Postdoctoral Researcher

Aalto University is where science and art meet technology and business... The Department of Design is a community of creative and responsible researchers and design experts... NODUS Sustainable Design Research Group is globally recognized for transdisciplinary design research to achieve sustainable futures... We are now looking for a Postdoctoral researcher in complexity-aligned innovation and institutional design. Are you a researcher excited by complexity/systems theory and collective intelligence, and eager to do empirical work on how innovation systems can be reimagined for an age of systemic disruption? This position offers a unique opportunity for an ambitious researcher to help develop and implement research on complexity-aligned innovation governance — investigating how innovation systems can move beyond a single growth logic toward the capacity to sense different strategic contexts and respond with appropriate institutional postures. The work mobilises complexity and systems, innovation studies, collective intelligence and participatory, action-research methods, in close engagement with Finnish and international innovation-ecosystem actors. The position is part of the Business Finland–funded project on Tech-Enabled Institutional Innovation. The contract is 12–15 months depending on starting time. The salary range for this position follows Aalto guidelines and will be in the range of 4160 – 4300 €/month depending on the expertise of the candidate. The position requires residency in Finland for the duration of the contract. Your role and goals: You will contribute to both the conceptual and empirical development of the project. On the empirical side, you will undertake qualitative research in real-life innovation settings — conducting in-depth interviews with innovation-ecosystem actors and designing and facilitating co-creative workshops — grounded in an action-research approach in which the research process itself helps to co-create new innovation practices. On the conceptual side, you will contribute to literature reviews and to building the project’s theoretical foundations. You will engage with societal stakeholders across research, policy, business, and civic domains. In addition to undertaking research, leading and co-authoring high-quality academic publications, you will help develop research-based outputs that build bridges between academic knowledge, policy making, and practice. Your experience and ambitions: The successful candidate will have: A doctoral degree in innovation studies, complexity science, science and technology studies, sustainability science, systemic design, or a field relevant to the position... A strong grounding in complexity theory and a demonstrated interest in applying it to empirical research in innovation, organisational, or governance contexts is an advantage... Knowledge of innovation management, innovation policy, collective intelligence or transition/transformation studies... Experience in inter/transdisciplinary research... Experience in producing high quality academic outputs... Experience in collaborative and participatory research with stakeholders... Experience in workshop facilitation and stakeholder engagement... Excellent academic writing and publication skills; Excellent skills in English are required. Working proficiency in Finnish or Swedish is considered as an advantage; Experience in grant application preparation is considered as an advantage. What we offer: Meaningful and inspiring environment... Culture that inspires and includes everyone... Responsible and meaningful role... Societal impact with wide stakeholder interaction and policy influence... Great possibilities for competence development and learning... We work in a hybrid model, with the primary workplace located at the Otaniemi Campus in Espoo.