In order to promote excellence in doctoral student research and the publication of that work, the Apex Center for Entrepreneurs will fund two summer grants in Summer 2023 for doctoral student research in the area of entrepreneurship and innovation. Successful applicants will receive a grant of $2,500, a special award commemorating the accomplishment, and an opportunity to present her/his research at a research symposium in Fall 2023.

Part-time and full-time doctoral students affiliated with any of Virginia Tech’s nine colleges are encouraged to apply. The grants are intended to recognize and support conceptual and/or empirical work by doctoral students from any field who are engaged in the scholarly study of “novel action to generate reproducible benefits.” Such actions and benefits are intended to be broadly inclusive and can be artistic, scientific, economic, eudaimonic, philosophic, computational, social, cultural, agricultural, technological, policy-based, sustainability-focused, and so forth – as long as the research is targeted for eventual publication in a scholarly journal or practitioner-oriented outlet.

Recipients of the grants will be selected by members of the Apex Faculty-Stakeholder’s Committee and will be awarded on the basis of either a new or ongoing project proposal showing potential for research excellence and eventual publication.

All part-time and full-time Virginia Tech doctoral students with at least one semester of study remaining in the academic year following the award are eligible to apply. Interested students should submit an application package in a single pdf containing the following information:

  • A one-page research proposal describing a specific project to be worked on during the summer of 2023;
  • A one-page discussion of the student’s prior research accomplishments;
  • The student’s C.V.

The completed packages should be forwarded electronically with an email subject line of “Apex Summer Research Grant” (email to Bryanna Meredith, bjewing4@vt.edu) by April 7, 2023. Questions regarding any facet of the grants can be sent to Dr. Rick Hunt, Associate Professor of Management and Apex Director of Research (rickhunt@vt.edu).