Chair of Entrepreneurship and Innovation ('Juniorprofessur')

Prof. Dr. Katharina Scheidgen

My research centers around the broader topics of entrepreneurship and innovation.
I'm particularly interested in the social embeddedness of entrepreneurial processes, e.g. networks and tie formation, entrepreneurial teams, and entrepreneurial ecosystems, and address issues around digitization, social innovation as well as high-tech innovation.

Understanding how entrepreneurs acquire resources during the very early days of their new ventures motivated my PhD research. By comparing tie formation in Silicon Valley and Berlin, I showed how the entrepreneurial ecosystems in each of these regions influence how entrepreneurs approach first investors and customers.

As PostDoc, I joined the Research Center for Digital Transformation at Leuphana University Lüneburg, spent six months at the University of Amsterdam as visiting scholar and became an affiliated researcher at Lund University.

Find further information on my personal website.


  • Farhoud, Mohamed; Williams, Trenton Alma; de Matos, Manuel Aires; Scheidgen, Katharina; George, Kurian; Sufyan, Muhammad & Alakkad, Anas (2024): Sustaining spontaneous venturing in response to the global refugee crisis. Journal of Business Venturing Insights.
  • Roth, Philip & Scheidgen, Katharina (2024): Local Cultures of Advice Tie Formation. Journal of Organizational Sociology.
  • Scheidgen, Katharina & Hruskova, Michaela (2024): Demystifying Silicon Valley: Unequal entry thresholds between entrepreneurial ecosystems. In: Robert Huggins, Fumi Kitagawa, Daniel Prokop, Christina Theodoraki and Piers Thompson (editors): Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Cities and Regions: Emergence, Evolution, Future; Oxford University Press.
  • Scheidgen, Katharina & Brattström, Anna (2023). Berlin is Hotter Than Silicon Valley! How Networking Temperature Shapes Entrepreneurs’ Networking Across Social Contexts. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 47 (6), 2233-2262.
  • Stamm, Isabell; Schürmann, Lena & Scheidgen, Katharina (2023). Market Dependence as a Boundary Construction for Work Solidarity with the Solo Self-employed. Work, Employment and Society, online first.
  • Stamm, Isabell; Schürmann, Lena; Scheidgen, Katharina; Berwing, Stefan & Maibaum, Arne (2022). Marktabhängigkeit und ihre Bedeutung für die Grenzziehungen von Solidarität. Zeitschrift für Soziologie, 51(4), 365-384
  • Krlev, Gorgi; Scheidgen, Katharina; Günzel-Jensen, Franziska; Wolf, Miriam & Gümüsay, Ali (2022). Did COVID lockdowns harm entrepreneurship? Not exactly. LSE Business Review.
  • Schürmann, Lena; Stamm, Isabell & Scheidgen, Katharina (2022). Die Gegenwart der Krise als Erosion unternehmerischer Zukünfte. Arbeit, 31 (1-2), 77-94.
  • Scheidgen, Katharina; Gümüsay, Ali; Günzel-Jensen, Franziska; Krlev, Gorgi & Wolf, Miriam (2021): Crises and entrepreneurial opportunities: Digital social innovation in response to physical distancing. Journal of Business Venturing Insights.
  • Scheidgen, Katharina (2021): Degrees of integration: how a fragmented entrepreneurial ecosystem supports different types of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 33 (1-2), p. 54-79.
  • Stamm, Isabell; Scheidgen, Katharina; Sundermeier, Janina; Hoppe, Annekathrin; Rothe, Hannes; Christensen, Michelle; Conradi, Florian; Pantelmann, Heike (im Erscheinen): Soziale Ungleichheit und Unternehmertum. In: Beyer, Jürgen; Baur, Nina (Hrsg.): Wirtschaft und soziale Ungleichheit.
  • Scheidgen, Katharina (2019): Social contexts in team formation: why do independent start-ups and university spin-offs form teams differently? Historical Social Research, 44 (4), S. 42-74
  • Scheidgen, Katharina (2018): Gründen als Modus des Innovierens: Netzwerkbildung von Start-ups und Spin-offs im Innovationsprozess. In: Hergesell, Jannis; Maibaum, Arne; Minnetian, Clelia; Sept, Ariane (Hrsg.): Innovationsphänomene. Modi und Effekte der Innovationsgesellschaft. Springer, Wiesbaden. S. 125-141



  • Carolyn Dexter Award. All-Academy Award for the Best International Paper, Academy of Management Conference 2021, Katharina Scheidgen & Anna Brattström
  • Best International Paper Award, OMT division, Academy of Management Conference 2021, Katharina Scheidgen & Anna Brattström
  • ISBJ Best Paper Award, RENT Conference 2022, Katharina Scheidgen, Franziska Günzel-Jensen und Simon Schmidt
  • Runner-up for ISBJ Best Paper Award, RENT Conference 2023, Katharina Scheidgen & Franziska Günzel-Jensen
  • Best Reviewer Award 2018, ENT division, AOM Conference
  • Best Reviewer Award 2022, Industry and Innovation