Pręczki
The village where I grew up. From childhood I remember night-time bike rides with my dad, torches taped to the handlebars and watching the sky together.
About
Research is my job.
Curiosity does the rest.
I'm Marcin Bielicki. I study innovation, teach, and help other people learn.
Training, travel and making things with my hands matter to me too. I love the moment when something that seems unrelated suddenly sheds light on my own work.
Research and practice
Places that shaped my work.
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UEP
Entrepreneurship research
PhD in finance at Poznań University of Economics and Business. Research and teaching.
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OAMK
Entrepreneurship education
Master of Education Entrepreneurship in Finland. Before that, research and tutoring at OAMK LABs.
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Fulbright
A year in Texas
Fulbright scholarship at Texas Christian University, 2018–2019. Research, work at the Idea Factory and a course for students.
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SENSE
Innovation in practice
Helping teams with innovation, future skills and putting AI to work.
How I handle sources
- Every claim comes with its source.
- I flag what comes from research, what's my own experience, and what's one person's story.
- If I've tried it on myself, that's an example — not proof it'll work for you.
- When nobody knows, I say “I don’t know.”
Some people want a ready-made cheesecake recipe. Others want to understand what makes a cheesecake good — so they can experiment and write their own. I lean heavily towards the second. That doesn't make the first wrong: when I'm short on time, I bake from a recipe too.
Experience and track record
Research
PhD in economics (PUEB) · Master of Education Entrepreneurship, OAMK (Finland) · Fulbright, Texas Christian University · RSM Erasmus University (2020, Etiuda grant, National Science Centre Poland) · Anglin, Bruton, Bielicki (2025), No Credit for Success, Penalized for Failure?, “Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice” 49(5) → read · full list → Google Scholar · 12 universities in 10 countries — study, research or teaching → list
Practice
lead trainer, SENSE consulting · co-creator of AMICA Shares Values With Students, a corporate pre-incubation programme for students → about the programme · training for Budimex, Volkswagen, Unilever, Amica, Getinge, YES · the book Student w centrum (PWN 2025, with Anna Wach and Joanna Furmańczyk; in Polish) · co-author of design-lab.pl materials: Design Thinking Lab (2nd edition) and Universal Design for Learning → design-lab.pl
On the road
taught at 8 universities in 7 countries · 51 countries visited · ISPIM: Ljubljana and Salzburg 2023, Tallinn 2024, Bergen 2025 · keynote at Edu360 2022
Lifting
bronze at the Polish Academic Championships 2026 · gold at The Classic Powerlifting Games 2025 · silver at the Polish Academic Championships 2025 · winner of the 5th Polish National Classic Powerlifting Debuts 2021 · training alongside a full-time job for over a decade
Studio
3rd place in the “Architecture” category of the PUEB photo competition “100 spojrzeń – jedna uczelnia” (“100 views – one university”, 2026) → results · drawing and painting · learning wood carving
12 universities in 10 countries — list
| Place | University | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toruń | Nicolaus Copernicus University | bachelor's studies | 2008–2012 |
| Poznań | Poznań University of Economics and Business | master's studies, PhD (2020), assistant professor | from my student days to today |
| Lisbon | ISCTE Business School | studies (Erasmus) | 2013/14 |
| Kassel | Universität Kassel | exchange (Erasmus) | 2017 |
| Oulu | Oulu University of Applied Sciences (OAMK) | tutor OAMK LABs; Master of Education Entrepreneurship | 2017; 2024–2025 |
| Fort Worth | Texas Christian University | Fulbright — research project; course for students | 2018/19 |
| Rotterdam | Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University | research (Etiuda grant, National Science Centre Poland) | 2020 |
| Bloemfontein | Central University of Technology | teaching, staff workshops | 2021 |
| Bogotá | Universidad de América | teaching | 2023 |
| Medellín | Universidad EAFIT | teaching | 2023 |
| Ho Chi Minh City | Vietnam National University | teaching | 2025 |
| Montpellier | Montpellier Business School | teaching | 2026 |
Travel journal
From Pręczki to Fort Worth.
