Programme: Principal Teaching Fellow in Entrepreneurship
Undergraduate: BSc Biology with Business Studies, Queen Mary University of London
Postgraduate: MSc Bioinformatics, Birkbeck College University of London
Current employment: Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Strategy, Royal Holloway University of London
Why did you choose to undertake a Doctoral degree and why specifically at Imperial College Business School?
I chose to undertake a Doctoral degree to gain research training and become an expert in a specific area of entrepreneurship research. I chose Imperial College Business School as it gave me the opportunity to be in a world class research environment and gain my research training in the presence of leading academics. The Doctoral programme provided excellent research methods training and there was flexibility in the programme to develop my own research path. The programme also encourages a good balance of academic and social life.
What do you miss most from your days at the Business School?
I miss the friends that I made and the sense of community that we had developed among the Doctoral students. We were all going through a similar experience at the time and although many of us still keep in touch, it becomes much harder to get together due to everyone’s busy schedules and also being in different locations around the world.
How has the Business School helped develop your career?
Whilst completing the PhD, I became naturally embedded in academic life and had the opportunity to gain some teaching experience. I also felt there were several research areas that I would like to continue to explore after the PhD. The Business School therefore helped me to get a real feel for what academic life would be like, which naturally led to me starting my academic career with a Lectureship.
What do you enjoy most about your work and what are the main challenges that you face?
I really enjoy developing new research ideas and I find it very satisfying to see students learning and feeling inspired. Probably the main challenge I face is to avoid becoming detached from practice and to ensure I keep in touch with current issues in the wider business world. While I keep track of the news on a daily basis, it is great to have access to Business School events as another way of keeping in touch with the business world and current thinking, so I am able to relate this back to academic theory.