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Project, Innovations and Entrepreneurship (PIE)

The Project, Innovations and Entrepreneurship (PIE) division conducts research, undergraduate education and commissioned activities in project management, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Our main subject areas

Industrial project management, which involves the planning and management of technology and innovation activities in project-based organisations.

Innovation, which examines industrial development and renewal, innovation systems and inter-organisational collaboration, technology and innovation strategies and innovation management in both large and small companies and organisations.

Entrepreneurship, business and regional development, focuses on entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial processes in start-up teams, new and established businesses, entrepreneurial ecosystems and collaboration for regional development.

Pedagogical development and methods of learning, which involves the study of experience-based, entrepreneurial and challenge-driven learning in different contexts.
Industrial organisation and leadership are recurring themes in both teaching and research in all of these areas.

Target areas

Target areas

PIE has three target areas, all of which are in line with the University's ongoing strategy work.

Learning and knowledge creation

Our teaching meets current societal challenges, and our courses are constantly evolving. We stimulate creativity and reflection in our students through innovative teaching.

Our research is of a high international standard and is published in various well-reputed scientific forums.

At PIE, we invest in our co-workers, who are offered regular opportunities for career development.

Collaboration across boundaries

PIE develops interdisciplinary and cross-boundary cooperation. We are an important competency resource and a knowledge hub in all parts of society: in business, the public sector, and civil society and its organisations.

Our research projects leverage synergies between research, undergraduate education and collaboration.

Sustainable societal transformation

By combining inter- and multidisciplinary perspectives in research and education, we contribute new knowledge and innovation that meets the challenges of society.

Social transformation and a sustainability perspective are two important issues that we are committed to integrating into our work, and in this we see digitalisation as an important tool.

Undergraduate education

Our teaching covers the areas of industrial organisation, leadership, innovation management, project management, entrepreneurship and idea development.

Our courses are student-centred, where the teacher's task is to create a good and inspiring study environment with learning outcomes at the heart of the course.

In our learning processes we combine personal development with research-based analyses and studies of and at companies. Our pedagogy is based on active learning, and we use both our own and others' case studies in our courses. In several courses, we also use an educational method called case-based learning (CBL) that involves experience and theory-based exercises, where students apply the knowledge they have acquired. Our pedagogical approach requires that our students take great responsibility for their own learning and that of others by seeing themselves as co-creators of the knowledge that is generated.

Our degree projects, that rest on a theoretical/scientific basis, are often carried out in cooperation with industrial companies and public organisations. There is also an opportunity to do a so-called "entrepreneurial degree project" for those who have or want to start their own business.


Students solving task in a creative way

inGenious platform

LiU arrange the inGenious course with Almi East Sweden AB, a subsidiary to Almi Företagspartner i Östergötland AB. The course connects students with companies and public sector in the region. Visit our platform for more information.

To inGenious platform
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Project Management Diploma

When you have completed courses that cover three areas of competence you may apply for a diploma which states that you have a specialisation in project management.

PIE Summer Academy

PIE gives courses both distance courses and at campus. The one at distance are very popular and you can participate on your terms, at your location.

PIE offer two summer courses at Campus Valla in Linköping. They are given in English and has a special target group. Read more about Linköping University Summer Academy.
Two female students on Campus Valla.

Students from around the world meet at LiU Summer Academy

"“This is completely different, and fantastic. At home in Brazil, I’m doing a chemical engineering programme, but at the Summer Academy in Linköping I’m studying leadership", says Cynthia Higajo Mishima from the University of São Paulo.

PhD student

What PhD courses does PIE offer?

Entrepreneurship in theory and practice (7.5 credits)

Academic entrepreneurship is growing fast, and during the course a basic understanding of entrepreneurship processes and how researchers can realise ideas for companies and projects is gained.

Sustainable change, business and strategy (7.5 credits)

Research studying changes in socio-technical systems is growing fast. The course studies sustainable business models, and critical perspectives on business and sustainability are discussed. For more information, contact Thomas Magnusson.

Innovation management (10 credits)

Innovation can be studied in different ways, but the aim of this course is to give doctoral students an understanding of complex innovation management issues.

Innovation and entrepreneurship classics (12 credits)

A selection of classics in the research areas of innovation and entrepreneurship, including Burns and Stalker, Penrose, and Schumpeter, are discussed and analysed in the course.

Embrace your doctoral and post-doctoral studies (1.5 credits)

Research work and knowledge processes are characterised to a large extent by uncertainty and ambiguity, and this course provides an understanding of how this type of work can be organised, managed and planned in order to create good conditions for coping with doctoral and post-doctoral projects.

Qualitative research methods in theory and practice (6 credits) 

This course provides a basic understanding of a selection of commonly used qualitative approaches and methods (concerning study design, data collection and analysis) in organisational and management research, such as case studies, ethnography and action-oriented research.

You will receive more information about what PIE has to offer doctoral students when you have started your studies.

Research

Project, Innovations and Entrepreneurship (PIE)

The division conducts research in in dustrial organisation and change and, in a broad sense, various management and organisational issues.

Our research is conducted at several levels from system and industry level to company and individual level. Our researchers are active in one or more of our research areas.

Our research is characterised by interdisciplinarity and cross-boundary cooperation with a wide range of national and international actors.

Our research is permeated by various aspects of sustainable industrial development.


