Prof. Dr. Søren Salomo, Technische Universität Berlin

As Head of the Department of Technology and Innovation Management (TIM) at Technische Universität Berlin, Brain City Ambassador Prof. Dr. Søren Salomo deals with innovation processes in companies and ecosystems. He and his lab team are closely networked both in Brain City Berlin and internationally.

New Work – the term encompasses new forms of work and work models. Today, work is more self-determined and the boundaries between work and private life are blurring. And since the coronavirus pandemic, working from home has also become established. More and more companies, and of course their employees, are faced with the question: How should the workplace at home be best set up? New technologies are creating new, attractive solutions for this. “In this context, our research is investigating how we can design virtual spaces as individual workplaces in such a way that employees enjoy using them and are supported in their work tasks at the same time,” explains Brain City Ambassador Prof. Dr. Søren Salomo.

As Head of the Department of Technology and Innovation Management at TU Berlin, he and his team at the TIM Lab are currently conducting laboratory studies on creative work in VR spaces. “Our studies are about systematically examining which combinations of job characteristics ultimately ensure more innovative work results. The environment influences our thinking, our behaviour and therefore also the results of our activities.“ In simple terms, it looks like this: To solve a creative task, you enter a virtual space using VR glasses. You then switch to another VR room to complete routine tasks. “The virtual workspace is completely independent of the real spatial conditions at home,” says Søren Salomo.

The TIM Lab team is concerned with the question of how companies can innovate successfully. “We analyse innovation activities at the individual employee or customer level and at the organisational level.” The focus is also on innovation processes in ecosystems. “Our research always follows a quantitative empirical methodology in which we contrast theories with reality.”

Søren Salomo came to Brain City Berlin because of his career. “In 2018, I accepted the offer to join the Department of Technology and Innovation Management at TU Berlin.” He had previously studied business administration at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (CAU). Søren Salomo then conducted research at various universities in the US and Austria. His last stop before Berlin was Copenhagen. He worked there for around ten years as Professor of Technology and Innovation Management at the Danish Technical University (DTU). Brain City Berlin continues to inspire Søren Salomo: “The city is very dynamic. As a university lecturer, Berlin also offers me the opportunity to work with extremely international, very diverse students who are very interested in sustainability and are always committed.”

Essential for an innovation researcher: Berlin inspires. “Just the sheer number of people in a relatively small space and the associated number of problems, coupled with an 'anything goes' mentality: Berlin harbours incredible potential and allows for experimentation – this is a breeding ground for innovation.” The Brain City Ambassador also actively utilises the intensive scientific networking in the city. “Berlin is a central European hotspot for science – every discipline can be found here and the short distances allow easy local collaboration,” he explains, adding: “At the same time, Berlin is an international hub, which also makes global cooperation easier.”

The research connections of Søren Salomo and his TIM team are correspondingly wide-ranging and interdisciplinary: “We work with colleagues from the fields of marketing and computer science at TU Berlin (DAI Laboratory), among others. Together with a team from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, we are researching innovative approaches in the design of intensive care wards and with colleagues from the CAU on the topic of background noise and innovation. And teaming with colleagues at TU Berlin and psychologists at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, USA, we are also approaching the question of which parameters of a virtual space can meaningfully support which work tasks."

Søren Salomo recommends that young scientists who want to come to Berlin concentrate primarily on their own research and consciously use the infrastructural opportunities of Brain City Berlin: “Go for it! Excellent researchers also find excellent opportunities here,” he says. And as Berlin also has a lot to offer culturally, he adds: “Don’t forget to enjoy the city!” (vdo)