Dr. Finn Ole Semrau is a postdoctoral researcher at the Kiel Institute. His work focuses on global value chains, sustainable development, and policy instruments for environmental innovation. In his doctoral dissertation titled "Closer and Greener? Firms’ Global Value Chain Participation and Sustainability", he investigated the interplay between environmental and social standards and the internationalization of firms.

His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Development Economics, Industry & Innovation, and Technological Forecasting & Social Change. In 2024, he received the Kiel Institute’s Best Paper Award together with Dr. Frauke Steglich.

As part of the KlimaF-I project, he currently investigates the climate policy impact of public research and innovation measures. The project’s focus lies on the mechanisms of state-led environmental innovation policy - such as in the context of scaling up green hydrogen technologies.

He is strongly committed to bridging academic research and policymaking. His policy advisory work includes studies and contributions for the European Parliament, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and the International Coffee Organization. During a research stay at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC Seville), he deepened his perspective on the interface between research and industrial policy.

In addition to his academic work, he has been active as an independent consultant in the field of monitoring and evaluation of development cooperation projects since 2016. He has led multiple data collection missions in countries such as Mozambique and Kenya on behalf of GIZ, the GFA Consulting Group, and New Link Mozambique.

His international research experience includes visiting stays at Trinity College Dublin (Ireland), the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and the University of Ferrara (Italy).