3rd annual Junior Scholars Forum, this year at the Hertie School, proves a powerful tool for testing emerging research.
Several scholars presented social innovation research from the SEFORÏS project, a joint project of several European institutions, including the Hertie School. PhD candidate Alexandra Ioan presented her research on patterns of interaction between social enterprises, resource providers and established social welfare organisations in Germany. Post-doctoral researcher Miriam Wolf was the discussant of a paper unpacking the role of transparency in philanthropic organisations.
Hertie School professor Johanna Mair convened the forum jointly with Walter W. Powell, Rob Reich and Paul Brest and members of the SEFORÏS academic board. She describes the Junior Scholars Forum as a powerful tool for disseminating, testing and refining emerging insights from social enterprise research in seven European countries, China and Russia. The issues of governance, financing, impact, innovation and institutional context that are core to the SEFORÏS research were a major focus of the discussions.
The Stanford PACS Junior Scholars Forum brings together young researchers working on civil society, philanthropy and social entrepreneurship with the aim of creating an intellectual community around these issues. The intense exchange between junior and senior scholars during the forum contributes to the development of high-quality research in this domain. By building an interdisciplinary research community, Stanford PACS supports the next generation of dedicated scholars in this field.
This year's forum hosted 11 junior scholars, representing 10 nationalities working in 8 different countries. They work on topics such as transparency, the sharing economy, collaborations between civil society organizations and private companies, social impact measurement and social entrepreneurship.