CENTRE FOR , RESEARCH AND COMPETENCE INN THE LEARNING ECONOMY

INVITATION TO SUBMIT A CONFIDENTI AL STATEMENT OF INTEREST:

POSITION OF DIRECTOR AND FULL PROFESSOR IN INNOVATION STUDIES AT CIRCLE,

LUND, FEBRUARY 2011 ABOUT LUND UNIVERSITY AND CIRCLE

Lund University is one of Europe’s foremost universities and ’s leading research institution. Here, tradition is combined with dynamic development and cutting edge research. The extensive activities cover education, research and innovation in technology, science, law, social sciences, economics, medicine, humanities, theology, art, music and theatre. The university has 46,000 enrolled students and 6,000 academic and administrative staff. Lund University, founded in 1666, is the largest university in the Nordic countries and the third oldest. It ranks as No. 89 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2010. Lund University ranks first among the Nordic universities and in continental Europe it is the fourth highest ranked university with all faculties. The university is an elected member of two prominent international networks, the League of European Research Universities (LERU) and Universitas 21; it is one of eleven higher education institutions that together form the consortium that is known as Öresund University. Lund University has agreements with over 600 partner universities in about fifty countries around the world.

Lund, an old university town of about 80,000 inhabitants, is dominated by the university. Indeed, it is often said that Lund is the only ‘university town’ in the Nordic countries. Sweden’s third largest city, Malmö, with close to 300,000 inhabitants is only 10 minutes away, and Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark with around 1.2 million inhabitants only 50 minutes away. Fast (35 min) and frequent (20 min) trains link Lund to Copenhagen international airport, Kastrup, which is the largest Nordic, European and Intercontinental network in Northern Europe.

Lund houses several international leading high-tech companies such as Sony Ericsson, Ericsson, Gambro, Tetra Pak, Axis Communications and Alfa Laval. Most of the high-tech companies have productive interactions with Lund University and Ideon Science Park, which is the oldest science park in the Nordic countries and one of the largest in Europe. Lund University also has a close working relationship with Medicon Valley, which is the fourth largest biotech cluster in Europe. Bio-medical research will be consolidated when Astra-Zeneca’s former R&D facilities are incorporated into Ideon. The two largest research facilities in Sweden – the European Spallation Source (ESS) and Max-Lab IV – will be built in Lund in the coming years. The ESS will be a unique facility for material research and a multidisciplinary scientific, European research centre harnessing the world’s most powerful neutron source. Max-lab is a national facility for materials research based on synchrotron radiation and operated jointly by the Swedish Research Council and Lund University. Max-Lab IV, which will be 100 times more efficient than any existing comparable synchrotron radiation facility in the world, will put Sweden in a class of its own in materials and nano research. The selection of Lund as the location for these important research facilities reflects the significance and attractiveness of research at Lund University. 2

CIRCLE (Centre for Innovation, Research and Competence in the Learning Economy), largely funded by VINNOVA (the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems), the Swedish Research Council (VR) and Lund University, is an interdisciplinary research centre of excellence spanning several faculties at Lund University. The economic situation of CIRCLE is very solid and stable, with two basic research grants running until mid-2016. In 2006 The Swedish Research Council awarded CIRCLE a 10-year Linnaeus Grant as a centre of excellence for studies of ‘Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Knowledge Creation: Dynamics in Globalizing Learning Economies’. Last year CIRCLE was awarded new 6-year funding for Centres of Excellence in innovation systems research by VINNOVA. The call concerned research on innovation/innovation systems/innovation policies, research on entrepreneurship/SMEs and research on the organization, economics and policy of R&D. In addition, CIRCLE receives long-term matching funding from Lund University as well as additional project funding from the Framework Programs of the European Commission and other Swedish, Nordic and European funding agencies. One might say that CIRCLE has been very successful in attracting external funding.

In connection with VINNOVA’s call for a new round of funding of centres of excellence for the period July 2010 – June 2016, all innovation research centres in Sweden were evaluated by international peers. CIRCLE was ranked number one of nine innovation research centres and was given the highest grade (5) for research. Grade 5 means “Outstanding, at the forefront of international research”. The comment of the evaluators was “This is an internationally eminent group addressing the main questions at the leading edge of innovation systems/innovation policy research with potentially strong policy implications.” In RQ08 (an international evaluation of all research centres at Lund University), CIRCLE was given the grade “excellent” in all dimensions.

