Whitman to host 31st annual Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference June 8-11

The 31st annual Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC), co-sponsored by the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, will be held June 8-11 at Whitman.

The BCERC, widely considered the premier conference for entrepreneurship research, was established in 1981 to provide a dynamic venue where academics and real-world practitioners link theory and practice, and to encourage and increase quality research in entrepreneurship. The 2011 call for papers received 591 abstracts from 41 countries. Of these, 330 researchers from 27 countries will present 242 papers.

In addition to the conference, and hosted in conjunction with the BCERC since 1985, Babson College will hold the 2011 BCERC Doctoral Consortium Program. The consortium provides doctoral students with the opportunity to gain insight into current research issues through intense interaction with consortium faculty, and seeks to encourage scholars and educators to become leaders in the field of entrepreneurship education. The doctoral consortium received 79 applications from 23 countries for 25 participants.

On Friday evening, June 10, the BCERC Award sponsors will present best paper awards to the authors whose papers were selected for publication in the 2010 issue of Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research. Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research contains the proceedings of the conference and is the most comprehensive collection of empirical research papers on entrepreneurship, representing institutions from around the globe.

Sponsors of the 2010 Best Paper Awards are:

• the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Award, on the general topic of entrepreneurship; NFIB has been sponsoring the award since 1997;
• the Stevens Institute of Technology Wesley J. Howe Award, for the best paper on the topic of corporate entrepreneurship; the Stevens Institute has been a sponsor of the BCERC since 2001;
• and the Babson College Irene M. McCarthy Award for the best paper on the topic of high technology.

Babson College, located in Wellesley, Mass., is recognized internationally as a leader in entrepreneurial management education. Babson grants B.S. degrees through its innovative undergraduate program, and grants M.B.A. and custom M.S. and M.B.A. degrees through the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business. Babson Executive Education offers executive development programs to experienced managers worldwide.