Fostering an inclusive ‘Leave No One Behind’ mindset in a technical university: Educational strategies and impact measurement

Fostering inclusion is not just a social imperative; it also offers businesses a competitive advantage. As part of the DTU’s "Technology Leaving No One Behind" project, this research focuses on enhancing educational strategies (e.g., workshops, courses, and learning materials) to promote inclusivity. Through educational design research, we aim to develop a measurement framework and tools to assess the effectiveness of inclusive mindset educational strategies and refine them for maximum impact.

Technical universities play a pivotal role in advancing technology, shaping societal values and preparing future leaders. Our study seeks to empower students and educators with the tools and approaches to cultivate an inclusive mindset, ensuring that technology benefits all people. By bridging the gap between theory and practice, we strive to create a more inclusive and sustainable future.

Dealing with uncertainty and complexity in business model innovation for sustainability

Business model innovation is a type of a forward-looking exercise where organizations intend to create or transform their business logic and assess its future outcomes in order to create and capture value. To achieve business model resilience and manage through unforeseeable circumstances optimal decision-making is crucial. Yet, when innovating business models, innovators are often faced with complexity and uncertainty. Such circumstances may hinder optimal and rational outcomes of the innovation process. This is especially relevant in the context of business model innovation for sustainability (BMIfS), where the forecasted impact is crucial for the entire system.

Business model innovation, as one of “entry points” to business at large, has a great potential of contributing to sustainable development goals. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the BMIfS process is needed to promote sustainability in practice and stimulate further research on the topic. This study adopts the cognitive perspective to explore in detail the process and phases of BMIfS.

The overall aim is to understand the cognitive patterns that innovators follow to cope with uncertainty and complexity within the process of BMIfS.

The collaborative role of entrepreneurs and stakeholders to accelerate sustainable development in renewable energy and fintech sectors in Egypt

This PhD research explores the collaborative efforts between entrepreneurs and various stakeholders to accelerate sustainable development in Egypt, focusing on the renewable energy and fintech sectors, priority areas for the Egyptian government. The qualitative study uses stakeholder theory, effectuation, external enablers, and institutional work frameworks. Data collection comprises 62 interviews with key stakeholders, including representatives from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), government bodies, financial institutions, banks, national and international investors, entrepreneurs, and top management teams. Additionally, archival data and observational methods provide a comprehensive analysis. The research aims to identify and understand the dynamic interactions and institutional work that enable sustainable development in these critical sectors.

Monetizing carbon savings for cleantech startups

A persistent cleantech startup financing gap inhibits the innovation’s potential to curb climate change, and the designated financial instruments for carbon savings could be better utilized to minimize the gap. Notably, the rise in corporate voluntary climate commitments is finally gaining momentum and both academics and practitioners recognize the need for diverse projects and financing solutions for reaching their goals. At the same time, there is a lack of research connecting cleantech financing options with current carbon trading practices.
The intended outcome of this project is to generate research findings leading toward frameworks and methods to guide and support financing mechanisms for cleantech ventures relating to voluntary carbon offsets.

Farnaz is investigating how gender bias affects the gender gap in entrepreneurship. She is interested in examining how the social construction of gender and entrepreneurship influence individual cognitions and perceptions, and inform biases, which effect the entrepreneurial processes in various ways. She is passionate about finding a solution by exploring how machine learning and big data can help expose implicit gender biases to reduce the gender gap in entrepreneurship.