Since its creation in July 2004, CIRCLE has become a leading centre for research on R&D, innovation, entrepreneurship and economic dynamics, and is today the largest of the national research centres of excellence in the field. With a staff of 35, CIRCLE is also the largest innovation research centre in the Nordic countries and among the largest centres in Europe. In addition, 5-6 positions, which are currently under appointment, have attracted 60 applicants from 17 countries. CIRCLE already has employees representing 13 nationalities and the working language is English (60 percent of the CIRCLE employees are non-Swedish). CIRCLE is highly interdisciplinary with researchers from 14 disciplines. The staff is young and dynamic with an equal gender balance among the junior staff members. CIRCLE is organizationally placed directly below the Vice-Chancellor of the University, outside the traditional faculties.

A detailed description of CIRCLE’s research programs, research evaluations and CIRCLE Annual Reports can be found at www.circle.lu.se.

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THE POSITION AND THE TASKS

CIRCLE is looking for a new director as the incumbent, Professor Charles Edquist, who has been the director since CIRCLE’s establishment in July 2004, wants to devote more time to research and third mission tasks, but will remain a professor at CIRCLE.

The position as director is a temporary one of 3+3 years based on a tenured position as full professor at CIRCLE. During the period of directorship the working time is to be divided between leading CIRCLE and doing own research. After the 6 years as director, the appointee will have the option of remaining a full professor at CIRCLE. More specifically, the principal responsibilities of the director will be to:

• Provide intellectual and strategic leadership for CIRCLE research • Develop the reputation, and serve as the principal external face, of CIRCLE • Take overall responsibility for leadership and management of CIRCLE

In addition to delivering in the above areas, the successful candidate will be required to provide documented proof of the following key experiences and attributes:

• An outstanding record of international research in innovation studies broadly defined (incl. entrepreneurship and research on the organization, economics and policy of R&D) • An strong record of attracting research and other external funding • Evidence of well-established links with policy-related organizations on regional, national and/or international levels • Ability to create a stimulating and positive working environment • Capacity to support career development for young, dynamic and ambitious academics to retain their talent – since CIRCLE is a ”young” organization • Experience of leadership of an interdisciplinary and culturally complex organization • Capability of developing a world class PhD program • Record of strategic planning, including the setting and meeting of targets • Capacity to cooperate in an interdisciplinary environment • Experience of financial as well as human resource management

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ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Candidates will be assessed as academic leaders and as researchers.

Special importance will be given to whether the candidate, through his/her knowledge and experience, may be regarded as having the best prerequisites for carrying out the roles of academic leadership, as described above, and contributing to the positive development of CIRCLE as a research organisation of global excellence. In addition, the capacity to carry out third mission activities through interacting with the surrounding society will be regarded as being of strategic importance. Since the work is to be conducted at CIRCLE, which is a cross-disciplinary research environment, it is a merit to have experience of leadership as well as research in interdisciplinary environments. Presence in Lund 3 days a week is obligatory. This might be manageable on a commuting basis given Lund’s location close to Copenhagen airport as well as excellent and fast train connections. The nationalities of the candidates will play no role in the process of appointing the new director/professor.

In the assessment of the candidates as researchers, special importance will be given to academic qualifications in research on innovation/innovation systems/innovation policies/innovation and economic growth, entrepreneurship/SMEs and the organization, economics and policy of R&D. Core competence equivalent to full professor in one of these research areas is required, and the three sub-fields are considered equally important in this respect. Preference will be given to candidates with competence and interest in more than one of the sub-fields. International publications in high level refereed journals and edited volumes will be considered important, as will the capacity to attract external funding and establish a well-developed international network with leading researchers, research milieus and policy organisations nationally and/or internationally.

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HOW TO PROCEED

CIRCLE has appointed a search committee, led by the Deputy Director, Professor Björn Asheim. In the interest of efficiency and to secure confidentiality for the interested candidates, CIRCLE will not announce an opening for a formal position (with submission of written works, etc) at this stage. (The formal issues will be handled later.) Therefore, potentially interested candidates should now submit only a short statement of interest and a full CV by email to Björn Asheim, CIRCLE ([email protected]). The search will continue until the post is filled. However, the search committee will begin reviewing candidates after March 11, 2011, and decide on a shortlist of the top candidates, who will then be called for an interview. CIRCLE applies a practice of high efficiency of appointments, and would like the selected candidate to take up the position at his/her earliest convenience.

For further information, please contact Professor Björn Asheim, Deputy Director of CIRCLE and in charge of the recruitment process at +46-46-2228402 or [email protected]. For information about the specific character of the directorship, Professor Charles Edquist, the incumbent, can also be contacted at +46-46-2223931, +46-708-136213 or [email protected].

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CIRCLE (Centre for Innovation, Research and Competence in the Learning Economy) Lund University P.O. Box 117, Sölvegatan 16, 221 00 Lund, SWEDEN www.circle.lu.se

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