Alona joins the School as an Academic Visitor to carry out her BA-funded research.
Saïd Business School is pleased to welcome Professor Alona Revko, who joins us as Academic Visitor to conduct new research funded by the British Academy’s (BA) Researchers at Risk Fellowship scheme.
Alona is an expert in social entrepreneurship and innovation and a Professor of Social Work Department at the Chernihiv Polytechnic National University in Ukraine. The research project she will undertake at the Business School, entitled ‘ The Role of Innovation in the Development of Social Entrepreneurship: The Experience of England and Lessons for Ukraine’, builds on her ongoing research around social entrepreneurship across several countries.
The fellowship will enable Alona to bring a UK perspective on social entrepreneurship to her previous work in Ukraine and Poland. Her research will explore how innovations in UK social enterprises affect their development, funding, social impact and growth in the long term; the findings will inform evidence-based recommendations for Ukraine.
On receiving the Fellowship, Alona, who, together with her family, has been displaced from Ukraine following the Russian Invasion, said: ‘I’m honoured to receive the Researchers at Risk Fellowship, and happy to be joining the community at Saïd Business School. The fellowship will support me to continue my research, allowing a UK perspective to complement my prior research on social entrepreneurship.'
The Researchers at Risk (RAR) Fellowships scheme is led by the British Academy in partnership with the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society and the Council for At-Risk Academics. Established in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has exposed many Ukrainian-based researchers to direct threat, it supports academic researchers at risk to continue their research in association with a UK host institution and build collaborative links with academics in the UK.
Marya Besharov, Professor of Organisations and Impact at Oxford Saïd, supported Alona’s application to the RAR scheme and will mentor her during her time at the Business School. Commenting on the news, Marya said: 'Alona’s research strongly aligns with several previous and ongoing research projects at the School, including my own studies of social entrepreneurship, and those embedded within the Skoll Centre. I look forward to welcoming Alona to the Business School and to supporting and mentoring her throughout her fellowship.'