About my research

My current research fields are the following:

• The nexus of entrepreneurial firms and the regional economy

Current projects: Rural entrepreneurship in the creative economy; Entrepreneurship and ageing; Digital entrepreneurship in the Nordic sharing economy; Airbnb hosts and tourism entrepreneurship; Institutional entrepreneurship and small firms; Sustainability entrepreneurs in regional context.

• Business networks and industrial clusters: their management and governance

Current projects: Barriers to collaboration in cross-border business networks; Network brokers and their governance in business networks/industrial clusters; Emerging social capital and stakeholder engagement in cross-border projects; Knowledge-sharing in business networks; International business incubators in BRIC countries.

Other research fields: 

• Regional economic development (demographic change, rural-peripheral regions, cross-border regions)

• Leadership and management (academic leadership) 

Main academic positions held 

Current position and affiliation:

2026: Visiting Otto Mønsted Foreign Research Professor, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Business and Sustainability, Campus Sønderborg, Denmark

• Teaching (international master) in sustainability management and entrepreneurship

• Research projects on rural marketing and cross-border entrepreneurship with members of the department

2025-2026: Visiting Professor in Economic Geography (Scandinavian Guest Lecturer), Kiel University, Institute of Geography, Working Group "Economic Geography", Kiel, Germany

• Teaching (master, bachelor) in economic geography and urban/regional planning

• Research projects in co-operation with the work group "Economic Geography" at Kiel University

2020-present: Professor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of South-Eastern Norway, School of Business, Department of Business and IT, Campus Bø, Norway. 

• • Associate professor (2020-2021), since 2021 full professor.

  • Teaching (master, bachelor) and research in innovation/entrepreneurship/regional development.

  • Coordination of master programme development tasks for the "Innovation and entrepreneurship" group in the department (2020-2021).

  • Representative head of USN Business School's research group "Sustainability Management" (2022-2023).

  • Member of the programme committee "Master of Sustainability Management" in USN Business School (2021-2024).

  • Member of USN PhD Recruitment Committee (representative member, 2022-2024).

Previous positions:

2017-2020: Associate Professor in Business Economics at Østfold University College, Faculty of Business, Languages, and Social Sciences, Norway.

• • Teaching (bachelor) and research in business economics/management/entrepreneurship/regional development.

  • Founder and leader of the research group "Business Development and Governance" (2018-2020). 

  • Programme co-ordinator for bachelor study programmes in business and economics (2017-2020) and accounting (2019-2020).

  • Member of the Research and Development Committee in the faculty.

  • Member of the Committee for Educational Quality in the faculty.

  • Coordinator for international students (outgoing/incoming).

2016-present: Research fellow, Centre for Regional Economic Development-CRED, University of Bern (Switzerland): Research in rural entrepreneurship with CRED.

2013-2017: Assistant Professor in Economic Geography, University of Bayreuth, Faculty of Geosciences, Biology and Chemistry, Department of Economic Geography, Germany. 

• • Teaching (master, bachelor, Ph.D.) and research in economic geography/entrepreneurship and regional development.

  • Member of the Senate of University of Bayreuth (2015-2017).

  • Member of the Faculty Council of the Faculty of Geosciences, Biology and Chemistry (2015-2017).

  • Coordinator for international students (outgoing/incoming).

2009-2012: Senior Lecturer in Economic Geography, University of Bayreuth, Faculty of Geosciences, Biology and Chemistry, Department of Economic Geography, Germany. Main tasks see above.

2003-2006: Lecturer and doctoral student in international economics/business, Freiberg University of Technology and Mining, Faculty of Business and Economics, Germany

• • Teaching and research in economics/international economics and international business.

  • Coordinator for international double-degree programmes (with head of department) with Italian, French and Polish universities.

Academic qualifications

• 2021: Appointment as full professor in 'Innovation and entrepreneurship', School of Business (University of South-Eastern Norway, Norway)

• 2021: Pedagogical training "Supervising Doctoral Students" for Ph.D. supervisors (University of South-Eastern Norway, Norway). 

• 2019: Qualification as full professor in 'Innovation and regional development', Institute for Business and Economics (Western Norwegian University of Applied Sciences, Norway).

• 2013-2018: Habilitation degree and qualification as full professor in 'Economics/economic geography', Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Geosciences (University of Bayreuth, Germany). 

• 2009-2011: Pedagogical education for university and college professors in the federal county of Bavaria (Bayern), Germany. Zertifikat Hochschullehre.

• 2003-2006: Ph.D. in business economics, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics (University of Technology and Mining Freiberg, Germany).

• 2000-2002: Master of Business Administration (University of Technology and Mining in Freiberg, Germany)

• 1998-2000: Bachelor in Business Economics (FernUniversitaet Hagen, Germany)

• 1994-1996: European Secretary & Foreign language correspondent (French-English-Spanish), Bénédict Collège Sarrebruck (Germany)