Professor of Entrepreneurship

ABOUT GHENT UNIVERSITY

Ghent University is one of the most important education and research institutions in the Low Countries. On a daily basis, 15,000 staff members and 50,000 students implement its motto "Dare to Think". Ghent University's mission statement is characterised by qualitative education, internationally renowned research and a pluralistic social responsibility.

ASSIGNMENT

The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University has a vacancy for a full-time position for a lecturer (tenure track) in the research group Entrepreneurship, starting from 01/09/2025. It concerns a five-year temporary appointment within the tenure track system. For further details regarding the progression of the academic career, please refer to the section 'Appointment Information' below.

The lecturer will focus on research and teaching in the field of Entrepreneurship. The lecturer will undertake teaching duties in various programs within our Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.

Academic education

You teach various courses in the field of Entrepreneurship but are also willing, if necessary, to serve as an instructor for general courses such as "Research Methodology" or "Business Administration."

Academic research

You develop research in the field of Entrepreneurship. Candidates must have the potential to conduct high-quality research in the field of Entrepreneurship and are expected to publish in top-tier Entrepreneurship and Management journals. The Entrepreneurship research group is a dynamic and high-performing team that collaborates closely with the entrepreneurial finance team, which is situated in a different department. An illustration of the excellence of the group is the 11th place that the entrepreneurship researchers at Ghent University achieved in the 2024 TCU Global University Entrepreneurship Research Productivity Rankings.

The research field of the lecturer is situated within the broad domain of Entrepreneurship and should preferably be complementary, while still sufficiently aligned with the current research conducted within the research group, which primarily focuses on areas such as opportunity recognition, the strategic, human, and psychological aspects (e.g., top management teams and boards of directors) of entrepreneurship, academic entrepreneurship and technology transfer, and the well-being of entrepreneurs. Complementarity in terms of research methodology and knowledge of theoretical perspectives is also highly recommended.

Academic services

You contribute to the internal and external service provision of the Department of Marketing, Innovation, and Organization.

PROFILE

Experience

• You have already conducted eminent academic research in the given discipline, which is clearly reflected in publications in high-quality academic journals and peer-reviewed books;
• You are capable of initiating, supervising and acquiring the necessary funding for academic research;
• You are didactically skilled to teach university students to develop academic competences;
• Recommended are:
  • International mobility, among other things thanks to research stays at institutions external to the one where you acquired your highest academic degree;
  • Positively evaluated experience in provided or organised academic lecturing;
  • Professionalisation of education.

You must master the language of instruction in which you will teach a course at CEFR- level C1. You can demonstrate this by means of a language certificate or a diploma obtained from an institution in which that language is the language of instruction. In addition, Article II.270, §1 of the Codex of Higher Education requires that: (i) you must master the Dutch language at least at CEFR-level A2 within two years after the start of the appointment. (ii) you must be able to master the Dutch language at least at CEFR-level of B2 within five years after the start of the appointment.

• You are quality-oriented;
• You highly value ethical conduct;
• You have a sense of initiative;
• You are team-oriented and possess the necessary skills to function within a team;
• You are capable of leading and supervising PhD students.

Admission requirements

• You hold a thesis-based doctorate or a diploma or certificate that is recognised as equivalent (article V.20 Codex Higher Education ).

Upon evaluation of a foreign (non-EU) diploma, a certificate of equivalence may still have to be requested at NARIC. If this is the case, we advise you to initiate this recognition procedure as soon as possible. You are required to have the recognition no later than on the date of your appointment.

• You have at least two years of postdoctoral experience on 1 September 2025. This term of two years is determined by the date written on the above-mentioned required diploma.

APPOINTMENT INFORMATION

• We offer you a temporary appointment in a tenure track system for a term of five years. If positively evaluated by the University Board, the term of office will be transferred into a permanent appointment as an associate professor.
• Should you already be a member of the professorial staff or hold an equal post at a university or research institution, you can immediately be appointed as an assistant professor, without prejudice to the possibility of a temporary appointment offered in article V.28 of the Codex of Higher Education.

The recruitment is from 1 September 2025.

OUR OFFER

Ghent University is committed to properly welcoming new professorial staff members and offering them appropriate guidance. The basic teacher training and courses of 'Dutch' and 'English' for foreign-speaking lecturers are only a few examples of our wide range of training and education opportunities. Furthermore, each Ghent University staff member can count on a number of benefits such as a bike allowance, reimbursement of public transport commuting costs, daycare, a wide range of sports facilities and EcoCheques.

Ghent University also invests in welcoming international professorial staff. It offers various housing options, a relocation bonus, the International School for school-aged children (with a discount on the tuition fee), support when registering at the City of Ghent, support with the procedure of family reunification and other administrative matters in connection with moving to Ghent.

Candidates who are newly appointed at Ghent University with an appointment as autonomous academic staff of at least 50% or candidates whose appointment as autonomous academic staff at Ghent University is increased to a minimum of 50% receive a Starting Grant of € 230.000 to contribute towards the personnel, operating and/or equipment costs of establishing a research team.

GENDER AND DIVERSITY

Ghent University conducts an equal opportunities policy and encourages everyone to apply. Ghent University also strives for a gender balance. Female applications are thus especially welcomed.

SELECTION PROCEDURE

After the final application date, all received applications will be sent to the faculty selection committee assembled for this vacancy. After a pre-selection on the basis of the submitted and assessed as admissible application files, the selection committee may hear the candidates about their vision and planning regarding education, research and services. It is also possible to organize a trial lesson or a presentation on a subject in the relevant field. Afterwards, the committee will rank the suitable candidates and present this ranking to the Faculty Board. The advice of the Faculty Board will then be presented to the University Board for approval.

Candidates are asked to further discuss their top 5 most important publications or other academic achievements with the highest impact. Next to academic publications, the candidate is thus also able to show merit of knowledge transfer by academic dissemination, social valorisation, public awareness, seminars or conference presentations. These competences are also taken into account when evaluating the candidates.

The evaluation of the required international mobility is broad and partly takes the gender perspective into account, thus not only considering longer stays abroad by also other forms of internationalisation.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply online through the e-recruitment system before the application deadline (see above). We do not accept late or incomplete applications, or applications that are not sent through the online system.

Your application must include the following documents:

• In the field 'Cover letter': your application letter in pdf format
• In the field 'Diploma': a transcript of your doctoral degree. If you have a foreign diploma in a language other than our national languages (Dutch, French or German) or English, please add a translation in one of the mentioned languages.
• In the field 'Certificate of equivalence': only for diplomas awarded outside the European Union: certificate of equivalence ( NARIC ) (if already in you possession). For diplomas awarded in the UK before January 31st of 2020, a certificate of equivalence is not required.

Note that the maximum file size for each field is 10 MB.

MORE INFORMATION

For further information regarding this vacancy, please contact Professor Mirjam Knockaert ( Mirjam.Knockaert@UGent.be , +32 (0)9 2643459) at the faculty Economics and Business Administration, department Marketing, Innovation and Organization.