prestigious Human Relations Journal.
Deema Refai is an Associate Professor in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at the University of Leeds. She is Joint Editor in Chief of The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation http://iei.sagepub.com/, and a member of Editorial Boards of leading international entrepreneurship journals. Deema’s research focus is developed around constrained contexts, with main research focus on refugee and rural entrepreneurship. She has led/ co-led a number of research projects funded by the British Academy, AHRC and others. Building on her work – mainly in the UK and Jordan – Deema has developed strong international collaborations, and has been involved in various activities, panels and discussions around issues relevant to refugees. Her work has been published in international peer-reviewed journals and presented in a number of national and international conferences.
Amon Simba is an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Nottingham Business School (NBS) in the UK, and his expertise lies in entrepreneurship and innovation with a focus on Africa. Amon is the Director of the AfrIE Research Hub at NBS. He supervises PhD students whose studies focus on entrepreneurship & innovation. In addition, he is a Professor (Visiting) of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at HEC Montréal, Canada and Visiting Research Fellow at Wits Business School. He is also an Honorary Research Associate, Durban University of Technology Business School, SA. Amon is also a Professor Adjunct at the Central University of Technology, Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. Amon is a Co–Editor for the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research. He is also an Associate Editor for the Journal of Small Business Management, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business and the Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship. His work is published in leading journal outlets, including Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Small Business Economics, Technological Forecasting & Social Change, Information Technology & People, Journal of International Management, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Small Business Management, International Marketing Review, and International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour Research.
Dr Lorna Treanor, FRSA, is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Nottingham and President of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Lorna’s research focuses upon the influence of gender upon women’s entrepreneurial ambitions, experiences and learning, particularly in atypical contexts. Lorna has published across a range of journals including Human Relations, the International Small Business Journal, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Technological Forecasting & Social Change, and Gender, Work & Organization among others. She sits on the Editorial board of the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research and is the incoming Editor of the International Small Business Journal, having been a Consulting Editor with the journal since 2016.