Fox School of Business students paced back and forth, quietly practicing their presentation for the 8th Young Scholars Interdisciplinary Forum held on April 23rd in the MBA Commons of Alter Hall.

Over fifty students and faculty members enjoyed lunch while the record-breaking number of nineteen proposal groups presented their posters and explained their research projects to the evaluation committee members and guests.  The afternoon’s program began with a welcome from Dean. M. Moshe Porat and Associate Dean Paul Pavlou, who is the founder of the Young Scholars program and the school’s Chief Research Officer.

“Each semester marks a greater success than the last, such as this year’s record number of nineteen proposals,” said Pavlou.

So far, over sixty proposals have been funded, which includes more than 115 faculty members and PhD students from the Fox School of Business and School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, but also includes group members from colleges across Temple University, and numerous universities around the world.

The Young Scholars Interdisciplinary Forum is open to current Fox School of Business PhD students and junior members of the Fox School faculty, where they are eligible to submit proposals for seed initial funding to undertake interdisciplinary research projects. An annual amount of $25,000 is dispersed among the proposals to encourage and support early stages of interdisciplinary collaborative research. Proposals typically receive funding ranging from $50 up to $5,000.

The aim of the Young Scholars program is to provide seed funding for students and faculty to pursue high-quality interdisciplinary research that can result in journal publications, additional outside funding grants, and broader recognition of the Fox School of Business’ research work.

For more information on the Young Scholars Interdisciplinary Forum, including recipients of seed-funding for their research work, can be found on the Fox School’s research website.