The 2016 CSM Doctoral Colloquium held on the 28^th of January 2016 was a huge success, with doctoral researchers and academics in service management and information management presenting and speaking about various topics in their area, as well as giving workshops throughout the day on funding issues and more.

The Colloquium, the first of its kind at the SBE, was focused on doctoral students with research in services area, with activities throughout the event such as PhD presentations and posters, academic and professional workshops, keynote speakers and networking. One of the keynote speakers, Professor Bo Edvardsson from CTF, Karlstad University in Sweden, is one of the world's leading experts in product development in the service management area.

Professor Edvardsson had some advice to students embarking on their doctoral research:

"I would advise that you pick a topic that you’re really interested in and have a passion for, but then I think also pick a topic that has potential. Many areas are already widely researched. Service quality for instance is still relatively untouched, but there are a lot of new challenges. And then finally, to try and partner up with someone who knows how to publish and do research."

Sponsored by CSM and organised by SBE doctoral researchers Higor Dos Reis Leite and Rachel Fuller, both members of the Centre for Service Management (CSM), the event drew more than 80 delegates and was fully booked several weeks prior to the event.

Higor, co-organiser of the Colloquium and a third-year doctoral researcher in CSM, said:

"The Colloquium was a fantastic opportunity to create a doctoral community in service management which is larger than just here at Loughborough, and it shows that there is demand for future events in this area."

Keynote Speakers’ Presentations:

• Professor Bo Edvardsson: Perspectives on service innovation research
• Dr Sharon Williams: From sofa to surgery: 
Reflections on conducting research in (health) services
• Professor Tom Jackson: The connected jungle and the digital tree

Workshops Presentations:

• Funding opportunities for early career researchers: Priti Meredith
• How to create awareness for your research‌: Prof Thorsten Gruber
• Transition from PhD to academia‌: Dr Alok Choudhary
• Visualise your PhD – Poster design‌: Dr Nicola Bateman
• Advancing your early academic career‌: Dr Ian Hodgkinson

Testimonies from delegates:

Ms Josephine Go Jefferies, a fourth-year ESRC doctoral researcher at Nottingham University Business School, Marketing Division, said:

"I’m a big fan of the doctoral colloquium format.  Whether you are attending to learn about different approaches and contexts for service research, to meet new people, or to consider different ways of styling your presentations and posters for a new audience, a colloquium helps to add a fresh perspective on the endurance test that is a PhD.

"For me, the progress between previous presentations and the one that was recognised for an award this time was huge. I went from nervously reading from my notes to speaking from the heart about what is interesting about my research. I attribute this transition to practice! So I encourage presenting your work early and often during the PhD!

"The enthusiastic organisers hosted a well-considered range of speakers and seminars. I found Dr Ian Hodgkinson’s workshop especially useful as he explained how to plan the PhD publication pipeline across the first ten years of an academic career."

Ms Bogdana Huma, a second-year doctoral researcher from the Department of Social Sciences - Discourse and Rhetoric Group (DARG) at Loughborough University, said:

"'Interdisciplinarity' has been and continues to be one of the buzz words of academic parlance, inspiring researchers to overcome traditional disciplinary, paradigmatic, methodological, or departmental boundaries. As such, the marked interdisciplinary orientation of the Centre for Service Management Doctoral Colloquium was the reason I decided to apply for participation with an oral presentation.

"As a social psychologist interested in social interactions in commercial service encounters, I am continuously tracing, charting, and refining 'the map' of the various disciplinary territories underlying this topic. Thus, I welcomed the chance to present my ongoing work on persuasion to an audience of business and service management researchers. The expert advice and immensely helpful suggestions offered in a friendly and encouraging tone have helped me get a clearer view of the potential future trajectories for my research on persuasion. Furthermore, through the balanced mix of keynote speeches, workshops, posters and oral presentations, the event provided further opportunities to get to know and explore different approaches in service management research.

"Last, as with every memorable event, there is the 'Wow Factor'. The organisers, whose effort and dedication came across through the smooth progress of the event, surprised us with what is probably a PhD student’s favorite lunch: delicious steaming pizza."