DLGS Doctoral Fellowships 2026 – Dresden Leibniz Graduate School

Spatiality of sustainability-oriented innovation dynamics and transformation

Research on spatial dimensions of sustainability transformation, including innovation aspects, has been a growing field in the last decades. In the innovation studies and economic geography research, significant progress has been made on mapping and explaining the uneven geographical landscape of sustainability-oriented innovations. The latter is a broad taxonomic category including several widely used concepts (eco-innovation, environmental innovation, green innovation, clean innovation, sustainable innovation, etc.) that encompass technological, social and ecological innovations. Key findings in this literature imply that:

• Sustainability-oriented innovations can emerge anywhere and are not limited to just a handful of leading locations, with significant potential particularly in developing countries;
• Similar to conventional technological innovations, the development, demonstration and implementation of sustainability-oriented innovations are supported by clustering effects as well as by the interaction between the quadruple helix components (science, industry, policy and civil society);
• The extent of knowledge spillovers in an urban or regional context influences the ability of actors to develop sustainability-oriented innovations;
• Normative orientation of innovations requires a leading role of government agencies (at different levels and spatial scales) and including broader constellations of actors in policy agenda-setting;
• Development and diffusion of sustainability-oriented innovations are conditioned by informal localised institutions, which also positively influence the push for the development and adoption of sustainability regulation.

However, many research gaps remain in this field. A key aim for science and policy alike is to better grasp the mutual interdependencies between the particular dynamics of sustainability-oriented innovation and spatial structures in order to shape forms of knowledge co-production and intervention that can purposefully drive transformations. Against this backdrop, the Dresden Leibniz Graduate School (DLGS) invites applications that strive to explore and explain these complex linkages.

Applicants may pursue projects focusing on one of the following topics:

1. Process Innovations and New Business Strategies in Companies:
   Investigate if, why and how various types of business sectors and/or companies are redesigning production processes, strategies, and business models with a view to sustainability and how this relates to urban and/or regional restructuring.
2. Diffusion of Sustainability-Oriented Innovations:
   Explore the mechanisms through which sustainability-oriented innovations are adopted, spread and scaled up across industries and spaces, considering especially the role of spatial factors in these processes.
3. Mission-Oriented and Transformative Innovation Policy:
   Examine the emergence, creation and/or impacts of specific policies aimed at addressing societal challenges and supporting sustainability-oriented innovation activities, with a particular focus on their spatial conditions and effects.

Selection Process

The selection of doctoral candidates starts with the end of application period. All applications will be reviewed, including academic transcripts and research proposals. Applications meeting the DLGS criteria are progressed to the next stage, when the applicant is invited to take part in Skype interviews with the members of the DLGS Selection Committee and a potential supervisor from the TU Dresden.

The calendar guide is intended to give an overview of the selection process for a DLGS doctoral fellowship:

• Early to mid-October of the year of application - Applicants will be informed by email if their application has successfully progressed to the next stage. Successful applicants will be asked to take part in a Skype or telephone interview. Guidelines will be provided on how to prepare for the interview. 
• Early November to mid-December of the year of application - The DLGS Selection Committee will inform applicants of the outcome of the first interview. Successful applicants will then be invited to take part in a second Skype or telephone interview in November or December. The Selection Committee will contact the referees named by applicants for additional information. The relevant faculties of the TU Dresden will verify whether specific academic requirements have been met.
• January of the following year - Applicants will be informed of the final outcome of the selection process. The DLGS Selection Committee will contact candidates directly via email with an offer to take part in the programme. Upon receiving notification of acceptance, the Selection Committee will send a letter confirming the place on the graduate programme. DLGS officials will guide new doctoral candidates through the matriculation procedure at the TU Dresden in cooperation with the Welcome Center of the TU Dresden.
• March 1st of the following year - Successful applicants will start the DLGS programme at the TU Dresden/IOER. *The DLGS Selection Committee reserves the right to amend the selection process, including the introduction of additional stages.

About us

The Dresden Leibniz Graduate School (DLGS) is an international graduate school of spatial research, economics and social sciences in Germany. It pursues a European comparative perspective with focus on regional and local development strategies. The DLGS provides an interdisciplinary Doctoral Studies Programme for recent university graduates as well as professionally experienced junior researchers.

The Dresden Leibniz Graduate School has been founded in 2008 as a joint activity of the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER) and the Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden). The doctoral candidates use synergies between the TU Dresden and non-university research institutes in Dresden.