How I raised funds for my Doctoral Research
PhD Life Auri Evokari PhD Life Auri Evokari

How I raised funds for my Doctoral Research

For the third time in a row, I secured a living stipend for my Doctoral Research from Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in Finland. This brings the total number of grants I’ve received to four with a success rate in grant applications of 57 %.

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Why doing a PhD is like running a startup
Research, PhD Life Auri Evokari Research, PhD Life Auri Evokari

Why doing a PhD is like running a startup

Unlike some might think, doing a PhD is not, for me at least, the "Backup plan when I couldn't get a job" or an attempt to travel back in time and "Have fun like in my 20s". I chose to do it to enhance my expertise in an area that is not well-known - the entrepreneurship ecosystems in southern Africa. I'm doing it because I want to understand how technology entrepreneurship can be better supported in the future, and how to do it in a region that is in need of creative, new solutions in job creation.

That's the mission.

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Ordinary women, extraordinary resilience
Events, PhD Life Auri Evokari Events, PhD Life Auri Evokari

Ordinary women, extraordinary resilience

Yesterday I attended an event at the Southbank Centre during which Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton discussed their newly released book, The Book of Gutsy Women: Favourite Stories of Courage and Resilience, interviewed by Mary Beard. My interest in the book piqued since I had recently worked on a project where we at SAIS Programme together with Hivos Southern Africa aimed to understand the female experience in technology entrepreneurship in Southern Africa. I was curious to learn who the 100 women Rodham Clinton and Clinton had selected for their work were and if any African women had made the cut – but to be honest I was looking for some personal inspiration, too.

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