Researcher-practitioner · Senior expert

Dr Mohamed BELHAJ

Innovation & Entrepreneurship Ecosystems · University–Industry Collaboration · Technology Transfer · Higher Education Transformation · AI & Innovation

30+ years of experienceEurope · Africa · MediterraneanInstitutional capabilityResearch & practice
Portrait of Dr Mohamed Belhaj
Innovation, higher education and institutional transformation — grounded in field practice.
30+ yearsof field-based leadership and advisory work
University of Sfaxinstitutional innovation, entrepreneurship and transfer
International cooperationTempus · Erasmus+ · AUF · EACEA · regional programmes
Researcher-practitionerREGIM-Lab, ENIS, University of Sfax
About

Building institutions that can continue after the project ends.

Researcher-practitioner with more than three decades of experience across innovation management, entrepreneurship, institutional capability building, higher-education transformation and university–industry collaboration.

My work has focused on designing and strengthening mechanisms that connect students, researchers, enterprises, public institutions and international partners — from employability and entrepreneurship to technology transfer and innovation governance.

Expertise

Where strategy meets institutional execution.

01

Innovation & entrepreneurship ecosystems

Ecosystem diagnosis, programme architecture, incubation pathways and stakeholder coordination.

02

University–industry collaboration

R&D collaboration, research valorisation and interfaces between laboratories, enterprises and public actors.

03

Technology transfer

Institutional mechanisms for knowledge transfer, commercialisation and capability building.

04

Higher education transformation

Career development, competency certification, entrepreneurship education and institutional change.

05

International cooperation

Programme design, coordination, facilitation and institutional learning across Euro-Mediterranean and African partnerships.

06

AI-enabled learning & capability

Responsible use of AI in ideation, learning, coaching and role-targeted capability development.

Track record

Field practice, institutional responsibility and international cooperation.

The site is designed as an evidence-led professional portfolio: selected roles, projects and photographs are used to document a long-term trajectory rather than to create a conventional résumé.

Dr Mohamed Belhaj speaking during an innovation and industry event
EntrepreneurshipStudent entrepreneurship, incubation, mentoring and venture-development mechanisms.
Technology transferResearch valorisation and university–industry interfaces.
International programmesTempus, Erasmus+, AUF, EACEA and regional cooperation environments.
Institutional capabilityStructures, competencies and governance designed to remain usable after projects end.
Experience

A career built through successive institutional mechanisms.

Selected leadership roles. Dates and titles are presented conservatively; detailed evidence is maintained in the project knowledge base.

2025–Present

Independent Senior Expert

Innovation ecosystems, sustainable entrepreneurship, institutional capability and AI-assisted project structuring.

2022–2025

Director — CINNOVANT, University of Sfax

Integrated mechanisms supporting entrepreneurship, employability, innovation and technology transfer.

2016–2025

Director — Student Entrepreneurship Center (PEE)

Student entrepreneurship, pre-incubation, mentoring, institutional coordination and national student-entrepreneur mechanisms.

2013–2025

Director — Career Development & Competency Certification Center (4C)

Employability, competency development, professional certification and academic-to-enterprise transition.

2012–2024

Head of Technology Transfer Office

Research valorisation, technology transfer and university–industry partnerships.

2005–2012

University Entrepreneurship & Career Development Centre

Entrepreneurship education, graduate employability and venture-development support.

2000–2010

Educational Resources & Technology Innovation Office

Digital resources, educational technology, faculty development and technology adoption.

Projects

Selected international cooperation and ecosystem-building work.

Erasmus+ · Student entrepreneurship

SALEEM

Student entrepreneurship, institutional mechanisms, hubs, competency frameworks and transferability across Tunisia, Morocco and European partners.

Technology transfer

SATELIT

Technology transfer and transformation of scientific results into economic opportunities through institutional and university–industry mechanisms.

Capacity building · EACEA

SMTMC

Consortium governance and capacity building around maintenance excellence, with institutional learning and corrective implementation.

Africa · Entrepreneurship

AUF Entreprendre

Expert support for the creation and professionalisation of student-entrepreneur hubs in West African higher-education ecosystems.

“The question is no longer only: did the project succeed? It is also: what capability remains when the funding, the founder or the external expert leaves?”