I grew up in a teacher's home, in a flat that had belonged to my grandparents — teachers on both sides of the family. I remember night-time expeditions with my dad, torches strapped to our bikes. Then came new places, new people and new questions. Here are a few stops along the way.
Selected placeZoom in
Study and work abroad
Fort Worth, Texas (USA)
A year of research at Texas Christian University as a Fulbright scholar in 2018–2019 and work at the Idea Factory; I also taught a course for TCU students. With the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, I took part in one event and one consultation on scaling the programme.
All stories — list of places
Poland
Rypin
Secondary school, maths and computer science stream. Our form tutor taught maths, and his one-liners were worth writing down — so we did.
Toruń
Nicolaus Copernicus University: a bachelor's degree, a failed maths exam and a repeated year. Which turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me — in my new class I met the person who, among other things, got me to Poznań.
Poznań — home base
PUEB: master's, PhD, and now my department. SENSE consulting. My base camp — every expedition starts here, and this is where I come home.
Study and work abroad
Jyväskylä, Finland
The ECIE 2016 conference and a lunch queue where a stranger struck up a conversation with me. That one chance conversation opened the way to many later trips and collaborations.
Oulu, Finland
Research and tutoring at OAMK LABs in 2017, and later the Master of Education Entrepreneurship programme, completed in 2025. An important part of my experience in designing learning.
Turku, Finland
An overnight bus journey to an interview with the Fulbright committee. One of the stops on the way to Texas.
Fort Worth, Texas (USA)
A year of research at Texas Christian University as a Fulbright scholar in 2018–2019 and work at the Idea Factory; I also taught a course for TCU students. With the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, I took part in one event and one consultation on scaling the programme.
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Research at RSM Erasmus University on an Etiuda grant from the National Science Centre Poland. It was also where I first thought about powerlifting.
Kassel, Germany
An Erasmus stay at Universität Kassel during my PhD. A trip that didn't work out, but it remains part of my story: not every expedition succeeds, and every one teaches you something.
Bogotá and Medellín, Colombia
Workshops and lectures in Bogotá and Medellín in 2023. Working with participants in yet another educational context.
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Three weeks with staff at the Central University of Technology. How to teach entrepreneurship when the context is completely different from the textbooks.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Teaching at Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City in 2025. Another experience of teaching in a different educational context.
Montpellier, France
Classes for Montpellier Business School students in March 2026.
Lisbon, Portugal
An Erasmus semester at ISCTE Business School in 2013/14 — my first longer stretch outside Poland. I came back in 2021 to present a paper at the ECIE conference.
Ravels, Belgium
Before the universities, there was seasonal work in pepper greenhouses.
Conferences and seminars
Paris, France
Paper at the European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship 2017.
Bergen, Norway
ISPIM Innovation Conference 2025. A gathering of the international innovation community.
Tallinn, Estonia
Paper at the ISPIM Innovation Conference 2024.
Salzburg, Austria
ISPIM Connects 2023.
Ljubljana, Slovenia
ISPIM Innovation Conference 2023.
Seville, Spain
Paper at the 16th Academy of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Knowledge conference.
Rome, Italy
European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship 2020.
Pittsburgh, USA
The Fulbright seminar “From Lab to Market”: how research turns into products.
Compass over maps
Not every path is on the map yet.
To me, a compass means deciding what I want to learn, why, and how. Research and other people's experience help me check I'm still heading the right way. A map shows you the paths others have laid out. A compass helps you find your own.
After hours
The sketchbook and the barbell.
I draw, take photos and I'm learning to carve wood.
I also bake cheesecakes — my most consistent results so far.
Talks, training and workshops
For companies, event organisers and universities. In English and Polish.
Ways to work togetherMy door is open to my students
A free chat about studying, work or a project of your own — even after you've graduated.
Drop me a line