The Centre for Integrative Innovation Management at the Department of Business & Management, University of Southern Denmark invites applications for one or more position(s) as Associate Professor in Innovation Management. The position(s) is/are located in Odense. The successful candidate is expected to assume this position latest September 1st, 2026 or as per negotiation.

Job description
The Centre for Integrative Innovation Management is a cross-disciplinary research group where we focus on understanding the development of innovative capabilities, managing innovation, and the emergence of technologies for firm performance and ecosystem development. We adopt a cross-disciplinary approach because understanding and promotion of innovation from the initial idea to the fully commercialized or implemented innovation requires the combination of management, marketing, and technology. For more information on the Centre please visit the Centre website.

The candidate is expected to conduct research related to one or more of the following strategic priorities of the Centre pertaining to Innovation Management:

1. Creativity, knowledge creation as part of digital innovation and transformation. This program focuses on management of technology and value-creating digital transformation as well as the relationships between digital technologies, creativity, and knowledge creation.

2. Emerging Technologies, Business Models and Innovation Ecosystems – this program focuses on emerging technologies and their path to commercialization. Ultimately, emerging technologies may target markets that are yet to be created. We have research specialized on drone technology, Artificial intelligence, and “green” technologies. We are also interested in research that brings technology management into the context of emerging eco-systems.

3. Innovative and technological change. This research area focuses on innovation induced changes processes within organizations and higher levels of aggregation. Key questions relate to the emergence, diffusion, and disappearance of innovations and technologies within and beyond organizations. A central aim is to understand such change processes, how to govern them, and to formulate strategies for management to enable and react to them. 

Successful candidates will have an international profile and a record of research publications preferably in globally top-ranked journals and within dedicated innovation journals such as Research Policy, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Technovation, and more broad management journals. We welcome researchers with different methodological approaches, as we see the advantage in combining methods among the team members, to further the research agenda.

Candidates should have a Ph.D. degree in social sciences (business economics, economics or similar) or a cross-disciplinary Ph.D. with a significant social science contribution. Once appointed, they will primarily teach in the wider field of innovation management, marketing and market research, and potentially in project management in programs such as the B.Sc. and M.Sc. in economics and business administration, and the M.Sc. (eng.) in Product Development and Innovation.

We expect successful appointees to contribute to the development of the Research Centre and to the department as a whole. As senior scholars, they are expected to be active in the social and academic life of the Department and participate in the guidance of doctoral students and junior faculty. Also, we expect active and constructive participation in the university's academic administration. To fulfill the requirements of the position, the appointee is expected to be physically present at the Centre on a regular basis.

Experience with external research fund raising and application processes are a plus. Ideally, the appointee has established strong ties with the international research community. Owing to the increasingly international focus of the degree programs, candidates must be able to teach in English. Furthermore, non-Danish candidates are expected to learn Danish within a shorter period of time.

The Faculty of Business and Social Science has recently been accredited by AACSB. For more information about the Department of Business & Management please visit our website.

Further information can be obtained from Head of Center for Integrative Innovation Management, Professor Mette Præst Knudsen by email at mpk@sam.sdu.dk. 

Application content
Appointment to the position will be in accordance with the collective agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations for academics in the state with the associated circular on the protocol for the job structure for academic staff at Danish universities and the provisions for associate professor as described herein. 

For more information on the department guidelines for qualification and recruitment please visit our web.

An application must include:

• Detailed CV 

• Master’s degree and PhD degree or equivalent (copy of original + verified English translation)

• Complete list of publications, indicating which publications are most relevant for the position. 

• Up to 5 of the most relevant publications.

  • Please upload a PDF for each publication.

  • If the publication is co-authored, please briefly describe the extent of the co-authorship or your contribution to the individual joint publication. You can do so by using this form or you can describe the co-authorship in such a way that the committee can assess the extent of your contribution. 

  • If co-author statements are not submitted with the application, we assume that the publication follows the standard: authors are listed as per their contribution to the research, starting with the one who contributed the most to the least.

  • If a publication is accepted for publication and is included for evaluation, documentation from the relevant journal should be appended to the PDF. 

• Experience with obtaining external funding and project management (if any). List the type of grant and the role held by the applicant together with the amount obtained (or applied for if unsuccessful).

• A research plan for the next three years integrating previous experiences preferably with the strategic priorities mentioned above. Also include your specialized methodologies and how these can be envisioned.

• A teaching portfolio detailing the candidate’s prior teaching experience, teaching skills, teaching philosophy, and other forms of knowledge communication. A guide for the teaching portfolio may be found here.

• Statement of experiences with company partnerships (e.g. research or applied projects, consulting etc.).

All non-Danish documents must be translated into English.

Documents should not contain a CPR number (civil registration number), if they do – the CPR number must be crossed out. 

We request files in pdf-format no more than 5 MB per file. All pdf-files must be unlocked and allow binding and may not be password protected.

The person employed in the position may, based on a specific individual managerial assessment, be exempted from time registration, also known as a self-organiser.

The assessment and evaluation process.

Applications will be assessed by an assessment committee. The committee may request additional information, and if so, it is the responsibility of the candidates to provide the necessary material.

When the assessment committee has submitted its report, the candidates will receive the part of the evaluation that concerns them. The assessment report will subsequently be forwarded to the Head of Department who will assemble an appointments committee. The appointments committee will manage and complete the job interviews, should such be conducted.

Shortlisting may be used in the assessment process. Please note that only shortlisted applicants will receive an assessment. Read about shortlisting at SDU. 

If the application does not meet the requirements mentioned above, the faculty may reject your application without further notice. Applications received after the deadline will neither be considered nor evaluated.

We recommend that as an international applicant, you take the time to visit Work in Denmark where you will find information and facts about moving to, working and living in Denmark, as well as the International Staff Office at SDU. 

Deadline for applications is: February 16, 2026, 23:59 CET/CEST.

Applications must be submitted electronically using the link "Apply now" on our website.

If you experience technical problems, please contact hcm-support@sdu.dk. 

The University of Southern Denmark wishes to reflect the surrounding community and therefore encourages everyone, regardless of personal background, to apply for the position.

About SDU
The University of Southern Denmark was established to create value for and with society. Whether our contributions come in the form of excellent research, innovative solutions, education or learning, we must make a positive difference to society and contribute to a sustainable future. We do this by cultivating talents and creating the best environments for research and learning. It is therefore crucial that SDU retains, develops and recruits talent. At the same time, we need to ensure consistently high quality in all our activities – and we can only do that with the right people. The University’s researchers, lecturers, students, managers and technical/administrative staff are the foundation of our success.

UPLOAD GUIDE: Motivated application shall be uploaded as ‘Cover letter’, Curriculum Vitae shall be uploaded as ‘Resume’. All other documents shall be uploaded as ‘Miscellaneous documents’.

Applicants are encouraged to read the information "How to apply" before applying.