Dr Katerina Nicolopoulou

Personal statement

Professor Katerina Nicolopoulou, PhD, FHEA, MSc, LLM

I am a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation and the Director of Research at the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, as well as the Global DBA Director of the Strathclyde Business School. I am also the University Academic Lead for Socially Progressive Innovation and Entrepreneurship:

-Strategic sub- theme Leader for Socially Progressive Innovation and Entrepreneurship,https://www.strath.ac.uk/workwithus/innovationentrepreneurship/areasofexpertise/spie/ 

-One of the three Academic Mentors for the Doctoral Training Centre in Socially Progressive Innovation and Entrepreneurship 

-The Director of the Research Group  Global Socially Progressive Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which I founded and lead since 2020: Global Socially Progressive Entrepreneurship & Innovation Research Group | University of Strathclyde.

 The Research Group is also a member of the NBS Sustainability Centres global community.

I am a Member of the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) International Committee and I have an on-going interest in Higher Education global trends, as well as strategies for supporting HEIs to stay globally relevant and impactful.

I have several years of teaching experience and teaching team leadership at postgraduate (MSc),  faculty-level MRes, and international post-experience /Executive  MBA, having taught several times in UK, Europe, Gulf countries, S. East Asia  and Hong Kong.

My research as PI and Co-I has been funded by various grants, including Newton Fund and GCRF (Scottish Funding Council), of which a total of over £100,000 has been dedicated to a portfolio of projects which I have led as Principal Investigator for the study of women entrepreneurs in unplanned urban communities.

Details can be found here : https://www.strath.ac.uk/whystrathclyde/news/2021/empoweringfemaleentrepreneursinlowincomecommunitiesofgreatercairo/

I am also a Trademark Inventor (UK Trademark 'Sword and Shield'), supported by the Strathclyde INSPIRE programme for a toolkit on Entrepreneurial Leadership and Resilience for Women Entrepreneurs

I have played an active part in a number of established international management conferences (such as AoM) through subject matter leadership and committee citizenship. Research outputs I have co-authored have won  Awards such as the 2022 Emerald Literati Award for Outstanding Paper, as well as the Best paper award of the SIG Entrepreneurship at EURAM 2017. Between 2016-2019, I served as an Associate Editor for the  ABS 3 journal European Management Review, and since 2020 I have been an Associate Editor for the Journal of Social Entrepreneurship.

I have a  comprehensive scholarship profile which includes 24 published papers, in journals such as Human Resource Management (FT50 list), British Journal of Management, Journal of Small Business Management, R&D Management, European Management Review, Organization & Environment, Business &  Society, International Journal of Human Resource Management, and editorship of  6 journal Special Issues- including Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, European Management Journal, International Journal of Enterpreneurial Behavior and Research, and Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions- as well as 5 books with publishers such as E. Elgar and Routledge. 

I have acted as external PhD examiner internationally, as well as a supervisor for multiple PhD students (several of them funded via different funding schemes, and some in partnerships with European Universities). I have also mentored and supported various ECRs and PhD students in a number of PhD Colloquia and dedicated workshops. I am an external advisor to the Leadership coaching programme at George Washington University, Centre of Excellence in Public Leadership DC., USA, which focuses on supporting organisations and communities for greater presence and impact, in alignment to the UN SDGs.

As a practitioner, I have  several years of international  experience in senior positions (strategic affairs and planning, corporate social responsibility, advisory, training, and company co-ownership). I have also acted numerous times as an International Judge for industry and research initiatives  in social and sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation (Shell LiveWire, Philippe De Woot Award, UNESCO Newton Prize, Canegie Trust, as well as the European Commission). 

I am highly experienced with international DBA and MBA engagement activities, including hosting Thought Leadership series, supporting alumni start-ups through the creative ideation/ concept refinement and internationalisation process, as well as developing and running international engagement events with strategic partners (practice-policy-academia- international delegations). For several years, I have hosted and chaired events such as the Strathclyde Dialogues and the UAE Research evenings at Strathclyde. Further information about the Strathclyde Global DBA GCC cohorts can be found here: 

https://www.sbs.strath.ac.uk/blogs/SBS/post.aspx?id=1429

Further samples of my work and activities at  Strathclyde can be found here: 

https://www.sbs.strath.ac.uk/blogs/SBS/post.aspx?id=1303

https://www.sbs.strath.ac.uk/blogs/SBS/post.aspx?id=121

https://www.sbs.strath.ac.uk/newsletter/2016-12/13-uae.asp

https://www.sbs.strath.ac.uk/newsletter/2014-10/13-dialogues.asp

https://www.sbs.strath.ac.uk/newsletter/2015-06/10-dialogues.asp

https://gemuae.uaeu.ac.ae/en/pdf/uae-research-strathclyde.pdf

My current PhD and DBA supervisees include:

-     Christine Samy (Female entrepreneurship in Urban settlements of Greater Cairo- First supervisor) (University of Strathlyde PhD Studentship)

-     Monica Vasquez de Solar (Social Entrepreneurship: Institutional perspectives- Second supervisor, Comillas partnership student)

- Sherine Mohamed (Entrepreneurship Education models-First supervisor) (University of Strathclyde PhD Studentship)

- Naraporn Thammadee (Social Entrepreneurs as Leaders and Human Capital in Social Enterprises-First supervisor) (University of Strathclyde PhD Studentship)

-Henry Emeka Eze (Youth Entrepreneurship and innovation in Nigeria and Ghana- First Supervisor) (University of Strathclyde PhD studentship) 

- Afsa Mukasa (Socially Progressive Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre for Doctoral Training Researcher in Social Entrepreurship- Second supervisor)

-Ahmed Fahmy (Management of Innovation Processes in Large Corporations, DBA- Second supervisor)

-Sara Yaqoob (Social Impact Measurement in Social Enterprises, DBA-First supervisor)

-Meriem Khadia (Women Entrepreneurs and cybersecurity, DBA-Second supervisor)

- Beverly Best (Women and Digital Entrepreneurship, PhD-First supervisor) (University of Strathclyde PhD Studentship)

- Zakia Jabeen (Female Social Entrepreneurs in the Zero Waste Sector, PhD- First supervisor) (University of Strathclyde PhD Studentship)

- Markus Ecure (Entrepreneurship Education and Training in Nigeria- Second Supervisor)

-Miguel Garcia Sanchez (Knowledge co-creation in Urban agriculture communities- Second supervisor, Comillas partnership student)

-Mohammed Al Katheeri (Digital Transformation in the Public Sector-DBA,Second  supervisor)