WEFI Fellows Program for PhD Students in Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial Finance, and Innovation Columbia Business School in United States

WEFI Fellows is accepting pre-applications for the 2026 cohort. This is a research-focused fellows program for PhD students interested in entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial finance, and innovation, with a strong connection to finance, economics, strategy, and management.

The program currently supports 10 PhD students at a time and is led by Michael Ewens, Professor of Finance at Columbia Business School. Fellows meet virtually about every two weeks during the academic year for presentations of new ideas, practice job talks, mock interviews, and idea pitches. The network is designed to help students refine dissertation topics, build research connections, and prepare for the academic job market.

Eligibility: PhD students in economics, finance, strategy, or management who are working on entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial finance, or innovation. Applicants should typically be in year 3 or later, pre-job-market, and ideally have a completed 2nd- or 3rd-year paper.

Application process: Submit the pre-application by June 1, 2026 and include your CV. Selected applicants will be contacted after June 15 to submit a short description of their research and a statement from their advisor. An interview may also be requested.

Institution: Columbia Business School / WEFI Fellows.

Funding: No stipend or tuition support is mentioned; the value of the program is mentoring, peer feedback, and research/job-market preparation.