Fancy doing a PhD with Professor Nick Clifton and me at Cardiff Metropolitan University? We have a fully-funded studentship (for UK/EU students) starting in October 2017, in partnership with Simply Do Ideas, funded under the ESF KESS2 scheme:
“New Models for Enhancing Entrepreneurial and Intrapreneurial Skills via the Digital Economy”
In comparison to the rest of Wales — and the UK — the economy of South West Wales and the Valleys has a weaker entrepreneurial culture, and by extension a less robust private sector, particularly with regard to those sectors having the highest potential for growth and retaining competitiveness. There are however some relative strengths in the region in certain Welsh Government Priority Sectors, for example in ICT & Digital Economy, and in Advanced Engineering & Materials. Ultimately, the project aims to assist in translating these relative strengths into improved economic outcomes more broadly.Working with Simply Do Ideas, the project seeks to assist in raising the entrepreneurial potential of South West Wales and the Valleys whilst also tackling the barriers to innovation and creativity in larger firms. Simply Do Ideas operate in the areas of Enterprise Education, Start-up Support, and Innovation and Development (`Intrapreneurship’), with existing clients from across education, industry, charities and government.
The project will involve the successful applicant working closely with academic supervisors at Cardiff Met and the senior team at Simply Do Ideas to develop a mutually beneficial improved understanding of entrepreneurial support models in the digital economy. This will ultimately allow Simply Do Ideas to improve their offer to prospective users – thus strengthening their own business while assisting both nascent entrepreneurs in South Wales and larger organisations seeking to become more innovative. In the long term, the goal will be to ‘export’ this model to other parts of the UK and internationally.
We seek an enthusiastic individual with the ability to work across academic and commercial environments to help deliver real solutions. An undergraduate honours degree is required with a minimum classification of 2:i and a Master’s Degree is desirable although not essential. Applicants should have a background in entrepreneurship and/or innovation studies, ideally with a particular interest in digital technologies and digital aspects of learning. To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants should have UK or EU Citizenship, and be resident in the convergence area of Wales on appointment (or are graduates from HEIs in the convergence area or working in the convergence area immediately prior to starting the project), and should have the right to work in the region on qualification.
The KESS2 scholarship offers:
- Fully-funded university fees;
- A monthly stipend in line with RCUK rates: three years of funding at £14,198 per year for PhD;
- An additional budget to support your research of £3,000 for travel, conference attendance, minor equipment, consumables and training;
- An opportunity to access a suite of higher level skills training & attendance at a residential KESS Grad School;
- A minimum of 30 days a year working with the company partner on their allocated project.
N.B. students must complete and submit their thesis within 3.5 years for PhD and all participants must complete the KESS Postgraduate Skills Development Award.
For an informal discussion, please contact Professor Nick Clifton (nclifton@cardiffmet.ac.uk, quoting project ID MEK210) and check out the full KESS2 scholarship vacancy.
Deadline for applications: Monday 31 July 2017.
Digital, Data & Policy 