Finest European research students in London for Doctoral Research Conference

Europe’s finest budding research minds from the top 15 business schools from the UK and Europe will gather at Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London next week for the European Doctoral Research Coference.

Organised entirely by four Tanaka Business School PhD students from 31 March to 1 April, the Conference is designed to provide excellent networking opportunities and best practice in the writing of original theses.

Professor Harry Scarbrough from Warwick Business School will give the keynote speech in his role as Director of the ESRC’s £3.5 million “Evolution of Business Knowledge” research programme; and Professor Stefan Szymanski from Tanaka Business School will lead a session on enhancing academic presentations. In addition, 36 students will do presentations in the areas of Finance, Economics and Accounting; and Organisations, Strategy and Entrepreneurship.

Principal David Begg said Tanaka Business School’s research credentials were impeccable: “Imperial College London is one of Europe’s leading research-led universities, and its Tanaka Business School takes research very seriously. The Financial Times already ranks us 4th for research among European business schools, and we are rising rapidly.

“Imperial specialises in science, technology and medicine, and Tanaka therefore focuses on the research strengths that make sense for the rest of Imperial.  We are building a world class finance group, augmented by Imperial’s Maths Department which ranks in the top handful in the world.  We will soon be launching a Centre for Risk Management, and our Centre for Quantitative Finance has a proven record of working with top City firms to produce hi-tech solutions to practical problems.

“Tanaka Business School has a thriving research group in innovation and technology management and we recently won a Grand Challenge grant of over £3 million on innovation and productivity from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

“Another area of research strength is intellectual property, which complements Imperial’s strength in entrepreneurship and spinouts. The Financial Times ranks Tanaka as 5th in the world for entrepreneurship, ahead of US competitors such as MIT.  And, because Imperial has the largest medical school in Europe, it is no surprise that Tanaka’s Centre for Health Management conducts influential research for bodies such as the World Health Organisation and the Soros Foundation.

“Within this vibrant research climate, we are investing in our PhD programme to help develop the next generation of research excellence. Tanaka already admits around 25 PhD students a year, but our ambition is to enhance this programme substantially,” Professor Begg said.

Notes to editors:

Media are welcome to attend a prize giving ceremony for the best presentation in each stream at 6pm on Friday 1 April, Lower Ground Floor, Tanaka Business School, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, SW7 2AZ.

About Tanaka Business School www.imperial.ac.uk/tanaka

The business of science, the science of business

Consistently rated in the top three UK university institutions, Imperial College London is a world leading science-based university whose reputation for excellence in teaching and research attracts students (11,000) and staff (6,000) of the highest international quality. Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and management and delivers practical solutions that enhance the quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.

Imperial’s Tanaka Business School is a world-class provider of business education and research, focusing primarily on Imperial strengths in innovation and entrepreneurship, finance, and healthcare management. It offers full-time and executive MBAs, Masters programmes in Finance, Risk Management, Health Management and Management; and a PhD programme. The Financial Times currently ranks Tanaka Business School as 4th in Europe for research excellence, 10th in the world for its Executive MBA and 1st in Europe and 5th in the world for entrepreneurship

More information

Susie Haywood, Press and PR Manager, Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London, 020 7594 9154 or 07739 851 881