Strategy Research Initiative
3rd Annual PhD Boot Camp 2016
Call for Applicants
The Strategy Research Initiative is delighted to announce its 3rd PhD Boot Camp. This intensive workshop will provide an introduction to a range of topics at the theoretical and empirical frontiers of strategy research. It is particularly well suited to students who have completed at least one year of PhD coursework in a strategy PhD program, as well as to advanced students in related disciplines whose research interests lie in the strategy domain. Applications are now being accepted for participation in the workshop. Space is limited and applicants will be selected on a competitive basis.
When: Monday, June 6, 8:15am, to Tuesday, June 7, 12:00pm (noon)
There will also be an optional 'meet and greet' on Sunday evening (June 5), and a lunch with members of the Strategy Research Initiative immediately following the boot camp.
Where: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20004
Program: The program will be taught by experienced scholars currently working at the empirical frontiers of strategy research. There will be six method topics covered: experiments, evaluating research designs, data generation processes, instrumental variables, random parameter models and effective result reporting. The tentative faculty line-up includes Kevin Boudreau (Harvard), Wilbur Chung (Maryland), Brent Goldfarb (Maryland), Arturs Kalnins (Cornell), Andy King (Dartmouth), and Tim Simcoe (Boston). Each session will assume a basic familiarity with the method as obtained in a PhD-level course but focus on frontier applications and considerations for the application of these methods in the field of strategy.
Costs: Participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation expenses. Food and coffee during the program, and the use of the facilities, are generously provided without charge to participants by SRI.
Who we are: The Strategy Research Initiative (SRI) is a cross-disciplinary group organized to coordinate activities that promote high-quality strategy research. SRI has developed a shared view of the hallmarks of high quality research that includes theory that is unambiguous, rigorously derived, consistent with the core drivers of the phenomenon under investigation and measurable; high quality empirical strategy research lays out stylized facts or tests extant theory using empirical designs and methods that are transparent, that engage directly with the endogenous selection processes that lay at the heart of strategy problems, and that generate valid inferences. Based on the belief that modern theory development and advanced empirical methods require full-length papers to elaborate, the SRI also advocates for a deeper specialization of papers along the theoretical-empirical divide
Applications: Registration is restricted to current PhD students (no Assistant Professors). Applicants will be selected on a competitive basis and only accepted and fully-registered applicants may participate – no auditors.
Admissions decisions are being made now on a rolling basis. The final application deadline is Monday, May 9, 2016
Each applicant should submit a package containing the following items:
· A cover letter that includes complete contact information, as well as the name of the recommendation letter writer.
· A CV that includes a list of current and completed PhD courses.
· A brief statement (no more than two pages) explaining why the applicant wishes to attend the boot camp. This should include a brief description of the applicant's current and/or future research direction.
· One letter of recommendation from the applicant's PhD advisor. Letters of recommendation should be short (one page), they will be treated confidentially, and they may be sent separately from the application itself if so desired.
The application package should be assembled into a single PDF file and sent as an email attachment to jalcacer@hbs.edu. Please indicate "SRI BootCamp Application" in the email subject line. Letters of recommendation should also be sent to the same address, either as part of the application package or in a separate email, with the same subject heading.
Admission decisions will be made on a rolling basis and email notifications will be sent to all applicants. Accepted participants will be expected to prepare for the lectures by reading a packet of materials that will be sent out two weeks prior to the start of the boot camp.
Any questions concerning the SRI Boot Camp or the application process may be directed to Juan Alcacer at the email address noted above.