Hosted by the Institute of Organization Science, the eighth installment of the Austrian Early Scholars Workshop in Management was held successfully in May 2020. This mini conference offers young management scholars from all over the world an opportunity to present their work to a faculty of renowned international researchers and receive developmental feedback.

The Austrian Early Scholars Workshop in Management, a major excellence initiative of the JKU Management Research Group, is jointly organized with Vienna University of Economics and Business. Hosted by Prof. Robert M. Bauer (JKU) and Prof. Giuseppe Delmestri (WU), the 8^th Austrian Early Scholars Workshop in Management once again assembled a distinguished faculty of leading management scholars—allowing Early Scholars from Europe, North America and South America to discuss their research with professors from renowned Austrian and international universities, including Oxford University, University of Edinburgh, University of Alberta and University of Victoria. JKU was represented by Prof. Elke Schüßler and Prof. Matthias Fink.

Due to COVID-19 the workshop had to be moved into virtual space. Faculty members unanimously agreed to participate in virtual paper development roundtables via video conference and Early Scholars responded with immense interest in discussing their work. Arguably, this is indicative of a huge void in current scientific dialogue, stemming from numerous corona-related cancellations of international conferences, and it demonstrates the need and willingness to jointly fill this void.

"Despite the crisis, we were able to give young researchers an opportunity to present and further develop their work," Prof. Bauer says, "Unfortunately, we missed out on other aspects of the workshop, such as making friends and jointly creating new ideas on the fly. I am therefore all the more pleased that the Province of Upper Austria has allowed us to carry over the funding promised for this year into next year. In 2021, during the course of the 9th Austrian Early Scholars Workshop in Management, the new JKU Campus will once again become a place for creative and personal encounters."