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Your work assignments

How do firms take care of ideas, people and resources when an innovation lab closes? In recent years, many Swedish firms have established innovation labs to create new ways of working, develop radical ideas, and strengthen their capacity for renewal. But considerably less is known about what happens when these innovation labs are closed. Does the knowledge disappear? Do the ideas live on in other parts of the organization? Do former employees start new businesses? And how does the company’s innovation capability change?

In this doctoral project, we study the afterlife of innovation labs. The project focuses on closed innovation labs in Swedish industry. By following people, ideas and resources after the innovation labs have been closed, the project wants to contribute with new knowledge about innovation, strategic restructuring and the industry’s long-term capability for renewal.

As a doctoral student, you will be a central part of the research project. You will work closely with your supervisor, other researchers and participating companies and gradually develop your own research profile in innovation, strategy and industrial renewal.

The work will include:

• conducting interviews with former managers and employees in innovation labs,
• mapping what has happened to ideas, projects, prototypes and other resources after the closure,
• analyzing archival material, internal documents, project descriptions, press materials and digital traces,
• following career paths for people who have stayed in the firms and left them,
• using quantitative methods to create an overview of patterns in the material, such as social network analysis, register or database mapping, descriptive statistics, visualization of career paths, patent or project databases and analysis of LinkedIn and organizational data where possible,
• writing scientific articles and presenting results at seminars and international conferences.

As a PhD student, you devote most of your time to doctoral studies and the research projects of which you are part. Your work may also include teaching or other departmental duties, up to a maximum of 20 per cent of full-time.

Your qualifications

You have graduated at Master’s level in Business Administration or completed courses with a minimum of 240 credits, at least 60 of which must be in advanced courses in Business Administration. Alternatively, you have gained essentially corresponding knowledge in another way.  The requirement for a degree must be met no later than the time the employment decision is finalized, which occurs when the employment contract is signed.

You should have good knowledge of quantitative research methods. This could include experience with statistical analysis, regression analysis, longitudinal data, network analysis, survey data, or register data. At the same time, the project is not a purely quantitative study. We are therefore looking for someone who is also interested in qualitative methods, especially interviews, document analysis and archival work.

Strong knowledge of academic English, both written and spoken, is a requirement for the position, as the scientific articles are expected to be aimed at an international research audience. As the project is carried out in close contact with Swedish industrial companies, it is an advantage to have knowledge of Swedish, both spoken and written.

It is an advantage if you have experience in any of the following:

• research or investigative work,
• work with large text, register or organizational materials,
• interviews or field studies,
• analysis of innovation, industry, technology, strategy or organizational change,
• work in or with larger companies, authorities, consulting organizations or innovation environments,
• visualization of data, such as networks, timelines or career flows.

Your workplace

For information about the workplace, read more here.

The employment

When taking up the post, you will be admitted to the program for doctoral studies. More information about the doctoral studies at each faculty is available at Doctoral studies at Linköping University

The employment has a duration of normally four years’ full-time equivalent. Extension of employment up to five years is based on the degree of teaching and institutional assignment. Further extensions may be granted in exceptional circumstances. You will initially be employed for one year, after which your employment will be renewed for a maximum of two years at a time, depending on your progress through the study plan. 

Starting date by agreement.

Background screening may come to be carried out before any decision on employment is made.

Salary and employment benefits

The salary of PhD students is determined according to a locally negotiated salary progression.

More information about employment benefits at Linköping University is available here.

Union representatives

Information about union representatives, see Help for applicants.

Application procedure

Apply for the position by clicking the “Apply” button below. Your application must reach Linköping University no later than 15th of June 2026.

Applications and documents received after the date above will not be considered.