Doctoral Entrepreneurial Leadership Programme
The Doctoral Entrepreneurial Leadership programme is a free year-long programme for University of Auckland doctoral candidates from all disciplines. It is designed to develop your entrepreneurial mindset and skills.
Entrepreneurial careers occur within and beyond the world of start-ups and entrepreneurial skills are relevant in numerous contexts, including academia, social enterprises, community and government organisations, and corporate settings. This programme will equip you with the tools and frameworks to develop ideas, opportunities and solutions and realise impact and value from them in a myriad of contexts.
The programme has relevance to doctoral candidates from all disciplines, with costs covered by way of a scholarship. On completion of the programme, participation will be recognised on participants academic transcripts.
Applications close on 31 October.
Any questions, please get in touch via cie_programmes@auckland.ac.nz
Learning outcomes
By the end of this programme, we aim to support participants to:
- Understand different entrepreneurial career pathways and contexts and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking with their research pursuits
- Develop awareness and understanding of what an entrepreneurial career might look like for them including how they might apply entrepreneurial thinking in their future career decisions and possible steps to get there
- Examine their entrepreneurial mindset and how this might be further enhanced
- Understand relevant innovation and entrepreneurial frameworks
- Build their network within the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem
- Be able to better identify and act upon opportunities for creating value from research
- Engage better in research collaboration with industry and other stakeholders, both within academia and externally
Who should apply
If you are a current doctoral candidate at the University of Auckland, who has completed their provisional year, curious about expanding your entrepreneurial leadership skills, creating tangible solutions and impact both within and outside of academia, this Entrepreneurial Leadership programme is for you.
No past experience or study of entrepreneurship, start-ups or venture creation is required.
Programme structure
The Doctoral Entrepreneurial Leadership programme is designed for in-person attendance, and will involve:
- Kick-off event
- Residential retreat (2.5 days)
- Monthly workshops throughout the year (1-4 pm in the Unleash Space, 20 Symonds Street)
- Self-directed learning and reflections, and active participation
Benefits
- A network of innovative and entrepreneurial peers from all faculties
- Exposure to a network of innovative and entrepreneurial leaders in numerous contexts
- Knowledge of the organisations in the entrepreneurial ecosystem including professional service firms, impact, social and commercial investors, incubators and accelerators, government organisations, social and commercial startups, community and social organisations and corporates
Participation in the Doctoral Entrepreneurial Leadership programme is designed to support students to freely share and explore ideas. To enable this, all participants will sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Timing and commitment
Participation in the Doctoral Entrepreneurial Leadership programme involves a year-long commitment with mandatory participation in workshops and additional work and reflection required in participants’ own time.
2025 Sessions:
All sessions are hosted in the Unleash Space except for the Residential Overnight Workshop
- February 26 – Welcome Session, 4 – 5pm
- March 12 – 14 – Residential Overnight Workshop, Overnight
- April 29 – Workshop, 1 – 4pm
- May 27 – Workshop, 1 – 4pm
- June 17 – Workshop, 1 – 4pm
- July 29 – Workshop, 1 – 4pm
- August 19 – Workshop, 1 – 4pm
- September 23 – Workshop, 1 – 4pm
- October 28 – Workshop, 1 – 4pm
Please note that dates will be subject to change.
Facilitation team
Dr Deb Shepherd – Programme design and Lead Facilitator
Deb combines a variety of roles all of which have entrepreneurial SMEs and social enterprises at the centre. She is a part-time Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland’s Business School where her research and teaching focus on social entrepreneurship and innovation, the entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurial SMEs, and family businesses. She has been involved as a faculty member in the student-led entrepreneurship programme Velocity (previously Spark) since 2004.
Deb is a co-author of the book “Changing gears: How to take your kiwi business from the kitchen table to the board table” and “Gearing Up: Leading your Kiwi business into the future” (2020).
Deb is a founding faculty member of The ICEHOUSE Growth programmes and has been involved in the development, design and delivery of the Owner Manager business growth programmes for SMEs from all sectors and industries since 2001.
Deb is a part owner and on the board of her family business Biocell Corporation and sits on a number of Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards including Resero Group, Onguard, and Forrest Wines.
Deb is an investor and board member of Soul Capital (New Zealand’s first impact investment fund) and an investor in ICE Angels. In 2018 Deb was asked to be deputy chair of the government-appointed Small Business Council (SBC) which morphed into an advisory role to the Minister of Small Business as part of the Small Business Advisory group. She is an industry representative on the government-appointed Australia and New Zealand Electronic Invoicing Board (ANZEIB).
How to Apply
To apply for the programme, applicants must apply for the Doctoral Entrepreneurial Leadership Award with the Scholarships Office.
Applicants are subject to a competitive selection process. To be eligible to apply:
- You must be actively enrolled in a doctoral programme at the University of Auckland.
- Your candidature must be confirmed by the commencement of the Entrepreneurial Leadership programme. If you are not confirmed into your programme at the time of application, any offer of a place in the programme will be conditional on you having gained confirmation of candidature prior to the commencement of the programme.
- You must be within 24 months of full-time equivalent enrolment from the commencement of your doctoral candidature by the commencement of the Entrepreneurial Leadership programme.
- Full-time and part-time candidates are welcome to apply.
- Candidates must be based on-shore, and able to commit to full attendance of the programme in person.
Please note:
- Your supervisor will need to endorse your application.
- Supporting documentation will be required prior to the programme starting, e.g. a letter or email of support from your supervisor.
- Due to limited availability, participants can only apply for either the Academic Career Advancement Programme (ACAP) or the Doctoral Entrepreneurial Leadership Programme.
- Applications close on 31st October.
Reviews
“The residential retreat was definitely a highlight! We heard the professional and personal journeys of inspiring speakers, gained new insight into resilience, and the seed of an entrepreneurial mindset was planted.
Throughout the programme, I loved being introduced to creative ways of expressing my research. Like, how would I build my research journey using Lego? What does my topic morph into if I describe it using a metaphor? How can I communicate meaning through creating a physical item in the Makerspace? These activities unlocked new possibilities and really progressed my thinking.”
Tiffany Williams
PhD Candidate – Medical and Health Sciences
“Taking part in the Doctoral Entrepreneurial Leadership Programme was a truly transformative experience for me. It wasn’t just about entrepreneurship; it was about soulful career development. The programme has given me a clearer lens to view my life’s path, making me eager to embrace challenges, personal development, and a mindset rooted in the belief that there’s no limit to what I can achieve.”
Mohammad Iftekhar Rahman
PhD Candidate – Business
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