The field of business and society departs from the mainstream management field by focussing on research that matters to societal wellbeing. Still, the field is dominated by researchers from high-income economies. The discourses and people from low-and-middle economies are hardly represented in the field. While research on these contexts is often published in high-quality outlets, they are usually written by those in high-Income economies. A significant reason for this disparity is the difference in the quality of training that researchers in low-and-middle economies receive in terms of topics, methods, and writing.

We can collectively contribute to changing this. The Centre for Business, Organisations and Society (CBOS) at the University of Bath has a long history of supporting the development of early career researchers in the field of business and society. With some fifty faculty members and an ongoing programme of reading groups, workshops, and conferences, the Centre is in a position to share its knowledge and expertise to help enhance the representation of early career scholars from LMI countries in the business and society field.

The GEAR programme is virtual and will focus on developing knowledge and capabilities in writing a high-quality research article for a top journal. Participants will be required to read assigned readings prior to sessions and be prepared to discuss them in the group, as well as committing to completing a writing task each week.

Duration

The GEAR programme will run for seven weeks every year in Spring, with one 150 minutes session per week delivered by members of CBOS.

Selection criteria:

• early-career researchers (advanced PhD students and within three years post-PhD)
• located in an academic establishment in a low-and-middle-income country
• research on business and society topics (broadly defined)
• motivation to conduct and publish high-quality research
• data collection completed, or a first draft of a conceptual paper ready

You can apply via the application form. Note that you must download the application form, complete it and send it along with the following documents as a single email.

Required application documents:

1. Curriculum vitae: 2 pages
2. Outline of a paper that you want to develop through this programme: 1,000 words

The outline should clearly state the research question or objectives with a robust rationale and an overview of the methods, findings, and contributions.

References, tables, figures, and appendices are excluded from the word limit, but we suggest keeping it to a minimum.

The application form, curriculum vitae and the paper outline must be sent to: gear@bath.ac.uk.

The deadline is Monday 5 January 2026.

Upon completion, the candidates will be invited to apply for the GEAR fellowships. Up to two candidates will be selected from the cohort. The selected candidates will be invited to visit the school for a term (11-12 weeks), attend courses they wish to attend, and work with a mentor to develop their papers.

They can benefit from the exposure and other activities within the school and the university. The school and the faculty can also learn from their experiences and shape practices. The value of each GEAR fellowship is £6,000 to cover costs of travel, accommodation, and sustenance.