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How can we harness emotions to increase productivity and entrepreneurial innovation?

Thursday 27 Jan 22

Research from Nicola Anne Thomas’ PhD project “How AI can put humanity at the centre of business and start-ups” has important impacts for the future. 

We can directly measure emotional responses

"We need to go further in encouraging both young and more experienced scholars and integrating AI as a research method. This has important implications as we access new, rich and incredible data sources."
Nicola Anne Thomas, PhD Student at DTU Entrepreneurship

Emotions and well-being are just starting to become mainstream in our conversation about working practices. But through this research and new technologies, we can shift the conversation from asking “Are emotions important at work?” to “How can we harness emotions to increase productivity and entrepreneurial innovation?”

A long-standing issue with business management or entrepreneurship research is that we do not directly measure emotions. This means that our data is systemically prone to bias and stigma. Instead of measuring how people are feeling, we are asking them, “How do you feel today?”

Now, with technology advancements, we can directly measure emotional responses. We can do this through galvanic skin response and heart rate measurements, as well as facial expressions analysis.

“We need to go further in encouraging both young and more experienced scholars and integrating AI as a research method. This has important implications as we access new, rich and incredible data sources.

Long term, I see this research helping to destigmatize emotions at work, placing humanity at the center of start-ups and business,”, Nicola says in her video below.

The above video is the third in a series of research videos presented by DTU Entrepreneurship. See more videos here.

About research in entrepreneurial teams


Start-ups are typically founded by teams rather than by individual entrepreneurs, and this holds particularly true for knowledge-and science-based start-ups. Given the commitment of DTU Entrepreneurship to help academics commercialize their research, we investigate how teams are formed and evolve in academic spinoffs. We also explore team dynamics, as the success of a start-up often depends on a team’s ability to capitalize on creative conflict and diversity.

Do you want to explore more about our research in entrepreneurial teams 

Reach out to Carina Lomberg, Associate Professor or Argyro (Iro) Nikiforou, Assistant Professor 

Examples of published papers 

About research at DTU Entrepreneurship in general


We focus on evidence-based research to tackle a wide range of issues and provide opportunities for social and economic change.

Creating new knowledge that matters
The Centre for Technology Entrepreneurship puts evidence-based research in focus on a wide range of management, pedagogic, and policy issues related to entrepreneurship and innovation. 

Our research promotes technology-based entrepreneurship by generating, disseminating, and applying knowledge and competencies to education and business development within and beyond DTU. 

Researchers conduct both conceptual and empirical research using various research methods to create societal impact. Drawing upon DTU’s research excellence, the Centre collaborates closely with students, researchers, startup communities, industries, investors, and policymakers.

Do you want to explore more about research at DTU Entrepreneurship

Reach out to Professor, Head of Research, Jason Li-Ying

Research areas