Research
The Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship's goal is to create new value across business, government and society. Through our research, we provide the necessary evidence to support action that drives inclusive, sustainable and high-value growth.
The Centre represents over two decades of sustained investment, which has resulted in the establishment of one of Europe's leading entrepreneurship research centres. It is home to 35 staff working across its three core research themes: Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Strategy.
We recognise the importance of cross-disciplinary research to tackle today’s complex challenges, so provide leadership and participation in the University’s Strategic Research Themes in-line with our Strategic Plan and Vision 2025.
Research themes
- Our Entrepreneurship theme covers a wide range of issues including entrepreneurial ecosystems; enterprise policy; enterprise finance; social and environmental entrepreneurship; inclusive entrepreneurship (gender, ethnicity etc.), entrepreneurship in developing countries and high-growth entrepreneurship.
- Our Innovation theme covers issues relating to innovation policy; innovation systems; technology legitimacy and hype, as well as deeper historical analyses of how and why innovations unfold.
- Finally, our Strategy theme tackles topics including strategic planning and foresight; organisational performance, measurement and management; and finally, open and collaborative strategy.
Funding
Our research portfolio is funded through a wide range of prestigious research organisations, including:
- UKRI
- ESRC
- AHRC
- EU H2020
- British Council
- GCRF Newton Fund
- Leverhulme Trust
The Centre has also attracted significant funding from non-research council organisations. This funding has come from both within Scotland - such as Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Government, Scottish Power, and Scottish Southern and Electric – and beyond – such as the Federation of Small Businesses, Santander, Virgin Money (formerly CYBG) and NESTA.
Sectors
Our research covers a broad range of sectors, including energy, manufacturing, creative sectors and the digital economy. More detail on these activities can be found on our Sectoral spotlights page.
Publications
Staff from across the Hunter Centre have an excellent track record in publishing in high-impact journals including:
- Research Policy
- Technological Forecasting and Social Change
- International Small Business Journal
- Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice
- Journal of Business Venturing
This research base has translated into positions of significant academic and industrial importance, such as editorships (e.g. Technological Forecasting and Social Chance; Foresight and Futures Science; Journal of Social Entrepreneurship), advisory roles (e.g. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, EU, Scottish Power's Customer Engagement Group) and senior governance positions (e.g. Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, European Academy of Management, Beatson Cancer Charity).
