Rate My Professor Martin Geissdoerfer

Associate Professor Martin Geissdoerfer is an internationally recognised authority on circular economy at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute in the Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University, where he holds the position of Associate Professor of Circular Economy Transitions and leads the Circular Economy Labs. The Labs, launched in 2024, function as transition brokers, bridging ambition and action by convening leaders from business, government, and civil society to accelerate circular economy transitions across the Asia-Pacific region, with priorities including elevating circular strategies to boardroom levels, scaling circular models in global value chains, and adapting smart policies to the Australian context. Geissdoerfer earned his PhD from the University of Cambridge, serving as a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley and Stanford University during his doctoral studies. Previously, at McKinsey & Company, he managed projects advising Fortune 500 companies and governments on sustainability and circular economy strategies, business building, and policy lab design. He co-led pioneering Horizon Europe programmes ResCoM and INSPIRE, helping define the circular economy field globally. Additionally, he is an Associate at the University of Cambridge’s Circular Economy Centre and serves as a guest lecturer at various universities.

His research addresses the business and policy challenges in scaling circular economies, with emphasis on transitions, business model innovation, ecosystems, and AI applications in sustainability. Among Stanford’s Top 2% global scientists, Geissdoerfer was awarded the British Academy of Management Best Paper Award in 2017. Key publications encompass “The Circular Economy – A new sustainability paradigm?” (Geissdoerfer et al., 2017, Journal of Cleaner Production; 13,592 citations), “Sustainable business model innovation: A review” (Geissdoerfer et al., 2018; 2,621 citations), “Business models and supply chains for the circular economy” (Geissdoerfer et al., 2018; 1,898 citations), “Circular business models: A review” (Geissdoerfer et al., 2020; 1,571 citations), and more. His scholarship profoundly influences academia, policymaking, and industry practices worldwide. He currently participates in ARC projects like the Research Hub for Value-Added Processing of Underutilised Carbon Waste and has introduced Monash’s inaugural interdisciplinary Circular Economy Master’s unit while partnering on executive education.