Full name in the national language

Reykjavík University (RU) is the largest private university in Iceland with more than 3500 students and over 500 employees (professors come from over 26 countries). It collaborates closely with industry and has established links to the Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Icelandic Industries, and the Confederation of Icelandic Employers.

The university is fully bilingual (English and Icelandic) and consists of four academic schools: School of Law, School of Business, School of Computer Science and the School of Science and Engineering.

The Reykjavik University Center for Research on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (RUCRIE) established within the RU School of Business has built an international reputation in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship, including research on the founding and growth of new ventures, business model innovation, service innovation and experience-based innovation. Since 2005 RUCRIE has conducted an ambitious longitudinal survey-based research project and has successfully followed about 200 new Icelandic ventures from the time of start-up with yearly surveys. This has yielded important insights about the factors that influence new firm survival and growth. RUCRIE also has a great deal of expertise in qualitative case research using in-depth interviews.

RUCRIE has successfully coordinated several large funded research projects. The most recent project started on January 1, 2013, entitled “Transforming SMEs in Creative Sectors through Business Model Innovation” (Reinvent), funded by the EU under the FP7 programme.

RUCRIE has been involved in or led collaborative research projects with the University of Nottingham, Rotterdam School of Management, Delft University of Technology, Northeastern University (Massachusetts, USA) and Virginia Commonwealth University (Virgina, USA).

Marina Candi: an Associate Professor in the RU School of Business and Director of the Reykjavik University Center for Research on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She holds BSc and MSc degrees in Electrical Engineering from the USA and a PhD in Business from Copenhagen Business School. She spent about 20 years in industry (IT sector) prior to entering academia, where she participated in a number of new firm start-ups. During the last half of her industry tenure, she held executive management positions. After entering academia, she has continued her involvement in industry through sitting on the Boards of Directors of various technology-based firms.

Dr. Candi has served as Project Coordinator for several large funded research projects. She has conducted research in the fields of innovation, entrepreneurship and marketing. She has published widely, including in the Journal of Product Innovation Management, Long Range Planning, Industrial Marketing Management, Technovation and Design Studies. Dr. Candi is a Visiting Professor at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome.

For more information, including a full list of publications, please see: ru.is/staff/marina.