Entrepreneurship and Innovative Business Models

About us

 

Innovation often arises at the interfaces between different fields of knowledge and technology. This is precisely where new technology and innovation systems develop, enabling novel business models and challenging existing industry structures. This creates special opportunities for start-ups, while established companies face complex change processes.

 

At the Chair for Entrepreneurship and innovative Business Models, we investigate how such transformation processes succeed:

  • from the emergence of new technology and innovation systems,
  • to the further development of established companies and the implementation of business model innovations,
  • to the identification of entrepreneurial opportunities and the mental models of founders and managers.

We stand for a close integration of theory and practice in research and teaching. In our work, we use a broad spectrum of quantitative and content-analytical methods to analyze business management issues in various fields of application.

Abschlussarbeiten
Here you can find information about bachelor and master theses at our chair. If you have any questions, please contact Lev Kalishchuk (lev.kalishchuk@rub.de).
Business Model Design Lab
The Business Model Design Lab (BMDL) offers students the opportunity to design a business model in cooperation with a regional start-up company or a planned RUB spin-off.
Hall of Fame
Completed doctorates and former research assistants
Opportunities for collaboration
We offer different possibilities for collaboration with our chair.

Team

Position
Prof. Dr. Stefanie Bröring
Chair of the department, Professor
Vanja Mati
Employee in technology and administration
Dr. Michael Rennings (geb. Wustmans)
Academic council, Scientific assistant
Dr. Simon Ohlert
Post-Doc, Scientific assistant
Dr. Vivian Peuker Steinhäuser
Post-Doc, Scientific assistant
Dr. Leonie Schlüter
Post-Doc, Scientific assistant
Dr. Anna Waßenhoven
Post-Doc, Scientific assistant
Lev Kalishchuk
Scientific assistant

Teaching

The registration for the modules at the Chair of Entrepreneurship and Innovative Business Models is done via Moodle. If you are interested in a module, please enroll in the corresponding Moodle course.

Information on:

Further information on bachelor and master theses are here.

Please contact Lev Kalishchuk (lev.kalishchuk@ruhr-uni-bochum.de) if you are interested in writing your bachelor or master theses with us or have any further questions.

In general, there are two different types of credit recognition:

  1. If you take a module at a foreign university that is equivalent to one of the modules offered by our chair in terms of content and requirements, you can have it credited as the corresponding RUB module.
  2. If you take an economics module at a foreign university for which there is no equivalent module at our chair in terms of content and requirements, you can have it credited as a so-called “dummy” module (“(Advanced) Applied Management/Economics”).

Basically, our chair will determine in which form we can credit your module. Students who need credit for a module taken at another university or department for a subject offered by the Chair of Entrepreneurship and Innovative Business Models, please contact Ms. Silvia Oleksakova: silvia.oleksakova@ruhr-uni-bochum.de.

In order to be able to provide information about the credit, the following information is required:

  • Your RUB degree (Bachelor, Master, etc.)
  • Your exchange type (Erasmus, change of university, etc.)
  • Completed application for recognition, available at the examination office

In order to assess the content and level of the non-RUB module, we need the following information about the non-RUB module:

  • Name of the module
  • ECTS or credits
  • Contact/teaching hours (“semester hours per week”)
  • Study program to which the module belongs
  • Syllabus
  • Literature
  • WWW link of the module

Teaching offers

Study Type
Technology Entrepreneurship (MSc)
Video seminar
4 contact hours
SS, WS
WS 2025/26
SS 26
Strategic Technology and Innovation Management (MSc)
Lecture
6 contact hours
SS
SS 26
Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten im Entrepreneurship und Innovationsmanagement (BSc)
Seminar
6 contact hours
SS
SS 26
Start-up creation (BSc)
Lecture
6 contact hours
SS
SS 26
Seminar Business Model Innovation (MSc)
Seminar
4 contact hours
SS
SS 26
Advanced Seminar Entrepreneurship (MSc)
Seminar
4 contact hours
WS
WS 2025/26

