SeedWISE: Enterprise training for women DPhil researchers
For Women DPhil students in STEMM at Oxford who want to create exciting futures, SeedWISE offers a chance to meet your tribe and interact with innovation learning that prompts self-reflection and actional plans for success on your terms.
SeedWISE trinity term 2025-2026
apply here for your place!
Application deadline: Close of Business on Monday 23 March
You will be notified of the outcome after selection has taken place ASAP after the closing deadline.
Please check you can make ALL programme dates before applying (see below).
“Creating solutions, building things you care about, and driving change. That’s entrepreneurship.” Karina Popovich
what will you gain from seedwise?
ü Explore enterprise thinking, concepts and competencies to expand your future horizons and career options
ü Apply self-reflection and self-awareness to analyse and create a values and strengths-based lens to shape intentional choices and decision making
ü Develop collaboration, networking and communication skills to frame interactions and understand audiences so that you feel confident in social situations and with employers and stakeholders
ü Apply insights to clearly communicate the value you bring and your career interests and motivations
ü Create actionable plans to create agency for your future
What do previous participants say?
I felt emboldened to reach out directly to someone whose career I admire and she offered to arrange a call – I’m speaking to her in 2 weeks!
I have become more proactive with networking, reaching out for help, and I have learned about many opportunities from the educators and women attending the course.
Contact the SeedWISE team
Get in touch with Louisa Trevail at mpls.enterprise@mpls.ox.ac.uk for any queries about the SeedWISE application, schedule, deposit payment, time commitment, and more.
Who is this programme for?
SeedWISE is designed for DPhil students. It is particularly valuable if you:
- Have focused heavily on academic achievement but are now curious about broader career possibilities
- Feel unsure about structures outside academia and are uncertain how to articulate your value in those contexts
- Want more information and space/time to reflect, to prepare you for making career decisions
- Want to hear from others in a similar position and are open to interactive, reflective and participatory learning
- Are curious about entrepreneurship but have not taken any steps and are feeling unsure about what’s involved.
Who is this programme NOT for?
SeedWISE may not be the right fit if you:
- Are looking for a job-application/CV writing workshop
- Want a quick fix or immediate job leads
- Prefer lecture-style learning with minimal interaction
- Have already completed significant structured career planning and action mapping
- Have an entrepreneurial idea that you are ready to move forwards now. Instead take part in a venture creation focused programme like a bootcamp or accelerator
SeedWISE gave me the platform to grow my confidence and more importantly made me realise that my values are as important as my professional goals, and I owe it to myself and to society to make every effort to grow and realise my full potential in order to have impact both in and outside academia. SeedWISE helped me realise I can achieve both!
Lessah Mandoloma
Cohort 3, SeedWISE
DPhil student, Biology
African Universities Ambassador
The Commitment
The impact of the programme depends on participation. To gain the full benefit of SeedWISE, participants must:
- Attend all three days
- Actively engage in group discussion and exercises
- Be willing to reflect honestly
- Support peers through structured feedback and reflection
Our Approach
SeedWISE is a reflective and participatory experience. It requires openness, engagement and willingness to contribute.
- Highly interactive with a different home group for each of the three days
- Structured in 60-minute focused sessions with breaks and reflection time
- Built on equitable participation principles inspired by Nancy Klein’s Time to Think and Lego® Serious Play methods
The days run from 0930–1630, allowing time for deep thinking without burnout.
SeedWISE is not about pushing you towards entrepreneurship or venture creation. It is about equipping you with entrepreneurial thinking and competencies (EntreComp) — self-reflection, initiative, opportunity recognition, stakeholder awareness — skills and knowledge that are transferable to whatever path you choose.
- Deep identity work alongside practical communication training
- Enterprise thinking framed as a transferable mindset, not business start-up training
- Clear distinction between long-term vision and short-term execution
- Structured group rotation to build broad peer connections across departments and foster a sense of community that reaches beyond the programme
How: Apply for your place online by COB on Monday 23 March by filling in this short, online form
Selection will take place ASAP after this deadline and you will be notified of the outcome.
If you have any queries, please contact Louisa at mpls.enterprise@mpls.ox.ac.uk
When and where: Careers Service, 56 Banbury Rd, Park Town, Oxford OX2 6PA
Do check all the dates carefully as we expect you to join the programme in its entirety.
Please note that we ask for a fully refundable £30.00 deposit when enrolling; this is refunded to you on successful completion of the course.
|
DATE |
TIME |
LOCATION |
|
Monday 20 April |
16.00 - 17.00 Welcome and introduction call (please note that attendance to this induction confirms your place) |
ONLINE |
|
Monday 27 April |
1000 - 1600 Day One: Reflect |
Careers Lounge |
|
Monday 18 May |
1000 - 1600 Day Two: Explore |
Careers Lounge |
| Monday 8 June |
1000- 1600 Day Three: Action |
Careers Lounge |
DR EMMA WILLIAMS, COURSE DIRECTOR, SEEDWISE
Dr Emma Williams is driven by her mission for ensuring early career researchers take their next career step in a proactive and positive manner. Her business is built on her background in medical physics research and university professional services. A qualified coach she provides training, facilitation and online courses packed with creativity, empathy and challenge. Emma delivers the SeedWISE programme on behalf of Enterprising Women. Emma Williams on LinkedIn
Louisa Trevail, Enterprising Women Programme Manager
Louisa has a background in education and have worked as a senior teacher in various primary schools for a number of years, including roles in leadership. Before completing her Postgraduate Certificate of Education she worked as a Conference Manager for events agencies and for Oxfam GB, and previously as a graduate in public relations in London. She now works in the Training and Researcher Culture Development Team at the University of Oxford for MPLS (Maths, Physics and Life Sciences division) delivering the ambitious Enterprising Women programme of activities. Our training courses are run partly in collaboration with the University of Cambridge and are for women DPhil and Postdoc researchers working in traditionally male-dominated STEM subjects. Louisa Trevail on LinkedIn
Sally Charles, Enterprise Programme Manager
Sally Charles FHEA, is the Mathematical & Physical Life Sciences (MPLS) divisional lead for Enterprise Training and Events curated for the Researcher community within the division. She has been involved in University Enterprise Education for more than five years and previously worked at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen where she led on a number of initiatives. Before moving to Higher Education she ran her own business for nearly a decade and prior to that she worked in Film Finance, was an Authorised Person with the Financial Services Authority and worked in tax planning. Find Sally on LinkedIn.
If you are offered a place on the programme, we will ask you to confirm your place by payment of a £30 deposit.
This deposit is fully refundable on completion of the course in its entirety.