Autres
This project is funded by the ANR Collaborative Research Project – Enterprise (PRCE) no ANR-25- CE26-3852 ‘ECO-CARE ECRs towards Entrepreneurial Careers: An Ecosystem Approach on Deep Tech Tools for Entrepreneurship’ in partnership with Adoc Talent Management. The PhD candidate will be fully integrated into the CERGAM (Centre d’Études et de Recherche en Gestion d’Aix-Marseille), one of the leading management research laboratories in France, hosted by Aix-Marseille University. Within the CERGAM, the doctoral researcher will join the E2I (Entrepreneuriat, Innovation et Internationalisation) research team, which focuses on understanding entrepreneurial dynamics, innovation processes, and the internationalization of firms and ecosystems. As a member of E2I, the PhD candidate will take part in the laboratory’s scientific life through participation in seminars, doctoral workshops, research meetings, and collaborative publications. He/she will also contribute to data collection and valorization activities linked to the team’s research axes, particularly those related to entrepreneurship and innovation policies.
In addition, the doctoral researcher will work:
– In close connection with the team of the “Chaire Légitimité Entrepreneuriale” (CLE), which brings together researchers and practitioners studying legitimacy processes within entrepreneurial ecosystems. This collaboration will offer access to a rich empirical field, regular research seminars, and opportunities to engage with both academic and institutional partners involved in the ECO-CARE project.
– In collaboration with Université Côte d’Azur’s Entrepreneurship Centre (UniCA Entreprendre), which will provide additional access to empirical data, opportunities to engage with the Deep- Tech Entrepreneurship diploma program (either for the researcher’s own training or to better understand the learning pathways followed by ECRs), and the expertise of CNRS–GREDEG in innovation management, entrepreneurship, and ecosystem dynamics.
The PhD project “Deep-Tech Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Early Career Researchers (ECRs)’ Pathways” is in line with the ECO-CARE funded project. The objective of this research is to explore how early career researchers (ECRs) can transition from academic research to entrepreneurship within deep-tech, and to identify how entrepreneurial ecosystems can be designed or adapted to better support these transitions.
Several dimensions are suggested for this research project:
1. Examine how entrepreneurial universities employ different tools, practices, and support mechanisms (such as university business incubators-UBIs) to develop entrepreneurial skills among early career researchers (ECRs), and assess their effectiveness in preparing a skilled talent pool for as an essential source of the Deep-Tech Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. (University Deep-Tech Sourcing Activity of ERCs)
2. Investigate the role of ECRs as drivers in the development of Deep-Tech Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, with particular attention to how UBIs act as bridges between academic research and the wider deep-tech entrepreneurial ecosystem. (Link of ERCs and Deep-Tech Entrepreneurial Ecosystem)
3. Analyze the impact of engagement with Deep-Tech Entrepreneurial Ecosystem on ECRs’ career trajectories, and explore how these individual pathways influence the evolution and sustainability of university-based entrepreneurial ecosystems and their connections with industry. (Link of Industry-University and Deep-Tech Entrepreneurial Ecosystem)
4. Investigate how deep-tech policy tools within U-BEEs contribute to the emergence of hybrid professional identities among ECRs, and assess how these tools shape researchers’ transitions toward entrepreneurial, corporate, or mixed career pathways. (Hybridization of ECR careers through deep-tech policy tools)
5. Analyze how ECRs navigate and reconcile the competing institutional logics of academia, entrepreneurship, and industry innovation, and examine the extent to which this negotiation influences their role within deep-tech entrepreneurial ecosystems. (Identity negotiation and agency of ECRs in multi-logical environments)
6. Examine how the degree of ECR integration within U-BEEs affects their access to deep-tech policy tools and shapes long-term boundary-spanning career trajectories, and how these trajectories, in turn, feedback into the development of U-BEEs. The above dimensions could evolve during the research project.
The PhD will contribute to major research debates on:
• Deep-tech and innovation policy effectiveness
• Transformation of academic careers and professional identities
• Strategic management of talent and resources in entrepreneurial ecosystems
• Institutional hybridization in the university–industry interface
Beyond academic contribution, the project will offer policy recommendations for more effective design of deep-tech support instruments and better integration of ECRs in innovation ecosystems.
Required skills :
• Master’s degree in innovation, management, business administration, strategy, business economics business engineering, or a related field (candidates in their final year can also apply but the degree requirements need to be fulfilled at the start of the PhD project)
• Good written and spoken English and French (B2 minimum).
• Interest in entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial ecosystems and the Deep-Tech sectors.
• Good knowledge of qualitative and/or quantitative techniques or ability to be trained (having followed a Master Research is a plus).
• Strong motivation for academic research in the field of entrepreneurship (potential to publish in top-ranked journals)
• Working style should be team-oriented and have strong communication sk
Upload your file in English in one single pdf file before January 31, 2026 via the Application Form: https://bit.ly/ECOCARE-Scholarship including:
– A detailed curriculum vitae including:
o education
o specific technical skills,
o previous work related to the topic (master’s thesis, reports and others)
– A document detailing the courses taken on methodology such as research methods, statistics, econometry, epistemology, etc. courses taken as relevant for the position (i.e. methodology, entrepreneurship, innovation, strategy),
– A letter of motivation explaining (max 1 page):
o the motivation for conducting a PhD, and for dedicating to the topic for the next years
o the applicant’s background and expertise, with a focus on the skills, knowledge and aptitude they would bring to the position
– Copies of diplomas and transcripts from the first year of higher education
o Bachelor Degree (incl. grades)
o Master Degree (incl. grades)
– Thesis proposal (3-6 pages):
o How does the candidate plan to develop the research topic?
o What methods to be used to process it?
o What are the expected contributions?
Applicants who are about to complete their degree are explicitly encouraged to apply.
For more information, you can contact us by email:
o Christina Theodoraki, christina.theodoraki@iae-aix.com
o Rani J. Dang rani.dang@univ-cotedazur.fr
