Summer PhD Workshop on Entrepreneurial Finance
Dates: Monday, June 2nd to Friday, June 6th. Applications are due January 15th, 2025.
Location: Paris Dauphine University
Co-organizers: Michael Ewens (Columbia Business School and NBER) and Gilles Chemla (Imperial College, CNRS, and CEPR).
Description
This week-long workshop roughly follows the structure of the Entrepreneurial Finance Ph.D. course described on this site with several modifications. The inaugural workshop was held in August 2024 at Imperial College (past program here). We will cover the major topics from the 6-week in-person course and highlight key institutional details required for successful entrepreneurial finance research. Several sessions will focus on the “how” of research, key databases used in the field, opportunities to present new ideas, and live examples of some data analysis in recent work. Students will have ample opportunities to interact with their peers and the participating faculty. Importantly, this workshop is not a substitute for the invaluable NBER Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, which provides a rigorous education in the broad entrepreneurship area in a fantastic environment (the NBER Summer Institute). This workshop provides in-depth coverage of entrepreneurial finance topics in some bootcamp sessions.
Lectures will be lead by Michael Ewens (Columbia), Gilles Chemla (Imperial College, CNRS, and CEPR), and Jessica Jeffers (HEC).
Goals and teaching objectives
Few universities have courses dedicated to entrepreneurial finance, while the opportunities for research and job opportunities are growing. Motivated by this, the workshop aims to provide an overview of modern research in entrepreneurial finance and provide the foundation for success in producing research: mastering institutional details. These include definitions, industry norms, regulations (history of changes), laws, databases, disclosure rules, and more. There is a hidden “literature” of these institutional details in all major empirical work. This course presents a literature review for these details while teaching entrepreneurial finance.
Target students
Students past their second year of the Ph.D. program in economics, finance, strategy, management, or related fields are welcome to apply. Applicants from outside top schools with faculty active in the entrepreneurial finance area and those outside the U.S. will be given preference.
Schedule
Each day includes approximately 6 hours of class sessions (lectures, student presentations, etc), lunch (sometimes group, otherwise independent), and two group dinners (Tuesday and Friday).
Mike Ewens will lead most of the sessions, with Gilles Chemla and faculty local to Paris leading the remaining sessions.
Program / Schedule
TBA. See the 2024 program for a preview of the format and content.
Student expectations and deliverables
Students are expected to attend all sessions and are encouraged to participate. Each student will submit a short research proposal by the end of the week that the faculty team will provide comments on after the course.
Dates
June 2nd (starts at 9 am) to June 6th (12:00 pm)
Location
Paris Dauphine University
Admission and costs
Who should apply: Students are expected to be in their PhD’s third, fourth, or fifth year, having completed the basic core economics and/or finance classes.
When to apply: Applications close on January 15th, 2025 at 12 pm EDT.
How to apply: Interested students should complete this application form, which requires basic biographical information, a short cover letter, a resume, and two short reference emails (the survey has the information).
Cost: $800, which covers administrative costs and group meals. Students must secure their accommodation (options will be available to admitted students).
When do we decide?: Admission decisions will be made by February 1, 2025. Registration fees are due by April 15th ($400 is non-refundable due to program fixed costs).
Questions and contact
- Is this affiliated with Columbia University, Imperial College, or Paris Dauphine University?
- No, the course has no connection to either university and is an independently run workshop by the participating faculty.
- Will there be credit or a certificate for completing the course?
- No, but the students who complete the course will be listed on the course website (see here for last year’s list).
- Where is the application form?
- Will there be a remote or Zoom option?
- No
- How are visas handled?
- We have a form letter to facilitate any visa issues.
- What if I cannot make it this year?
- If this year is successful, we plan to organize this workshop every summer in Europe with a different academic institution each year (likely in June in the longer run).
If you have any questions about the summer school, please contact Prof. Mike Ewens.