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Call for Junior Fellowships in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship is now open - deadline March. 9th, 2026

Up to four junior fellowships are available for early career researchers working on interdisciplinary Innovation Management and/or Entrepreneurship. Fellows will be hosted for a one-month stay at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) Business School in conjunction with the Danish Institute for Advanced Study (DIAS). The primary purpose of the fellowship is to mentor and support early career researchers through the process of writing applications for externally funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships hosted at SDU.

During their stay, the fellows will be hosted by one of the following:

Mette Præst Knudsen, Professor of Innovation Management. Research area: emerging technologies, digital and technological sovereignty, innovation and transformation, innovation ecosystems and value creation from emerging technologies.

Janet Rafner, Assistant Professor of Innovation Management. Research area: in hybrid intelligence, human-AI co-creation, technology acceptance, participatory democracy, collective intelligence, citizen science, environmental impact of generative AI.

Kim Klyver, Professor of Entrepreneurship.  Research Area: entrepreneurship and small business (growth) in external crises (e.g., war, geopolitical instability, poly-crisis, natural disasters, financial crises).

Steffen Korsgaard, Professor of Entrepreneurship. Research Area: in entrepreneurship and regional development, rural entrepreneurship and mission oriented innovation policies for sustainable development.

Fellows may come from any disciplinary background, so long as their project is in innovation management and/or entrepreneurship and suitable supervisors can be identified. Please note in your application which host you would like to work with. 

Fellows will be provided with workspace at the Business School and will be able to participate in additional events at DIAS and the Business School which take place during the fellowship period.

Ideally, the fellowship period will take place from mid-May to mid-June, 2026, which will allow fellows to join some of our events, such as PhD courses and conferences. However, it is also possible to schedule an alternative fellowship period.

University of Southern Denmark Business School (SBS): At SBS, we work purposefully to create knowledge, ideas and solutions for the benefit of business and society in general, and our research often takes place in close cooperation with companies, public organisations and stakeholders – regionally, nationally and internationally. SDU's business research is organised in two departments and present at all five campuses. With our research, we strive to deliver excellent contributions within the classic business disciplines and to publish these contributions in the best international journals.

DIAS: The Danish Institute for Advanced Study is an elite research center at SDU with a focus on interdisciplinary collaboration. Its chairs, senior fellows, and fellows represent all five faculties at the university. Members gather for weekly events, including regular talks by leading researchers from across all academic disciplines. More information about DIAS can be found here.

Eligibility: Fellows are expected to apply for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships (anticipated deadline Sept. 2026)-in addition to other funding sources that they may identify themselves. Eligibility for the Visiting Junior Fellowships will therefore be the same as eligibility criteria for the 2026 MSCA fellowships. Typically, this requires that the applicant have a PhD before the MSCA deadline, which they have received less than eight years earlier. Moreover, as this is a mobility fellowship, applicants cannot have resided in Denmark for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately preceding the call deadline. (Please see the above link for full eligibility requirements.)

Award: Fellows will be awarded up to 30,000 DKK (approx. €4,000). Typically, up to 15,000 DKK will be provided as reimbursement for travel and housing costs. The remaining 15,000 DKK will be disbursed as a one-time payment once the application has been submitted. (Note: The payment may count as taxable income in the fellow's country of residence.)

Application Details: The application should include the following three documents, totaling two pages plus a CV:

(1) A project proposal (max. one page, single-spaced, 11 pt. font), which outlines a potential project in innovation management and/or entrepreneurship. The proposal should provide a brief motivation/background for the project before sketching the aims and methods. We encourage the applicant to focus on a novel and creativity-driven proposal. Projects that clearly span more than one discipline and might involve collaboration with different faculties will be prioritized. Projects can be theoretical or empirical. Please note that the purpose of the fellowship is not to carry out the proposed project. Rather, the purpose is to work with your supervisor and additional collaborators to refine the project idea and develop a full proposal for external funding applications.

(2) An information sheet (max. one page, single-spaced, 11 pt. font) outlining (a) the applicant's prior research insofar as it is relevant to the fellowship call; (b) which faculty member (Mette, Janet, Kim, Steffen) the applicant would like to work with to develop the project proposal, and how their research overlaps with these faculty members; (c) how they meet the MSCA eligibility criteria for the funding; (d) where the applicant heard about the fellowship.

(3) A standard CV (max. 3 pages single-spaced, 11 pt. font), which should include, at minimum, education, employment, and presentations/publications.

Deadline: Applications should be emailed to Janet Rafner at jraf@sam.sdu.dk by Monday, March 9^th, 2026. Decisions will be communicated by the end of March.

For general questions about the fellowship, including eligibility, project ideas, contact Janet Rafner.