PhD Student Venture Capital & Venture Clienting (f/m/d)

Work environment

The Volkswagen Group Innovation operates within an international innovation network with locations in Europe, China, the USA, Israel, Japan, and Singapore. Together with our internal customers, we develop new product ideas that not only measure up to the competition but also offer a societal benefit. In the field of venture capital, Volkswagen Group Innovation works closely with the Mergers & Acquisitions team and is building an interdisciplinary team for venture capital projects and collaboration with startups within the Volkswagen Group. As part of a Ph.D. program, you will work in this interdisciplinary team and be supervised by both areas. Shape the mobility of tomorrow with us – apply now and become part of our innovation network!

Possible Tasks within this Role

• Collaborating in interdisciplinary project teams to design and implement best practices in the areas of venture capital (VC), venture clienting, and innovation transfer
• Creating a comprehensive literature review on the topic of corporate venture capital (CVC) and venture clienting with a focus on success factors and various possible structures
• Analyzing existing studies, including extracting key insights and deriving hypotheses
• Conducting an empirical analysis on the structural "sweet spot" of CVC and venture clienting
• Analyzing the relationship between key performance indicators (KPIs) of innovation transfer and the financial success of VC investments or Venture Clienting activities
  
  

The final doctoral topic is defined together with the professor. The prerequisite for the cooperation is the confirmation of supervision as well as a confirmed delimitation of topics by the professor of a university or research institution entitled to confer a doctorate.

Qualification Requirements

• Good to very good university degree qualifying for doctoral studies in economics, natural sciences, industrial engineering, or a related field
• Strong interest in technology transfer, innovation management, entrepreneurship, and new technologies
• Ideally, initial practical experience in technology transfer, innovation management, or entrepreneurship through internships or work experience
• Excellent teamwork skills, strong analytical abilities, and a responsible working style
• English language level B2 and German language level C1
  
  

Keywords

Scientific Research, Startup Collaboration, Interdisciplinary Teams