Postdoc in Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Regenerative Food Systems - DTU Entrepreneurship

Technical University of Denmark · Kongens Lyngby

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• Would you like to contribute to research shaping the transition towards regenerative food systems?
• Do you want to explore how research, technology, entrepreneurship, policy, and diverse ecosystem actors can come together to enable more resilient and regenerative food systems? Are you interested in understanding how scientific knowledge and emerging technologies can be translated into new ventures, scalable solutions, and meaningful societal impact?
• If so, this Postdoctoral position at DTU Centre for Technology Entrepreneurship (DTU Entrepreneurship) may be the right opportunity for you.
• At DTU Entrepreneurship, we are committed to driving innovation and enabling positive social and economic transformation. We pursue evidence-based research and foster entrepreneurial capability development across education, industry, government, and civil society. In this position, you will contribute to a new strategic initiative aimed at establishing DTU as a European reference point for regenerative food systems by bringing together research, technology, education, entrepreneurship, policy, and ecosystem development.
• The Postdoc will be embedded in the DTU Regenerative Food Systems Initiative, a cross-disciplinary initiative involving DTU Entrepreneurship, DTU Skylab FoodLab, DTU Food, and DTU Center for Biosolutions, with collaboration opportunities across DTU and with external ecosystem partners.
• The initiative addresses major societal challenges facing food systems, including food security, climate change, biodiversity loss, resource scarcity, and the need for more resilient and sustainable supply chains. It aims to strengthen the connections between research, farmers, entrepreneurs, markets and other food-system actors, while developing a scientifically grounded understanding of what constitutes regenerative food systems and how regenerative practices can create value for farmers, businesses, and society.
• A central ambition of the initiative is to move from research to policy, practice, and entrepreneurial ecosystem development. The Postdoc will therefore investigate how regenerative food innovations emerge, how different actors can collaborate around them, and how promising solutions can become investable, scalable, and capable of generating positive environmental, economic, social, and health impacts.
• The research will contribute to the development of an evidence-based framework for regenerative food systems and support the identification and development of flagship cases, innovation challenges, entrepreneurial programmes, and ecosystem partnerships.
• Key research themes include:

• Regenerative food systems and the development of scientifically grounded frameworks for regenerative entrepreneurship and value creation in the food sector
• Ecosystem orchestration and coordination across research, farmers, startups, industry, investors, policymakers, NGOs, and civil society
• Regenerative business model innovation in the food sector
• Systems thinking and systems dynamics for understanding direct, indirect, and long-term impacts across regenerative food systems
• Translation of research and technology into startups, ventures, and scalable solutions

• The position also provides an opportunity to explore emerging approaches to regeneration and critically examine how food-system innovations can move beyond conventional sustainability approaches towards the restoration and enhancement of ecological and societal systems.Responsibilities and qualifications
• The Postdoc will conduct empirical and conceptual research, develop and apply qualitative and quantitative methods, engage with stakeholders, analyse ecosystem and innovation-system dynamics, and disseminate findings through leading international journals as well as relevant practitioner, policy, and industry channels.
• The position will also involve contributing to the practical development of the initiative, including ecosystem mapping, identification of cases and challenge areas, stakeholder engagement, workshops, entrepreneurial activities, and the development of future research and funding opportunities.
• The role therefore requires strong methodological competences, excellent communication skills, and a solid analytical mindset, combined with the ability to work across disciplinary boundaries and engage with real-world food, technological, entrepreneurial, and societal systems.
• We are seeking a candidate with the following qualifications:

• A strong academic record, with a background in innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability transitions, food systems, or a related field, and familiarity with qualitative and quantitative research methods
• Curiosity and motivation to investigate how innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems can contribute to regenerative food-system transitions
• An interest in understanding how research, technologies, businesses, public actors, and civil society can be coordinated to create systemic change
• An ability and willingness to engage with interdisciplinary perspectives spanning technological, environmental, economic, social, and health dimensions of food systems
• An interest in systems thinking and in understanding direct, indirect, and longer-term effects and trade-offs across complex food systems
• The ability to work independently while also thriving in an interdisciplinary and international research environment
• A willingness to engage with researchers, students, entrepreneurs, farmers, industry partners, policymakers, investors, NGOs, and other ecosystem stakeholders
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English

In addition, the following qualifications would be considered an advantage:

• Experience researching innovation ecosystems, entrepreneurial ecosystems, business models, venture creation, or ecosystem orchestration
• Experience with stakeholder engagement, interviews, workshops, participatory research, or collaboration across academia, industry, government, and civil society
• Familiarity with impact assessment, sustainability assessment, life-cycle thinking, or approaches for evaluating environmental, social, economic, and health outcomes
• Experience with innovation, entrepreneurship, or challenge-based programmes involving researchers, startups, students, or industry
• Exposure to policy engagement, science-policy interfaces, or evidence-based policy development

• As a formal qualification, you must hold a PhD degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field, such as entrepreneurship, innovation studies, management, sustainability transition, food systems, environmental sciences, or a related discipline. We offer
• DTU is a leading technical university globally recognized for the excellence of its research, education, innovation and scientific advice. We offer a rewarding and challenging job in an international environment. We strive for academic excellence in an environment characterized by collegial respect and academic freedom tempered by responsibility. Salary and terms of employment
• The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. In addition, supplements can be negotiated in accordance with DTU’s salary structure for scientific staff: www.inside.dtu.dk/en/human-resources/during-employment/salary/salary-structures.
• The period of employment is 2 years. The starting date is January 1st, 2027 (or according to mutual agreement). The position is a full-time position.
• You can read more about career paths at DTU here.Further information
• Further information may be obtained from Associate Professor Francesco Rosati (frro@dtu.dk).
• You can read more about DTU Entrepreneurship at www.entrepreneurship.dtu.dk.
• If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on working in Denmark and at DTU at DTU – Moving to Denmark.Application procedure
• Your complete online application must be submitted no later than 31 October 2026 (23:59 Danish time). Applications must be submitted as one PDF file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link "Apply now", fill out the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one PDF file. The file must include:

• Application (cover letter)
• CV
• Academic Diplomas (MSc/PhD – in English)
• List of publications 

• Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
• All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, disability, race, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply. As DTU works with research in critical technology, which is subject to special rules for security and export control, open-source background checks may be conducted on qualified candidates for the position.DTU Entrepreneurship is amongst the leading international entities in technology entrepreneurship and helps develop an entrepreneurial culture across DTU. As part of a dynamic and evolving ecosystem, we combine practice-oriented education and research in entrepreneurship with real start-up opportunities from all DTU departments. With rigorous research at its core, the Centre builds the entrepreneurial capabilities of students, industry leaders, academics and policymakers to address unsolved problems, and together create new knowledge, methodologies and initiatives. We enable ethically minded entrepreneurs to build solutions that benefit people, society and the world. The Centre experiments with new entrepreneurial methodologies and activities to push boundaries within research and education.DTU – For the benefit of society since 1829DTU is one of Europe's leading elite technical universities. Through research and education at an international top level, we create solutions to the major societal challenges of our time and help secure Europe's global leadership in sustainable technological development. Since Hans Christian Ørsted founded DTU almost 200 years ago, our mission has remained the same: We develop and create value through the natural and technical sciences for the benefit of society. DTU has 13,800 students, 1,600 PhD students, and 6,500 employees. We work in an international environment and have an inclusive, stimulating, and informal work culture. DTU has campuses in all parts of Denmark and in Greenland and collaborates with the best universities around the world.

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