Matthias Hügel joined the International Centre for Higher Education Research (INCHER) and the Department of Economic Policy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Kassel as a research associate in April 2023.

His research lies at the intersection of higher education and innovation research, with a particular focus on the organisation of academic knowledge production and its links to society and the economy. He examines how institutional conditions and organisational change shape the production, circulation and application of knowledge. His work focuses on universities and researchers, their careers and collaboration networks, and their engagement in knowledge and technology transfer.

Matthias Hügel studied Business Education at the University of Mannheim and International Economy and Business at Andrássy University Budapest. From 2018 to 2023, he worked as a research associate at the Chair of Microeconomics at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. He completed his doctorate in economics there in May 2024 under the supervision of Professor Uwe Cantner. His dissertation examined the processes through which knowledge and technology transfer between universities, research institutions and industry is initiated and developed.

Buechele, Stefan; Buenstorf, Guido; Huegel, Matthias; Koenig, Johannes & Theissen, Maria. (2026). Is the dominance of graduates from top-tier universities among tenured faculty driven by prestige or output? Evidence from 50 years of university appointments in Germany. Research Policy, 55(3), Article 105411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2026.105411

Buechele, Stefan; Huegel, Matthias; Kadriu, Valon & Koenig, Johannes. (2025). New players, different output? A longitudinal analysis of research dynamics at German public and private universities (Joint Discussion Paper Series in Economics 6-2025). Phillips Universität Marburg. https://www.uni-marburg.de/en/fb02/research-groups/economics/macroeconomics/research/magks-joint-discussion-papers-in-economics/papers/2025-papers/06-2025.pdf

Buechele, Stefan; Huegel, Matthias; Kadriu, Valon & Koenig, Johannes. (2025). A longitudinal analysis of research dynamics at German public and private universities. Higher Education, [Online First]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-025-01571-4

Huegel, Matthias; Doerr, Philip & Kalthaus, Martin. (2025). Initiation of knowledge and technology transfer from academia to industry: Opportunity recognition and transfer channel choice. Industrial and Corporate Change, 34(1), 171–209. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtae027

Cantner, Uwe; Doerr, Philip; Goethner, Maximilian; Huegel, Matthias & Kalthaus, Martin (2024). A procedural perspective on academic spin-off creation: The changing relative importance of the academic and the commercial sphere. Small Business Economics, 62(4), 1555–1590. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-023-00815-w

Huegel, Matthias (2024). University scientists’ multiple goals achievement: Social capital and its impact on research performance and research commercialization. Technovation, 135, Article 103065. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2024.103065

Fritsch, Michael; Greve, Maria; Huegel, Matthias & Wyrwich, Michael. (2024). Verzeichnis der Industriedenkmale in den Regionen Deutschlands. GESIS. https://doi.org/10.7802/2725

Huegel, Matthias. (2024). The process of academic scientists’ knowledge and technology transfer: Initation, phase transitions and multiple goals. Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena. https://doi.org/10.22032/dbt.61535