Economics and Decision Sciences: The Economics of Mentorship

The Special Fellowship is focused on "The Economics of Mentorship". It provides an additional €10,000 per year (on top of the €26,000 HEC Foundation PhD Research Fellowship) for up to five years. Work on cutting-edge research with Professors Thomas Åstebro & Carlos Serrano, exploring mentorship's impact across startups, firms, universities, and NGOs. Your research could shape innovation, leadership, and even AI-driven mentorship tools.

The fellowship supports  a ground-breaking  research  program on the economics  of mentorship in collaboration with the ION Management Science Lab at HEC Paris. This Lab studies mentorship across startups, mid-sized  firms,  large  enterprises,  universities,  and  NGOs, with  a  focus  on  selection, matching, interaction methods, and incentives. By collecting and analyzing data, it aims to understand mentorship's impact on performance and innovation,  bridging academia,  industry,  and non-profits while disseminating actionable insights. A stated objective is to scientifically explore the use of AI tools across these domains.

As a PhD student, you will join a research team led by Professors Thomas Åstebro (Executive Director) and  Carlos Serrano (Scientific Director) of the Lab. Your research  tasks may include: Expanding data collection efforts; Developing theoretical models; Developing AI-driven tools; Designing and executing experiments; Data analysis; and publishing your work. You may address  topics such as: selecting and nurturing startups and entrepreneurs, supporting employee onboarding and leadership development, making investments in startups, and helping individuals reskill with AI-driven tools.

The starting  date  for the PhD position is September 2025. To apply, you need  to follow the regular PhD application process  at HEC Paris. For project-related questions, please contact astebro@hec.fr and serrano@hec.fr. French language skills are not required.

The PhD typically takes 5 years to complete.  In addition to taking courses, you should expect to spend extended time interacting with individuals, program managers  in Universities, our collaborators: HEC Incubateur, CDL Paris, University of Utah, Bocconi University, ION Group, as well as startups, firms, and non-profits. Good social skills are useful for such work.

After a successful doctorate, you will have excellent chances for a scientific career at top Universities. Professors Åstebro and Serrano have previously placed their PhD students at the University of Oxford, NYU, IE Business School, NBER/MIT, Bocconi, and Northeastern University.