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RESEARCH FUNDING: Millions rain down on newly graduated researchers
- Published: 27 Jan 2025,
- 1:32 PM
- Updated: 27 Jan 2025,
- 2:00 PM

6 out of 10 people working in scale-ups burn out – why? How can major changes in the business environment lead to new business ideas? These are examples of areas to be studied by two relatively new entrepreneurship researchers who have each received SEK 2 million in Wallander scholarships.
Jiyoung Kim, Jönköping University
Total research support: SEK 2,010,000
Article about Jiyoung Kim’s doctoral thesis: High confidence in entrepreneurship in times of crisis
What will you study?
– I will study how new business ideas develop in response to major changes in the world around us. The research consists of two parts. The first project examines the characteristics of new business ideas, and how entrepreneurs create and select these ideas in response to major changes in the external environment. The second project examines whether investors assess the quality of ideas differently depending on the characteristics of the business ideas.
What results do you expect?
– It is difficult to say what the results will be. But according to theories that already exist, it seems that ideas that take account of external changes may be of higher quality.
Why is research important?
– Creating and selecting new business ideas is a crucial part of entrepreneurship. Therefore, it is important to understand how entrepreneurs prioritize different external factors during idea development. This can help us predict the types of solutions that will be developed. In addition, research can identify areas where valuable business opportunities risk being overlooked, often because certain opportunities are not recognized or underestimated.
Mohamed Genedy, Stockholm School of Economics and Jönköping University
Total research support: SEK 2,010,000
Article about Mohamed Genedy’s doctoral thesis: 6 out of 10 employees in scaleup companies burn out
What will you study?
– I will study the working conditions in scaleup companies, and why some of these companies offer better conditions than others. In order to answer these questions, I will work on three parts. First, I will examine employee health (e.g. sick leave) and safety (e.g. work-related injuries) and how these conditions may differ between genders.
– In part two, I will analyze career opportunities and gender pay gaps in scaleups. And finally, to better understand the findings in parts one and two, I examine why some scaleups offer better working conditions and equal career opportunities. I do this by studying how these companies actually scale up.
What results do you expect?
– Based on my previous research on scale-ups, I expect that working conditions are often better for men than for women. I also believe that companies that hire staff in support functions, such as HR and marketing, early on are likely to offer better working conditions.
Why is research important?
– The project provides important insights to entrepreneurs and helps Swedish policy makers to develop policies that ensure high-quality jobs and good working conditions in scale-ups. Such measures can contribute to a balanced and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 3, 5, 8 and 10), OECD guidelines and Sweden’s economic agenda.
Contact
jiyoung.kim@ju.se
mohamed.genedy@hhs.se
About the Wallander Scholarships
The scholarships are awarded by Handelsbanken’s research foundations and provide outstanding young PhDs in the economic disciplines with full funding for three years. The aim of the scholarship is for the researchers to achieve docent (associate professor) status. Find out more about the scholarships.