Call for Papers, Posters, Round Table Proposals, Practitioner Contributions and Product Demonstrations

Innovation and entrepreneurship are tightly coupled concepts. Innovation involves designing new ways of conceptualising, developing and producing a range of goods and services which society requires. Although inventing new things may be seen as part of innovation, innovation does not exclusively rely on new discoveries. Rather it can stem from simply seeing new ways of satisfying demand. Thus innovation is not a synonym for invention and almost anyone can come up with new innovations.

Entrepreneurship adds a further dimension to how new ideas are converted into goods and services. Entrepreneurship is sometimes said to be a mindset required to convert innovation into a real business situation which will deliver benefits to the stakeholders. Entrepreneurship is always driven by an individual or a small group of individuals who are referred to as entrepreneurs and who are sometimes colloquially referred to as the ‘movers and shakers’ in our society. Thus the entrepreneur configures the various factors of products to that they become a viable proposition.

Both innovation and entrepreneurship are generally under-researched and the advisory group for the conference invites submissions of both academic and practitioner papers on a wide range of topics and a wide range of scholarly approaches including theoretical and empirical papers employing qualitative, quantitative and critical methods

Action research, case studies and research-in-progress are welcomed approaches. Poster submissions, proposals for roundtable discussions, practitioner contributions and product demonstrations based on the main themes are also invited.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:-

In addition, submissions are welcomed to five mini tracks: The front end of innovation and integrated product development, chaired by Christiaan Baelus, Artesis University College, Antwerp, Belgium; Social entrepreneurship, chaired by Heather Fulford, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK; Modelling very early stage valorisation projects, chaired by Magnus Klofsten, Linköping University, Sweden; Entrepreneurial finance, co-chaired by João Leitão, Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, Manuel da Rocha Armada, Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, Christine Mitter, Salzberg University of Applied Sciences, Austria and Paulo Rupino da Cunha, University of Coimbra, Portugal and Innovation in emerging market economies, chaired by Catherine L Wang, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.

Paper submissions
Papers should address the conference topics listed above and can describe a wide range of research including empirical or theoretical studies. In addition, philosophical papers presenting an argument and papers presenting a process that has been developed and is now ready for wider use are welcome. In all cases concepts and underlying principles should be emphasised, with enough background information to orient any reader who is not a specialist in the particular subject area original. The work should not have been published elsewhere and should not be intended to be published elsewhere during the review period.

Research in progress
Researchers may submit current projects whilst they are still in progress. To be eligible, it is necessary for a paper to be produced to a publishable academic standard and papers will be subject to the same criteria and processes as research papers. However the final results of the research may not have been fully completed and interpreted.

Case study submissions
Case study submissions should be written to publishable standards. Case studies will be subject to the same criteria and the processes as research papers.

Poster Submissions
Posters provide an opportunity for researchers to present their work in an informal setting in which there is more time for discussion and questions than is sometimes available in a full paper session. This track is an ideal forum for the presentation of work in progress. Poster submissions are welcomed in any of the areas identified in the call for papers.

Poster submission requirements

• An abstract describing the work being presented on the poster should be submitted in accordance with the submission details below. Be sure to select Poster as the submission type.
• Poster abstracts will be blind reviewed by a member of the programme committee. Reviewers will be asked to consider the appropriateness of the work for poster presentation.
• On acceptance instructions on poster dimensions etc will be supplied.
• Poster abstracts and images of the final poster will be published in the CD version of the Conference Proceedings.
• At least one person must register for the conference to present the poster.

Posters will be displayed close to the refreshment area so that all who attend will have an opportunity to see them. There will be a timetabled period when Poster Owners should staff their poster so that participants can come and discuss the research.

Round Table Proposals
The Programme Committee invites topical subjects to be proposed for discussion.
Submission requirements

• An abstract proposing a topic and stating why it is felt this would be an interesting contribution to the conference should be submitted in accordance with the submission details below. Be sure to select Round Table Proposal as the submission type.
• Proposals will be considered by the programme committee.
• If a proposal is selected the convenor will be asked to nominate knowledge informants in the field who will be prepared to participate. Round Table Discussions can be either 30 minutes or 1 hour in duration. The convenor must register for the conference.
• Other participants can attend the Round Table without conference registration, but if they wish to attend any other part of the conference registration will be required.

Practitioner Contributions
The conference committee welcomes contributions from individuals and organisations working in the field. These contributions can take the form of a presentation or a demonstration.
Submission requirements

§         An abstract describing the work to be presented should be submitted in accordance with the submission details below. Be sure to select Practitioner Contribution as the submission type.

• Practitioner abstracts will be reviewed by the programme committee. Reviewers will be asked to consider the appropriateness of the work for presentation at the conference.
• Authors of selected presentations will have their abstract included in the booklet of abstracts given to participants at the conference.
• At least one person must register for the conference to give the presentation.

Product Demonstrations
Submit a proposal of 200-300 words describing a research facilitation product you would like to demonstrate and the audience it serves. Proposals should be sent as an email attachment to Sue Nugus not later than 9 April 2009 Demonstrations themselves are expected to be approximately 15 minutes in length.

Submission details

Important information

• The selection panel of the conference committee will consider all abstracts received by the submission deadline to ensure that the proposed paper is relevant to the Conference. 
• The authors of abstracts that describe a relevant paper will receive a notification of abstract selection.
• All full papers will be double-blind reviewed by members of the conference committee to ensure an adequate standard, that the proposed subject of their abstract has been followed, that the paper is of a suitable length, the standard of English is adequate and the paper is appropriately referenced.
• For authors whose first language is not English we request that you have your work proof read prior to submission by a native English speaker (or at least a fluent English speaker). Papers can be rejected due to a poor standard of English.
• Papers that are accepted will be published in the conference proceedings providing at least one author registers and presents the work at the Conference (see the registration section of the conference website for more information about registration).
• Due to the large number of papers expected for this conference, the committee only allows an author to present one paper. Therefore if multiple papers are accepted for presentation different co-authors need to present each paper. Author registrations must be completed by 6 August 2009.

Important dates

Read the
author guidelines

Download the call for papers

in .pdf format