Research areas

Innovation, socio-technical systems and sustainability

  • The different roles of companies in major socio-technical system changes
  • Strategy, innovation and market creation in transition processes
  • The dynamics of business transformation and digitalisation
  • Research ethics, responsible research and innovation

Industrial management

  • Complex products, systems and organisations – particularly linked to increasingly intelligent systems
  • Decision-making in and between organisations
  • Organisation for hybrid data-driven and model-based methods and systems
  • AI, rationality and boundary objects in complex systems
  • Combination of generativity and criticality in complex system development
  • Responsible management and organisation – a wider responsibility for all actors

Innovation management andinter-organisational collaboration

  • Digital transformation, product development and innovation
  • Design theory – shaping the partly unknown
  • Boundary-spanning and knowledge integration in inter-organisational cooperations
  • Leadership practice and organisation of collaboration in value chains and ecosystems for innovation and knowledge exchange
  • The role of intermediaries in inter-organisational collaboration

Entrepreneurship and regional development

  • Entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial development processes in emerging companies and organisations
  • Entrepreneurial ecosystems and inter-organisational collaboration for regional development

Pedagogical development and methods oflearning

  • Entrepreneurial and challenge-driven learning in different contexts
  • Experience-based learning

Our research in brief

Our research is characterised by interdisciplinarity and cross-boundary cooperation with a wide range of national and international actors.

Our research is permeated by various aspects of sustainable industrial development.

Digital image of the statue Thinker, made by sculptor Auguste Rodin

NICER

Artificial intelligence (AI) plays an increasingly important role in our society and in our lives. Critical Infrastructures in society, such as healthcare, transportation, energy, finance, are becoming dependent on AI.
Electric truck on Swedish winter roads

Sustainability transitions in urban goods distribution

The project adopts a systems perspective on electrified freight transport with the aim of contributing to knowledge on how to accelerate transitions.
A young woman with electrodes in her head to record psychophysiological signals for research purposes.

Responsible Research

Deficiencies within research environments have gained public attention after several medical and scientific scandals. Are there features within research environments which may erode scientific standards?

Collaboration with industry and public sector organisations

The division's ambition is to support decision-making in industry, government agencies, and other organisations, such as incubators and industry associations. 

We collaborate with partners outside academia, both in research projects and in contract education. We also diffuse our research results through workshops, seminars and publications in both scientific and popular media.

Contract education

The division has a long history of managing contract education, especially in collaboration with the Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) and the business network SMIL, where Entrepreneurship, Development and Management Programmes are offered with the purpose of stimulating development and growth in technology- and knowledge-intensive companies.

We collaborate with a range of different organisations. Throughout the years, we have participated in a number of collaborative education projects together with, e.g. Saab Automobile, Scania, FOI and several municipalities and regional councils.

News

A portrait of young person. It is autumn outside.

Viktor Werner wins the ScAIEM award for the best thesis

Viktor Werner has been awarded ScAIEM Award for Best Thesis in Industrial Management for his research on electrified goods transportation. His work highlights how companies interact with and influence the transition to sustainable transport systems.
A girl with a yellow cardigan holds a book

Project Management Diploma

When you have completed courses that cover three areas of competence you may apply for a diploma which states that you have a specialisation in project management.
Person (Robert Forchheimer) with cellphone.

The hidden costs of free apps – more than personal data

Procrastination, sleep deprivation and reduced focus are part of the price we pay for free mobile apps. This is according to researchers at LiU and RISE, who have investigated the costs hidden behind the free apps.

Contact us

Head of Division

magkl50

Magnus Klofsten

Professor, Head of Division

Director of Studies

dzabi32

Dzamila Bienkowska

Senior Associate Professor

Director of Studies

annys83

Anna Yström

Senior Associate Professor

General Information

carek94

Carina Ekhager

Administrator

Staff

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Ehab Abu Sa'a
PhD student
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Appu Balachandran
PhD student
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Christian Berggren
Professor Emeritus
Photo of Dzamila Bienkowska
Dzamila Bienkowska
Senior Associate Professor
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Stefan Cavalcante Bernat Junior
Postdoc
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Jeanette Engzell
Assistant Professor
Photo of Eloïse Germain
Eloïse Germain
Photo of Alexander Gorgijevski
Alexander Gorgijevski
Assistant Professor
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Solmaz Filiz Karabag
Professor
Photo of Magnus Klofsten
Magnus Klofsten
Professor, Head of Division
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Nicolette Lakemond
Professor
Photo of Eva Lovén
Eva Lovén
Associate Professor, Docent
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Erik Lundmark
Senior Associate Visiting Professor
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Thomas Magnusson
Professor
Photo of Martin Mileros
Martin Mileros
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Adis Murtic
Adjunct Associate Professor
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Charlotte Norrman
Senior Associate Professor
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Susanne Ollila
Senior Associate Visiting Professor
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Gouthanan Pushpananthan
Postdoc
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Annika Rickne
Adjunct Professor
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Jörgen Sandin
Lecturer
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Yunchen Sun
Postdoc
Photo of Dag Swartling
Dag Swartling
Associate Professor
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Elinor Särner
PhD student
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Bijona Troqe
PhD student
Photo of Viktor Werner
Viktor Werner
Assistant Professor
Photo of Karin Wigger
Karin Wigger
Assistant Professor
Photo of Anna Yström
Anna Yström
Senior Associate Professor
Photo of Youshan Yu
Youshan Yu
PhD student

Address

Visiting Address

Division of Project, Innovations and Entrepreneurship
Hans Meijers väg
A Building, entrance 13-19
Campus Valla
Linköping, Sweden

Postal Address

Linköping University
Department of Management and Engineering
Division of Project, Innovations and Entrepreneurship
SE-581 83 Linköping
Sweden

Organisation

A-building in autumn

Department of Management and Engineering (IEI)

The Department of Management and Engineering (IEI) strengthens and develops tomorrow’s industry, business world and society by ground-breaking research, education and innovation.
Studenthuset on Campus Valla in Linköping

About LiU

Linköping University, LiU, offers innovative education and boundary-crossing research. The students are among the most desirable in the labour market and international rankings consistently place LiU as a leading global university.

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