After his academic career as a professor of technology and innovation management, Prof. Dr. Cornelius Herstatt is leaving the Technical University of Hamburg on September 30, 2025, after 27 years. Prof. Dr. Moritz Göldner, currently a junior professor, will take over as head of the Institute for Technology and Innovation Management at TU Hamburg, initially on an interim basis until 2028. On August 1 of this year, Prof. Herstatt was appointed honorary professor at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. There, he and his colleagues are conducting research on the circular economy in business practice. In addition, Prof. Herstatt will take up a position as visiting professor at Leuphana University Lüneburg in November 2025, where he will offer courses on innovation management and also devote himself to research. Both professorships also focus on the topic of sustainability.
Establishment of Technology and Innovation Management
Since his appointment in 1998, Prof. Herstatt has built up and successfully managed the Institute for Technology and Innovation Management (TIM). He was the founder and program director of the international master's program GTIME (Global Technology and Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship). He also played a central role in establishing the Management, Science, and Technology department and was instrumental in shaping its content.
Prof. Herstatt is one of the most prominent innovation researchers in Germany and internationally. His research has focused in particular on user and community innovation, open source innovation, frugal innovation, and the circular economy. His research projects promote interdisciplinary and international collaboration—for example, with universities in Japan, India, New Zealand, Australia, and the US. His achievements have been recognized many times: he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania, has won numerous scientific awards, and has been an invited guest professor at numerous universities worldwide, particularly in Australia, Japan, and the USA.
TU Hamburg is deeply grateful to Prof. Herstatt for his many years of influential work in teaching, research, and university development. We wish him continued success in his new role at Leuphana University and are delighted that he will remain associated with TU Hamburg as a scientific partner.
