ACADEMIC POSITIONS - INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

INSTITUTE FOR INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

SIX PERMANENT ACADEMIC POSITIONS

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ACADEMIC POSITIONS

DUT INSTITUTE FOR INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

(2 × Professors / 2 × Associate Professors / 2 × Senior Lecturers)

With more than 34 400 students and approximately 1 700 members of staff, the Durban University of Technology (DUT) is a leading university of technology located in Durban and Pietermaritzburg on the east coast of South Africa. Founded in April 2002 through the merger of the former ML Sultan Technikon and Technikon Natal, DUT has evolved into a modern, metropolitan, multi-campus university with roots dating to 1907.

DUT is recognised nationally and internationally for excellence in teaching and learning, research, innovation, entrepreneurship and engagement. Guided by ENVISION2030, its DNA of being people-centred and engaged, and innovative and entrepreneurial, DUT is committed to contributing to the improvement of lives and livelihoods. Its Philosophy of Education declares: “Our creativity and innovation shapes adaptive graduates who transform society.”

The DUT Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is positioned as an African Institute for Inclusive Enterprise Futures. It is a research and evidence platform that investigates how enterprises start, survive, reach markets, scale, innovate and create sustainable value. The Institute complements, but does not duplicate, DUT's incubation, entrepreneurship education, intellectual-property and technology-transfer functions. Its distinctive mandate is to generate theory, longitudinal evidence, evaluation methods, policy intelligence and transferable models for Durban, KwaZulu-Natal and comparable African economies.

The Institute research agenda

The six appointments are deliberately distributed across three mutually reinforcing themes:

• Inclusive Enterprise Formation, Survival and Scaling
• Market Access, Value Chains and Digital Trade
• Innovation Commercialisation and Sustainable Business Models

Appointment note. All appointments are subject to meeting DUT academic appointment criteria at the advertised rank. Applicants should identify the specific position and theme for which they are applying.

Position 1

Professor: Enterprise Life-Course, Survival and Scaling

Theme 1: Inclusive Enterprise Formation, Survival and Scaling

Reference Number: 30002765

Status of Position: Permanent

Campus: Durban / Pietermaritzburg, as determined by DUT

Position purpose

The appointee will strengthen the Institute's research programme in enterprise life courses, survival and scaling. The role requires a scholar able to generate theoretically significant and practically useful evidence for African enterprise futures, develop postgraduate capacity and work across disciplinary and institutional boundaries.

Minimum requirements

• A doctoral degree (NQF 10) in Entrepreneurship or Small-business Development or Development Economics or Enterprise Development or Business Management or Economic Sociology or Public Policy, or a closely related qualification to the theme.
• A strong record of research and/or academic leadership, with demonstrated leadership in enterprise life courses, survival and scaling research.
• Substantial and sustained period of distinguished academic experience in research and/or professional experience in higher education or a research environment, with recognised standing in the field.
• A sustained record of high-quality, cited research; competitive grant awards; international recognition; and leadership of substantial externally funded programmes.
• Evidence of excellent teaching, postgraduate mentorship, curriculum contribution and academic citizenship appropriate to appointment rank.
• A minimum of ten (10) DHET-accredited research outputs/creative outputs over the preceding three years, relevant to the discipline, with evidence of research quality and impact.
• Evidence of substantial record of successful supervision to completion of Master’s and Doctoral students.
• Demonstrated success in securing competitive research funding (grants, contracts or commissioned research).
• Evidence of leading multidisciplinary teams and building national/international research collaborations.

Theme-specific expertise

Longitudinal enterprise research; survival, failure and recovery; productivity and managerial capability; enterprise finance; informal-formal pathways; responsible scaling and employment quality.

Key responsibilities

• Provide senior intellectual leadership for the KwaZulu-Natal Enterprise Life-Course Observatory and establish a rigorous longitudinal panel of township, rural, informal, student and innovation-driven ventures.
• Advance comparative African scholarship on necessity- and opportunity-driven entrepreneurship, enterprise resilience, household-enterprise interdependence, finance across the enterprise lifecycle and pathways to productive scale.
• Design and lead robust evaluations of enterprise-support interventions, including appropriate comparison strategies and mixed-method longitudinal analysis.
• Develop and sustain a focused programme of original, high-quality research within the designated Institute theme.
• Build ethical, mutually beneficial research partnerships with entrepreneurs, communities, government, industry and African or international universities.
• Translate research into evidence briefs, decision tools and demonstrable policy, enterprise or ecosystem use while maintaining academic independence.
• Comply with DUT requirements for research ethics, data governance, intellectual property, financial management, reporting and audit readiness.
• Contribute to interdisciplinary Institute seminars, postgraduate training, limited teaching where required, and the collegial life of DUT.

Ideal / additional recommendations

• An NRF rating or demonstrable eligibility for rating, or equivalent recognised research standing.
• Advanced competence in quantitative, qualitative and/or mixed research methods relevant to enterprise research, including ethical use of administrative, platform or longitudinal data.
• A record of engaged scholarship and credible knowledge translation for policy, industry, entrepreneurs or communities.
• Demonstrated commitment to inclusive development, with research addressing youth entrepreneurship, women-owned enterprises, informal economies, rural enterprise development, sustainability, or social innovation.
• Experience in translating research into decision-support tools, policy frameworks, enterprise-development models, diagnostic instruments, or other practical outputs with measurable external impact.
• Demonstrated contribution to entrepreneurship education, curriculum innovation, entrepreneurial learning, or the advancement of entrepreneurial university practices

Position 2

Associate Professor: Inclusive Entrepreneurship, Enterprise Finance and Resilience

Theme 1: Inclusive Enterprise Formation, Survival and Scaling

Reference Number: 30002767

Status of Position: Permanent

Campus: Durban / Pietermaritzburg, as determined by DUT

Position purpose

The appointee will strengthen the Institute's research programme in inclusive entrepreneurship, enterprise finance and resilience. The role requires a scholar able to generate theoretically rigorous and practically relevant evidence on enterprise formation, survival, productivity, resilience and scaling within diverse African contexts.

Minimum requirements

• A doctoral degree (NQF 10) in entrepreneurship or finance or development studies or economics or business management or behavioural science, or a closely related qualification to the theme.
• A good record of research and/or academic leadership, with demonstrated engagement in inclusive entrepreneurship, enterprise finance and resilience.
• A significant peri