Rate My Professor Pelin Demirel

Pelin Demirel is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Innovation and Sustainability at the Dyson School of Design Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London. She serves as Director of Inclusive Practice and Postgraduate Senior Tutor in her department. Her research centers on the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainability, exploring how firms develop green capabilities, navigate circular economy transitions, and contribute to net zero goals. Demirel investigates eco-innovation dynamics, firm growth in sustainable contexts, digital transformation for green employment, and behavioral drivers in sustainable practices such as operating theatres. Her work emphasizes resolving tensions between circular economy principles and net zero ambitions through firm-level capabilities and strategies.

Demirel's influential publications include 'Born to Be Green: New Insights into the Economics and Management of Green Entrepreneurship' (2017), 'Eco-Innovation and Firm Growth in the Circular Economy: Evidence from European SMEs' (2019), 'Unlocking innovation for net zero: constraints, enablers, and firm-level transition strategies' (2024), 'Innovation for the green transition: challenges and future perspectives' (2025), and 'Reconciling Circular Economy and Net Zero: Firm Capabilities to Resolve Sustainability Tensions' (2026). These works, along with studies on sustainable anaesthetic practices and IT-enabled green growth, have amassed over 3,300 citations, demonstrating substantial impact in strategy, innovation, and environmental management fields. She co-leads interdisciplinary initiatives, including workshops for UK policymakers on circular economy benefits and projects on bio-mining with microbes for critical metals. Demirel supervises PhD research on topics like the impact of environmental strategies on firm value and programmable cellulose biohybrids. Her contributions extend to policy mapping, ethnographic studies, and mixed-methods analyses in sustainability transitions, social entrepreneurship in tourism, and inclusive design engineering practices.