WEFI Fellows
Applications for the 2026 cohort are now closed
Summary
The WEFI Fellows program currently consists of 10 Ph.D. students interested in pursuing research in entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial finance, and innovation. The group meets virtually with Mike Ewens bi-weekly for approximately 9 months out of the year (excluding Jan-Feb and a summer month). Meetings include student presentations of new ideas, practice job talks, mock interviews, and idea pitches.
The Fellows program has been active since 2021 and has 16 former Fellows placed in academia and industry. The emerging network is a resource for current and former Fellows. The group coordinates meetings during major academic conferences.
Why?
The primary goals are to help students — particularly those at schools without multiple faculty in entrepreneurship and innovation — refine their dissertation topic, learn more about the research area and build their network of fellow Ph.D. students. The small field and limited advisors are partially consequences of the research area itself: it is often interdisciplinary or pursued by researchers trained in different areas. Though many have successfully written a dissertation in this environment, the lack of seminar speakers, student colleagues working on similar topics and advisors with direct experience in the literature can leave them at a disadvantage or worse, stop them from pursuing certain topics.
Annual WEFI Fellows Conference
Each May, the graduates of the WEFI Fellows program organize an in-person conference at Columbia Business School.
Eligible students
- Students working in entrepreneurship, innovation, and entrepreneurial finance who
- have entered the research phase of their Ph.D. program (typically years 2+, but pre-job market year) with an advisor
- work in economics, finance, strategy, or management
- have selected their research area in entrepreneurship ideally with a completed first 2nd/3rd-year paper.
How and your commitment
We meet every other week on Zoom for an hour where student presenters have 20-30 minutes to present. Outside of meetings, the group interacts on a software platform for messaging and chats. Students are encouraged to meet outside of regular meetings or schedule separate 1-1s with Mike Ewens.
The WEFI Fellows are in charge of organizing the annual Student Workshop held every Fall.
Application process (now closed)
The application process has two steps:
- Submit a pre-application by June 1st (you will need your CV)
- After June 15th , selected applicants will be contacted to submit a short description of their research and a statement from their advisor (do not send one unless requested). An interview may be requested
Current WEFI Fellows
- Alice Eliet-Doillet
- Himal Gautam
- Elif Guler
- Andy Li
- Renyuan Luo
- Elizaveta Smorodenkova
- Guilherme Junqueira
- Rishabh Malhotra
- Sevket Camoglu
- Haojing Han
2026 Fellow Graduates
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Yangyang Cheng
Yangyang will join IE University as an Assistant Professor in Strategy.
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Melissa Crumling
Melissa will be an assistant professor of finance at the University of Arkansas.
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Blake Jackson
Blake will be an assistant professor of finance at the Ohio State University.
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Roham Rezaei
Roham will be an assistant professor of finance at the University of Amsterdam.
2025 Fellow Graduates
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Tarikua Erda
Tarikua will be a Postdoctoral Senior Research Scientist at NYU Stern, and will start as an Assistant Professor of Finance at Stern-NYU Abu Dhabi in Fall 2026.
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Daisy Wang
Daisy will join USC Marshall in 2025.
2024 Fellow Graduates
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Silvia Dalla Fontana
Silvia will join ESCP Business School as an Assistant Professor of Finance.
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Caroline Genc
Caroline will join Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University as an Assistant Professor of Finance.
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Xiameng Hua
Xiameng will join Western Alliance Bank at Phoenix as a Liquidity and IRRBB Risk Modeler.
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Yingxiang Li
Yingxiang will join CityU Hong Hong as an Assistant Professor of Finance.
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Ellen Xiyue Li
Ellen will join Chinese University of Hong Kong – Shenzhen as an Assistant Professor of Finance.
2023 Fellow Graduates
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Liudmila Alekseeva
Mila is joining KU Leuven in Belgium as an Assistant Professor.
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Minmo Gahng
Mo will join Cornell SC Johnson College of Business as an Assistant Professor of Finance.
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Seula Kim
Seula will join Penn State University as an Assistant Professor of Economics.
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Hedieh Rashidi Ranjbar
Hedieh will join the University of Melbourne as an Assistant Professor of Finance.
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Jing (Sophia) Xue
Sophia is joining J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State as an Assistant Professor of Finance.
Learn more
Contact Michael Ewens for questions.