Nazarbayev University Research Centre for Entrepreneurship (NURCE)
Graduate School of Business (GSB) initiative - Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EiR) Program

The Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EiR) Program is a new initiative that is created as a collaborative effort to involves both accomplished and budding entrepreneurs from Kazakhstan in the activities of GSB and NURCE in variety of ways. The objective is to increase the active participation and presence of entrepreneurs in our community. The unique programme will start in Spring 2020 and no similar cooperation programme between entrepreneurs and a university exists in Kazakhstan.

What is an EIR?
An EIR is an entrepreneur steeped in the way of life of the small-and-medium-sized business (SME) world, who will become immersed in the cultural world of NUGSB. By relying on their worldview, an EiR can understand and interpret the way things work within a Higher Education Institution (HEI) and support its engagement within the SME community in Kazakhstan. Such engagement will become integrative with our research, teaching and outreach activities.

What does becoming an EiR entail?
The EiR chosen for the programme will become honorary member of the scientific community at NUGSB and NURCE. EiR will be expected to offer students and researchers a direct connection to the realities of business life, provide mentorship and guidance to the GSB community on social impact, business strategy and design, and to help connect investors and entrepreneurs with researchers. In addition, they may engage in the following:

• Engagement as inspirational guest speakers
• Serving as review panellists/judges in classroom activities, such as pitching/business idea competitions
• Mentor graduate students in their master’s dissertations
• Mentoring in the identification, evaluation and exploitation of business ideas
• Supporting research activities of faculty members across GSB and NURCE
• Reinforcing GSB’s status as an entrepreneurship-friendly faculty
• Serving as ambassadors of GSB and its programmes

Benefits for the EiR

• Access to latest academic research and knowledge
• Vantage point to interdisciplinary research and expertise from across NU
• Access to the academic support network offered by NU
• Access to events targeted to the EiRs
• Preferential access to students for assignments and collaborative projects as well as exposure to fresh perspectives and future talents

In a nutshell, an EIR is a committed individual who will be invited to work with NURCE and GSB community to generate a better understanding in two directions: Our understanding of the SME world; and the SME view of our academic world. Our focus is on helping our students and faculty improve the lives of all learners through the research they do and the training programs they conduct. With this program, we can help bridge what happens here with what's happening outside of academia. We can help our scholars bring their work, in innovative ways, to a wider audience.