PhD students receive EliteForsk travel grants

Outstanding Danish researchers are celebrated each year with the awarding of EliteForsk prizes and travel grants from the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science. The awards are being presented at the EliteForsk Conference taking place in Glyptoteket’s Ceremonial Hall in Copenhagen, where two PhD students from CBS are among the travel grant recipients.

PhD students Adrián L. Mérida, from the Department of Innovation and Organizational Economics and Tina Müller, from the Department of Management, Society and Communication talk about their research and the opportunities the grants provide.
 
Tina Müller is a PhD student at the Department of Management, Society and Communication, where she studies applied psychology and sustainable consumer behaviour.
 
What is the topic of your PhD?
The purpose of my dissertation is to contribute to an enhanced understanding of (sustainable) consumer behaviour, especially regarding consumption of clothing. Consumers represent a potentially powerful force with the ability to reduce environmental impact and social injustice if current consumer patterns successfully change to embrace more sustainable alternatives. As a result my project examines the factors with the greatest sway on what we purchase and how much we are willing to pay. Our decisions are shaped by external factors such as price and availability but also internal ones like values and the feeling of social pressure. Using a variety of experiments, I will test my assumptions to identify the factors that can be influenced. The insights gained will be used to develop measures and targeted communication strategies to motivate consumers to change their behaviour.
 
How did you get into your field of research?
Early on as a psychology student I realised that my area of interest was the healthy human. While doing my master’s degree I focused in particular on the factors that can positively affect human well-being. As I became immersed in the topic, I discovered an issue that surprised me – consumption. Today’s global production system provides consumers with a vast number of cheap, inferior products, thus contributing to environmental and social degradation. When it comes down to it, consuming these products doesn’t even make us happy. I’m deeply committed to promoting a consumer culture that is healthier for the environment and human beings.
 
How will the EliteForsk travel grant affect your future opportunities?
The EliteForsk travel grant affords me an entirely unique opportunity to visit other universities and to enhance my research with an international perspective. An extended visit abroad with the purpose of testing a theoretical model is crucial to improving the model in other cultural contexts. Not only that, country-specific models add to the understanding of more aware consumer behaviour. The EliteForsk grant also gives me the opportunity to visit leading experimental research scientists and to learn from their knowledge and experience with conducting consumer behaviour experiments.
 
Adrián L. Mérida, is a PhD student at the Department of Innovation and Organizational Economics, where he studies the effects of entrepreneurial experience on lifetime earnings and career prospects.
 
What is the topic of your PhD?
While often touted by policymakers, entrepreneurship and its value in the labour market is still the object of intense scholarly debate. My dissertation compares people with and without entrepreneurial experience in a variety of contexts using Danish population-based registry data. Initially I focus on new graduates and measure the effect on earnings income as a result of choosing entrepreneurship as the starting point of their professional careers. Next I connect entrepreneurship and the academic literature on finance by examining the role entrepreneurial experience plays for entrepreneurs at various levels. Studying the value of entrepreneurial experience is a major topic today and receives significant political attention.
 
How did you get into your field of research?
Doing my master’s thesis made me realise how much I enjoy the research process. I collaborated with the economics department at my university while doing my thesis and quickly developed a special interest in economics and entrepreneurship. I became fascinated by the individual behaviour of those who decide to become an entrepreneur. At Copenhagen Business School I’ve had the opportunity to work with highly qualified researchers who have helped and inspired me to become even more interested in the field but who have also made me aware of the multiple challenges that developing my project will involve.
 
How will the EliteForsk travel grant affect your future opportunities?
The EliteForsk grant gives me a unique opportunity to visit some of the most important universities in the world in economics and entrepreneurship. This means that the quality of my research project will improve immensely and that I’ll have the opportunity to work with and learn from some of the most influential researchers in my field. Having this opportunity will positively affect my career prospects by helping me become a better researcher.
 

Read more about the awarding of EliteForsk prizes and travel grants
 
For questions, please contact:
Tina Müller
Adrián L. Mérida