Rahmani, Soma | Iran

Dr. Soma Rahmani, holding a Ph.D. in Science and Technology Policy Making from Mazandaran University and a Master of Science in Executive Management (Strategic Management) from Tehran University. She has recently assumed the role of Research Fellow at Graz University of Technology's IAS-STS, commencing in October 2023. Her academic background and research experience have spanned both corporate and national levels.

At the corporate level, she engaged in extensive research within Iran's steel industry, examining firm behavior from the perspectives of entrepreneurship and sustainability with the aim of driving technological progress. On the national stage, Dr. Rahmani dedicated her efforts to innovative policy analysis projects, contributing to the broader policy discourse.

Her doctoral work revolved around investigating the technological gap in Iran's steel industry compared to select nations and formulating strategies to facilitate technological catch-up.

During her tenure as a visiting scholar at Lund University, Sweden, she developed a strong interest in sustainability transitions. This interest seamlessly integrated into her research on technological catchup. She delved into exploring how technological catch-up aligns with sustainability transitions in both energy-consuming and clean industries. Her investigations aimed to analyze the societal, economic, and policy factors that either hinder or promote sustainability objectives.

Throughout her professional career, Dr. Rahmani has established collaborative partnerships with various international organizations, such as the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), actively participating in Iran's development projects.

Project at IAS-STS

She is presently engaged in a project titled "Towards Low-Carbon Energy Systems." In this endeavor, she is actively investigating the process of decarbonizing the mobility system. Her goal is to identify the various factors, encompassing social, policy, and economic elements, that may either facilitate or impede this transition.

Selected Publications

• Rahmani, Soma, Soltanzadeh, Javad, Majidpou, Mehdi. (2023). Technological catch-up in the Iranian Steel Industry: Regime-based Approach. Resource policy Journal (In progress).

• Rahmani, Soma, Safdari Ranjbar, Mostafa, Mafi, Vahid. (2022). Transition pathways, transition failure, and sustainable transition in developing countries: Insights from windturbines in Iran. Energy for Sustainable Development journal, 70 (8).

• Rahmani, Soma, Karimi, Asef, Ahmadpour Daryani, Mahmoud. (2021). The Influence of Entrepreneurial Orientation on Firm Growth among Iranian Agricultural SMEs: TheMediation role of entrepreneurial leadership and marketorientation. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 11.

• Rahmani, Soma, Safdari Ranjbar, Mostafa. (2020). Endogenizing Windows of Opportunity with the Goal of Technological Catch-up Based on Sustainable Transition: Wind Turbines in Iran. Innovation management journal, 4 (34).

• Rahmani, Soma, Alizadeh Sani, Mohsen, Majidpour, Mehdi, Valipour Khatir, Mohammad. (2020). A look at Technological Catch-up Studies from the Perspective of Sustainability Transitions: A MetaSynthesis Review. Journal of Science and Technology policy, 13(1).

• Rahmani, Soma, Alizadeh Sani, Mohsen. (2020). Low- carbon transition: A comparison between Iran and Sweden (Peer reviewed). ECEEE Industrial Summer Study Proceedings, Gothenburg, Sweden.

• Rahmani, Soma, Nilforoushan, Hadi. (2019). Towards designing the standard technology intelligence system. 28th International Conference of theinternational association for management of technology(IAMOT 2019), Mumbai, India.