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:

• 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)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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.
• 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)

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.