01 June 2023

Expanding knowledge of rural enterprise

Panagiotis Kyriakopoulos

Research Fellow

Panagiotis Kyriakopoulos

Research Fellow

My research journey

It is exciting to be part of the NICRE and Enterprise Research Centre (ERC) teams, and I am so happy to have the chance to talk about my research journey. Since joining these teams as a Research Fellow in September 2022, my experience has been rewarding, allowing me to investigate and expand my knowledge of rural enterprise and in particular fields of interest, such as social entrepreneurship in rural areas. I am excited that our research has the potential to contribute to solving problems and inform decision-making through our engagement with advisors, policy makers, and other team members to disseminate results through presentations, meetings, and publications.

Second survey of rural businesses

Over the last few months, I have had the opportunity to collaborate with other academics who share similar research interests. This has allowed me to develop new ideas and project proposals that can significantly advance my field. Additionally, the fact that NICRE and ERC have a diverse group of team members (i.e. researchers and professional services staff) creates a stimulating intellectual environment where we learn from each other.

I am currently part of the team working on NICRE’s second State of Rural Enterprise survey, focusing on rural impacts of the cost of doing business crisis, rural opportunities, environmental impacts and business responses to the climate crisis, as well as other challenges in the rural economy.

The survey –  which builds on NICRE’s first in 2021 – is underway and, in total, will seek the views of around 3,000 businesses in the North East, South West and West Midlands with the results expected to be published later in the year.

I am also interested in examining the emerging phenomenon of rural entrepreneurship for NICRE in relation to alleviating poverty and contributing to job creation, and was successful in obtaining funding for this project from the Small Grant Scheme from the Productivity & Futures of Work Global Research Priorities at the University of Warwick.

Entrepreneurship research seminar

For the purposes of the above project, we are organising a seminar ‘New Boundaries in Entrepreneurship Research’ on 20 June at Warwick Business School. This will explore the current themes and challenges in entrepreneurship research and practice, with a special session on performance of rural enterprises under uncertainty.

The seminar will focus on the following:

  • Identifying new directions for entrepreneurship research: Personality traits, individual differences, gender, resilience, productivity, rural social entrepreneurship.
  • Bringing entrepreneurship researchers together for a conversation about current themes and challenges in entrepreneurship research.
  • Providing an opportunity for researchers to discuss their research priorities, share ideas, and consult academics on the evidence they need.
  • Highlighting policy recommendations and practices.

I hope you will be able to join me at this in-person event, which will be held noon-3pm, and you can book your place here. If you have any queries, or if you require additional information, please email me at panagiotis.kyriakopoulos@wbs.ac.uk

I look forward to the seminar, and exploring rural entrepreneurship further, and the results of NICRE’s survey being published which promises to be an insightful analysis of the state of rural enterprise.

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