Overview
Background
Dr Zhe (Selina) Cao is a Research Fellow in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at UQ Business School and an ARC Research Fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology. Her research focuses on how actors engage and coordinate across organisational, sectoral, disciplinary, and cultural differences under conditions of uncertainty, fragmentation, and distributed authority.
Adopting a process-relational perspective, she studies these questions in contexts including interdisciplinary collaboration, innovation ecosystems, university–industry collaboration, research translation and commercialisation, and the governance of emerging technologies such as synthetic biology and quantum technologies.
Her work also engages broader philosophical questions concerning paradox, metaphor, epistemic infrastructures, and East–West perspectives on organisation and knowledge systems.
Methodologically, she adopts interpretive and qualitative approaches.
Selina holds a PhD in Management and Entrepreneurship from Imperial College London. Prior to academia, she worked at DuPont and PwC across North America.
Availability
- Dr Selina Cao is:
- Available for supervision
Qualifications
- Doctoral (Research) of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Imperial College London
Research impacts
Dr Cao currently serves as Chair of the Commercialisation and Translation Advisory Committee at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology and contributes to broader ecosystem and governance initiatives across academia, industry, and government through her roles on the Centre’s Executive Management Committee and Early and Mid-Career Researchers Committee. She has also contributed to the Queensland Ideas into Impact: Accelerating Science and Innovation for a Better Future discussion paper and the national Strategic Examination of Research and Development (SERD) consultation process.
Her work is closely connected to entrepreneurial and industry practice through mentoring, translational engagement, and industry-facing white papers on digital transformation, SME collaboration, and innovation ecosystems. She has supported entrepreneurial and translational programs through mentoring and advisory roles with Imperial Enterprise Lab and related innovation initiatives, engaging with founders, researchers, and emerging ventures across multiple sectors.
Her research has been supported through competitive funding including a UQ BEL Connect Grant on quantum commercialisation ecosystems and an ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology EMCR Seed Grant focused on commercialisation barriers and innovation ecosystem development for sustainable impact in Australia, involving researchers across five universities and multiple disciplines including management, law, ethics, synthetic biology, engineering, and anthropology.
Works
Search Professor Selina Cao’s works on UQ eSpace
2026
Journal Article
University–industry collaboration for AI-driven service innovation
Kriz, Alexandra, Cao, Zhe, Hartley, Nicole, Verreynne, Martie-Louise, Indulska, Marta and Vegh, Viktor (2026). University–industry collaboration for AI-driven service innovation. Journal of Service Management, 1-29. doi: 10.1108/josm-12-2024-0545
2025
Journal Article
University–business collaboration: A collaboration readiness index and scale
Verreynne, Martie-Louise, de Oliveira, Rui Torres, Cao, Zhe, Nguyen, Tam and Feast, George (2025). University–business collaboration: A collaboration readiness index and scale. Research Policy, 54 (8) 105273, 1-18. doi: 10.1016/j.respol.2025.105273
2024
Journal Article
Reflecting back and looking forward: a systematic literature review of SME–university collaborations
Cao, Zhe, Verreynne, Martie‐Louise and de Oliveira, Rui Torres (2024). Reflecting back and looking forward: a systematic literature review of SME–university collaborations. International Journal of Management Reviews, 28 (1) e12393, 1-28. doi: 10.1111/ijmr.12393
2024
Conference Publication
Triangulating approaches to study ecosystem change
Cao, Zhe (2024). Triangulating approaches to study ecosystem change. 84th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM 2024), Chicago, IL, United States, 9-13 August 2024. Briarcliff Manor, NY, United States: Academy of Management. doi: 10.5465/amproc.2024.19132abstract
2024
Conference Publication
Reflecting Back and Looking Forward: A Systematic Literature Review of SME-University Collaborations
Cao, Zhe and Verreynne, Martie-Louise (2024). Reflecting Back and Looking Forward: A Systematic Literature Review of SME-University Collaborations. 84th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM 2024), Chicago, IL United States, 9-13 August 2024. Briarcliff Manor, NY United States: Academy of Management. doi: 10.5465/amproc.2024.17884abstract
2024
Conference Publication
Fostering butterflies that transcend paradoxes: A reconstructive approach to accelerate academic-practitioner collaborations
Cao, Zhe, Verreynne, Martie-Louise and Torres de Oliveira, Rui (2024). Fostering butterflies that transcend paradoxes: A reconstructive approach to accelerate academic-practitioner collaborations. EGOS Conference 2024, Milan, Italy, 4-6 July 2024.
