Judith Terstriep

Dr. Judith Terstriep is a researcher and the Director of the Research Focus "Innovation, Space & Culture" at the Institute for Work and Technology of the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences Gelsenkirchen. She has been working as a scientific staff member since 2002 and teaches at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Ruhr University Bochum on topics including Regional Innovation Systems, Social Innovations, and Migrant Entrepreneurship.

Dr. Terstriep earned her doctorate on the topic "Innovation, Knowledge, Relations - On the Significance of Clusters for the Innovativeness of Companies" with Prof. Dr. Christian Lüthje at the Institute for Innovation Marketing of TU Hamburg-Harburg.

Her research focuses on the interplay of innovations, networks, knowledge, and society from innovation, management, and spatial theoretical perspectives. Key research areas include (regional) innovation and development strategies, measurement of social innovations, societal innovativeness, mission-oriented and transformative research and innovation policy, and the socio-ecological transformation of regions. She also examines the transformative impact of clusters & networks, industry analyses, and evaluations.

Dr. Terstriep's extensive publication record demonstrates a strong focus on migrant entrepreneurship, social innovation measurement, and regional development. Her recent work shows increasing attention to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on entrepreneurs, particularly examining gender-specific and intersectional perspectives. She has also been exploring the role of entrepreneurial ecosystems in supporting migrant entrepreneurs and refugees.

Dr. Terstriep has coordinated and conducted numerous European and national collaborative projects in basic and applied research. She has served as an expert for the European Commission, federal ministries, and various foundations.

She is actively involved in several professional capacities including as Deputy Chair of the "go-cluster" advisory board of BMWK, member of ESSI (European School of Social Innovation), and ChemSite e.V. She also serves as a project reviewer for the European Commission and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.