PhD student position in Innovation Management

We are looking to recruit a PhD student within the broad field of innovation management in the food sector. Currently, this sector is under strong transformation and actors need to collaborate in new ways, to meet the UN's sustainability goals and contribute to a sustainable consumption, for our own health and for a sustainable world.  This brings new opportunities - and challenges - for established actors in the food production system.

Information about the project
In this doctoral position, you will be part of the FORMAS competence center "Food Innovation Enabling Sustainable Transition - FINEST", which is a competence center that brings together 17 stakeholders in academia, industry and the public sector, and will host several PhD students and post docs. FINEST aims to play an important role in product and system innovation within the food system and support both radical and effective transformation and innovation in the system. The center will be an important player in both understanding the system change in the Swedish food context and at the same time supporting and accelerating the specific change or changes in these three cases: 1) an efficient and sustainable Swedish wild berry value chain that promotes health products, 2) efficient and sustainable supply chains for protein crops that replace meat and dairy products, 3) the experimental power-to-food concept with the potential to radically reduce the environmental impact of food production. The center is built around the following core competencies: System change, innovation management, raw materials and ingredients, process and product design, food safety and consumer understanding.

This PhD position is in the area of innovation management and aims at developing a better understanding for how to enable innovation in the food sector. The PhD student is expected to undertake a qualitative study of actors in the food sector value chain, in collaboration with the partner firms of the competence center that offers a rich empirical base for the project. Retailer Ica and the Rural Economy and Agricultural Societies (Hushållningssällskapet) are the primary stakeholders of the project, as well as researchers at RISE. The PhD student will study and support the development of large organizations' ability to enable innovation and innovation collaborations, as well as propose and test new methods for collaboration. The more detailed scope of the project will be defined in the first year. The study includes conducting interviews, organizing workshops and collecting data from the three cases mentioned above. The PhD student is also expected to communicate results from the project to industry as well as the international scientific community. The PhD project also entails course work, independent literature studies and the writing of a number of scientific articles based on the research results (to be included in the thesis).

Major responsibilities
The main responsibility of a PhD student is to pursue doctoral studies in relation to a specific research topic. This includes two main components: doctoral courses and independent research (under supervision). The latter includes literature studies, research design and planning, empirical studies and communication of results in writing and orally at seminars and conferences. For this position, interaction and communication with the actors in FINEST will be an important part of the work. The exact focus and content of the studies will be decided in interaction with the examiner/main supervisor. The PhD student is expected to contribute to writing a number of scientific articles, based on the results of the research, which will be included in the thesis.

The position also includes teaching at the undergraduate or master's level or performing other departmental duties corresponding to a maximum of 20 percent of the working hours.

Position summary
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.

Qualifications
To be eligible for the position, the following two educational qualifications are required:
(1) A university degree at advanced (Master's) level in a relevant field of study, comprising at least four years of study (240 ECTS credits), whereof at least 60 ECTS credits at advanced (Master's) level (or equivalent). Examples of relevant fields of study include (but are not restricted to) industrial engineering and management, product development, production engineering, business administration or similar.

(2) By the start of the enrolment in the PhD program, the candidate must have completed an independent degree project (thesis) at advanced (Master's) level, representing at least one term of study (30 ECTS credits)

To be qualified for this position the applicant should have good interpersonal and social skills, analytical skills and strong communication skills. You need to be fluent in English (written and verbal) and due to the character of the research and empirical context it is also mandatory to have strong Swedish skills to enable document studies, interviews and oral and written communication with stakeholders.

We believe that you are highly motivated, personally mature and both able and willing to assume responsibility for and pursue the task at hand. You are good at communicating with others and are able to handle complex information and problems, breaking down and analysing problems as well as synthesizing information from several sources. You like to take the broader perspective and tend to consider the long-term consequences of decisions and actions but are also able to make proper judgements and set appropriate priorities when needed.

Application deadline: 15 February, 2021
Read more and apply here

*** Chalmers declines to consider all offers of further announcement publishing or other types of support for the recruiting process in connection with this position. ***