January 2009
Academic "Buffet"
WEP's Visiting Scholars Program Helps Prepare Future International Academic Leaders
When German PhD student Martin Ihrig first heard about Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs' Visiting Scholars Program at an international PhD seminar, he didn't think he'd have the opportunity to come here himself. However, when he received a scholarship from Germany's Federal Ministry of Education Research to spend a semester abroad studying entrepreneurship, Wharton is exactly where he wanted to go.
"Wharton's Visiting Scholars Program is the only institutionalized program that gives international researchers, PhD students, post-docs, or professors the opportunity to engage in collaborative research with access to all that Wharton has to offer," says Ihrig. "Many professors at other schools will have international PhD students come for a semester, but to have all of the scholars in an organized program with research seminars and all of the Wharton School's resources available in such a structured way is very unique."
Wharton's Visiting Scholars program, which helps prepare the next generation of academic leaders in the world, is renowned for this type of collaborative research. Unlike some programs, participants aren't just given a desk in a library to further their own research. Instead, Visiting Scholars -- who number 6 to 10 a year -- are offered an opportunity to conduct collaborative research with Wharton faculty, other Visiting Scholars and research fellows.
Director of the Sol C. Snider Center Entrepreneurial Research Center, Wharton Professor Ian MacMillan, who founded the Visiting Scholars program in 1990, says, "I wanted to create an international network of entrepreneurial scholars who would be able to benefit from exposure to what we are doing at Wharton, but also be open to the research styles of other countries and cultures. I would like people to understand that the way research is done in places like Japan, China or India is as valid as the way we do research here."
He adds that many other countries are beginning to change the models of their PhD programs. "So if you come from an institution that would like to adopt the U.S. model, the best thing to do is to come here and get immersed in a U.S. program."
The resources available to Wharton's Visiting Scholars are beyond compare, including access to Wharton's Lippincott Library, one of the best business research libraries in the world, as well as office space and biweekly research seminars with MacMillan. Scholars discuss their research progress and plans at those seminars, receiving feedback from MacMillan and each other.
"Those seminars with Prof. MacMillan were very good experiences not only to learn new things, but because if you can get his attention for even half an hour, he will blow you away. He is incredibly smart," says Claus Rerup, who came to Wharton as a Visiting Scholar shortly after finishing his PhD in Denmark and is now an assistant professor at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
Participants also can attend an array of seminars and speaker series throughout all of Wharton's academic departments. "It's a kind of buffet of all the big names in the field," says Rerup.
He adds that another valuable resource available to Visiting Scholars at Wharton is the faculty. "If you knock on the door and set up an appointment, the faculty will take the time to help you. I was never turned down by anyone from whom I asked help and that has been a formative experience because you have to give back in your own right."
Visiting Scholars also can audit MBA and PhD courses, which is particularly helpful given that after their time at Wharton the vast majority of scholars pursue academic careers.
Rerup explains, "Many scholars from Europe come from PhD programs that aren't as structured as the U.S. model so coming here and taking courses is an amazing opportunity to learn and grow and see how things are done here."
Former visiting scholar Florian Bertram, who recently left Wharton to complete his PhD in Switzerland, agrees. "In Europe, you work with your advisor, but often don't have classes in the first years like you do in the U.S. The nice thing at Wharton is that there are a lot of very reputable professors here and you can see how they teach."
Ihrig adds, "When it comes to management research, all the acclaimed international journals are written in English and dominated by American business schools. To learn the international trade of teaching and doing research – not just in a continental European way – is very good for international PhD students. We see how things are done here and can leverage that immensely in the future."
And likewise, it is enriching for faculty and students at Wharton to have people from all over the world collaborating on research because it exposes them to international research methods, says Ihrig.
Rerup notes that the structure of the program also leads to current and future collaborations among the Visiting Scholars themselves. "One of my most important collaborators shared an office with me and now we are working on papers together. When you're at Wharton, you realize you share deep interests with other Visiting Scholars and that forms a bond that might last a lifetime."
Another opportunity to connect with other past Visiting Scholars – who now number around 100 -- is through an alumni lunch held every year at the Academy of Management Conferences. "It's not only while you are here at Wharton that you are in this group, but afterward you are part of this network of very smart people who are eager to explore new ideas outside of their national markets," says Ihrig.
Rerup adds, "It's extraordinary what this program does and the opportunities it creates. The amount of connections gained and knowledge learned here changed my life as a scholar."
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Posted January 2009