Next dates

January 16, 2026
CEIT Practitioner Series: Evonik Industries AG (Jens Busse)
January 23, 2026
CEIT Practitioner Series: IHK Mittleres Ruhrgebiet (Julian Mikulik, Hans Hierweck)
February 06, 2026
CEIT Practitioner Series: Jungheinrich AG (Gabriele Maurer)

Research

New technologies and innovations are not only drivers of economic change but also a central field of research at our Chair. Our work focuses on three main areas:

Research focus

Technology Dynamics and Transformation
New technologies have the potential to disrupt and thus change the logic of various industries. On the one hand, this dynamic leads to opportunities for start-ups; on the other, it poses major challenges for established companies.
Business Model Innovations
The combination of different knowledge and technology areas holds great potential for technology-based business models and at the same time poses major challenges for the transformation process of established companies.
Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition
Identifying and realizing entrepreneurial opportunities in the context of interdisciplinary high-tech fields helps to link diverse fields of knowledge and technology.

Research projects

Collaborative Project
Bio4MatPro: Kompetenzzentrum zur Biologischen Transformation von Materialwissenschaften und Produktionstechnik
Single Project
Investigating autonomous, data-driven technologies in crop production – an emerging innovation ecosystem transforming the agricultural sector (Acronym: ADD-Crop)
Collaborative Project
PRIMED: Redesigning the Primary Sector for Maximizing Bioeconomy Development
Collaborative Project
UNIC Thematic Line: Entrepreneurial Learning for Innovation

Interested in working for our chair?

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (m/w/d)
External Job Offers
Student Assistant (m/w/d)
Verwaltungsmitarbeiter*in (m/w/d)

Publications

Ohlert, S., Laibach, N., Harms, R., & Bröring, S. (2025). Opportunity recognition in the tension field of knowledge and learning: The case of converging industries. Journal of Business Research186, 114993.

Baum, C.M., Sick, N. & Bröring, S. (2025). Drivers for the emergence of interdisciplinary knowledge areas: An actor-level perspective on building legitimacy for the case of synthetic life sciences. Technovation, 141, 103173.

Kamrath, C., Wensing, J., De Steur, H., & Bröring, S. (2025). Explaining the Intention to Consume 3D-Printed Food via the Food Technology Acceptance Model and Trust Dynamics. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 49, e70081.

Ohlert, S., Laibach, N., Harms, R., & Bröring, S. (2025). Opportunity recognition in the tension field of knowledge and learning: The case of converging industries. Journal of Business Research186, 114993.

Baum, C.M., Sick, N. & Bröring, S. (2025). Drivers for the emergence of interdisciplinary knowledge areas: An actor-level perspective on building legitimacy for the case of synthetic life sciences. Technovation, 141, 103173.

Kamrath, C., Wensing, J., De Steur, H., & Bröring, S. (2025). Explaining the Intention to Consume 3D-Printed Food via the Food Technology Acceptance Model and Trust Dynamics. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 49, e70081.

Latest news

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Successful Research Visit in Sydney within the DAAD Project on Convergent Business Models
November 11, 2025
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Contribution to “Let's Talk! Science Direct” on innovation management assessment
November 11, 2025
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Participation in the VHB TIE Conference 2025 in Weimar
November 11, 2025
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Participation at the EURAM 2025 in Florence
July 23, 2025
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BNE@RUB: Interview with Prof. Dr. Stefanie Bröring on SDG 9
July 17, 2025
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Design Thinking Workshop: User Requirements for Bifunctional Assemblies Coating Technology – Anti-Corrosive Functionality
July 11, 2025
Entrepreneurship and Innovative Business Models

Suttner-Nobel Allee 4
(ehm. Opelring 1)
44803 Bochum

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The chair belongs to the competence field:

CEIT