2023
Other Outputs
Ecosystem synergies, change and orchestration
Zhe, Cao (2023). Ecosystem synergies, change and orchestration. PhD Thesis, Management & Entrepreneurship Department, Imperial College London, United Kingdom. doi: 10.25560/107072
2023
Conference Publication
Enabling tensions: a paradox typology and appreciation strategies for the U-I collaboration
Cao, Selina, Verreynne, Martie-Louise, Torres de Oliveira, Rui and Indulska, Marta (2023). Enabling tensions: a paradox typology and appreciation strategies for the U-I collaboration. 83rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Boston, MA, United States, 4-8 August 2023. Briarcliff Manor, NY, United States: Academy of Management. doi: 10.5465/amproc.2023.19651abstract
2023
Other Outputs
Digital Service Transformation: Pathways to human and economic wellbeing: White paper
Andreassen, Tor W., Archibald, Gordon, Beekhuyzen, Jenine, Bongiovanni, Ivano, Brea, Edgar, Breidbach, Christoph, Burchill, Keith, Burgers, Henri, Cao, Selina, Coote, Len, Coram, Brendan, Cunningham, Claire, Feast, George, Field, Mitch, Ford, Jerad, Fouche, Leon, Gain, Alexandria, Gooding, Glen, Goyeneche Ramirez, David, Green, Teegan, Gschwind, Daniel, Hall, Thomas, Hartley, Nicole, Heinz, Daniel, Hine, Damian, Indulska, Marta, Kapernick, Brett, Kastelle, Tim, Ko, Ryan ... Zhang, Wenlu (2023). Digital Service Transformation: Pathways to human and economic wellbeing: White paper. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/aed4918
2021
Conference Publication
Ecosystem benefits: An integrative framework
Cao, Zhe and Thomas, Llewellyn D. W. (2021). Ecosystem benefits: An integrative framework. 81st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM 2021), Online, 30 July - 3 August 2021. Briarcliff Manor, NY United States: Academy of Management. doi: 10.5465/ambpp.2021.16405abstract
2020
Journal Article
A systematic literature review of entrepreneurial ecosystems in advanced and emerging economies
Cao, Zhe and Shi, Xianwei (2020). A systematic literature review of entrepreneurial ecosystems in advanced and emerging economies. Small Business Economics, 57 (1), 75-110. doi: 10.1007/s11187-020-00326-y
2019
Conference Publication
Entrepreneurial ecosystem advantage: ecosystem interactions and business model innovation
Autio, Erkko, Cao, Zhe, Chumjit, Surat, Kaensup, Panida and Temsiripoj, Wanna (2019). Entrepreneurial ecosystem advantage: ecosystem interactions and business model innovation. Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2019, Boston, MA United States, 9-13 August 2019. Briarcliff Manor, NY United States: Academy of Management. doi: 10.5465/ambpp.2019.18346abstract
2019
Conference Publication
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Theoretical Lenses and Policy Challenges
Cao, Zhe, Shi, Xianwei, Autio, Erkko, Levie, Jonathan and Ziedonis, Rosemarie (2019). Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Theoretical Lenses and Policy Challenges. Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2019, Boston, MA United States, 9-13 August 2019. Briarcliff Manor, NY United States: Academy of Management. doi: 10.5465/ambpp.2019.18490symposium
2019
Conference Publication
Fostering digital start-ups: structural model of entrepreneurial ecosystems
Autio, Erkko and Cao, Zhe (2019). Fostering digital start-ups: structural model of entrepreneurial ecosystems. 52nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Maui, HI United States, 8-11 January 2019. Honolulu, HI United States: HICSS.
2018
Conference Publication
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Emerging Economies (E4s): What is Similar and What is Different?
Cao, Zhe (2018). Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Emerging Economies (E4s): What is Similar and What is Different?. 78th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Chicago, IL United States, 10-14 August 2018. Briarcliff Manor, NY United States: Academy of Management. doi: 10.5465/ambpp.2018.17341abstract
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Selina Cao is:
- Available for supervision
Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Business models and growth roadmap for synthetic biology start-ups
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Martie-Louise Verreynne, Professor Paul Spee
Media
Enquiries
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