Aliki Nianaki, a Ph.D. candidate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, combines a strong academic background in entrepreneurship and innovation with professional experience in technology transfer and academic entrepreneurship. Her doctoral research examines the success and failure factors of academic spin-offs within the Greek entrepreneurial ecosystem, with a particular focus on how university-based innovation ecosystems shape entrepreneurial outcomes. She currently serves as a Technology Transfer Officer at the Archimedes Center of NKUA, where she supports academic spin-off creation, research commercialization activities, and university–industry collaboration.

As a Fulbright Visiting Research Student, Aliki seeks to conduct an international comparative research project investigating how academic spin-offs mobilize and orchestrate resources across entrepreneurial ecosystems of different maturity levels. Building on an extensive longitudinal qualitative study of Greek academic spin-offs and ongoing comparative research between Greece and France, her proposed research in the United States aims to explore the dynamics of the world’s most advanced innovation ecosystem. Through in-depth interviews with key actors in the U.S. entrepreneurial ecosystem, she will examine the institutional, organizational, and cultural mechanisms that support academic entrepreneurship and technology commercialization. The resulting comparative analysis will contribute to the development of a multilevel framework explaining academic spin-off success and failure across emerging and advanced entrepreneurial ecosystems. The Fulbright experience will provide a unique opportunity to collaborate with internationally recognized experts, access diverse entrepreneurial communities, and situate her findings within a global context. Beyond advancing her doctoral dissertation, she aims to contribute to evidence-based policy discussions that strengthen academic entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems in Greece, Europe and the U.S.