Birgit Leick

Birgit Leick

Professor
Department of Business and IT
USN School of Business
Campus Bø
+47 31 00 96 96
Dr Birgit LEICK is a professor in economic geography and innovation and entrepreneurship. A trained Master of Business Administration with a Ph.D. in business economics, a habilitation degree (HDR, full-professor qualification) in economic geography, and another professorship qualification in innovation, she works at the interface of entrepreneurship and regional economic development. She is from the Greater region Saar-Lor-Lux in the heart of Europe, at the borders of Luxembourg, France and Germany. Since 2017, she has been living and working in Norway. Her research is organised around two core areas of interest: 1. The nexus of entrepreneurial firms and the regional economy; and 2. Business networks and industrial clusters: their management and governance. In addition, she has worked on sustainable regional development topics, such as demographic change, rural-peripheral regions, cross-border regions. Current position: Professor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of South-Eastern Norway, School of Business, Department of Business and IT, Gullbringvegen 36, 3800 Bø, Norway. Websites: Personal website: https://sites.google.com/site/birgitleick/home, Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.no/citations?hl=no&user=-Z5Sd8gAAAAJ, Researchgate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Birgit_Leick

Responsibilities

  • Teaching and supervision in the "Bachelor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship" (Campus Bø) and "Master of Sustainability Management" (Campus Bø)
  • Research related to innovation and entrepreneurship, small business economics, and sustainable regional development
  • Coordination tasks (f.ex., master programme development, course and curriculum development)
  • Leadership support (representative leader of the research group "Sustainability Management from 2022-2023; representative leader of TUS utvalg from 2022-2023 ).

Competences

Teaching and research in the following areas:

1. Entrepreneurship and innovation.

2. Sustainable regional development and regional planning.

3. Business economics and small business management.

4. Methods in business and entrepreneurship studies.

 

Doctoral student supervision (2010-present):

  • Dimitris Kyriakidis (2010-2011, University of Bayreuth, Department of Economic Geography, role: co-supervisor)
  • Alexander Stroehl (2010-2011, 2016-2020, University of Bayreuth, Department of Economic Geography, role: co-supervisor)
  • Stefanie Doeringer (2021, University of Vienna, Economic Geography, role: final evaluator)

  • Ingibjörg Sigurðardóttir (2022, University of Iceland, Business and Economics, role: final evaluator

  • Gunn Kristin Aasen Leikvoll (USN School of Business, 2024-2025), role: main supervisor

CV

date: 23 December 2025

 

Education and academic degrees

  • 2019: Qualification for full professor positions in innovation and regional development in Norway (awarding institution: Western Norwegian University of Applied Sciences, Norway)
  • 2018: Qualification for full professor positions in economics/economic geography in Europe, German habilitation degree (corresp. habilitation à diriger des recherches/HDR), Awarding institution: University of Bayreuth, Germany. Title of post-doctoral dissertation: “Demographic change: Firms, institutions, and the regional economy” https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/3734/.
  • 2006: University of Technology and Mining Freiberg, Germany. Ph.D. in business economics. Grade magna cum laude. Title of dissertation: “The role of cross-border business co-operation in the European integration process: The case of the German-Czech border region.” http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:105-5735010 (in German).
  • 2002: University of Technology and Mining Freiberg, Germany. Master of business administration (former German ‘Diplom-Kauffrau Univ.’).
  • 2000: University of Hagen, Germany. Bachelor in business economics (former German ‘Vordiploma Univ.’).
  • 1996: Bénédict College Sarrebruck, Germany. Vocational training as European secretary (French, Spanish, English)

 

Academic affiliations and professional experience

  • Since 2026: Affiliated researcher, The Ratio Institute, Stockholm.
  • 2026: Otto Mønsted Visiting Professorship, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Business and Sustainability, Sønderborg, Denmark
  • 2025/26: W3 guest professor in Economic Geography, Kiel University, Institute for Geography, Germany.
  • 2020-present: Full professor (March 2021-present) in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Associate Professor (April 2020-February 2021) in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of South-Eastern Norway, School of Business, Department of Business and IT, Norway.
  • 2017-2020: Associate Professor in Business Economics, Østfold University College, Norway, Faculty of Business, Languages, and Social Science.
  • 2016-present: Research Fellow on Rural Entrepreneurship, University of Bern, Centre for Regional Economic Development, Switzerland.
  • 2013-2017: Assistant Professor in Economic Geography, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany, Department of Economic Geography (on parental leave: 2014-2015).
  • 2013-2014: Freelance project consultant for the Business Development Agency of the City of Pirmasens, Germany.
  • 2009-2012: Senior lecturer and postdoctoral researcher in Economic Geography, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany, Department of Economic Geography (on parental leave 2012).
  • 2007-2009: Adjunct lecturer (business administration, economics, tourism and statistics), University Colleges Erfurt, FHDW Dresden, Gera and Riesa, Germany.
  • 2007-2009: Publishing and commissioning editor in business/economics/management, Springer Science and Business Media, Heidelberg, Germany.
  • 2002-2006: University lecturer in business economics and economics, University of Technology and Mining Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany, Faculty of Business Administration.

 

Languages:

  • German: Mother tongue.
  • English: Proficiency level C1
  • French: Proficiency level C1.
  • Norwegian: Intermediate level B2.
  • Spanish: Basic level A2.
  • Italian: Basic level A2.
  • Czech: Basic level A2.

 

Current research interests

  • The nexus of entrepreneurial firms and the regional economy:
    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: 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.

 

Research grants, external funding and awards

  • Personal grants/scholarships and small-/medium-sized funding received (EUR 3,000-35,000, role: principal investigator): 2026: Otto-Mønsted Visiting Foreign Professorship, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Business and Sustainability, Sønderborg, Denmark. 2025/2026: W3 Guest professorship at Kiel University, Germany. "Scandinavian Guest Professorship of CAU Kiel in the winter term of 2025/2026"; 2019: European Academy of Management Research Grant, Belgium. “Contextualising regional entrepreneurship through innovation biographies: An embedded networks perspective on fashion start-ups in non-urban contexts”; 2018-2019: Publication scholarship, Østfold University College, Norway. “The value of social capital and embeddedness: Revisiting place-based business networks”; 2018-2019: Norwegian Research Council, International Research Mobility Norway-Germany. “Contesting Schengen: Effects of border enforcements on economic and social cohesion in European border spaces”; 2016: Research Fellowship Grant, Centre for Regional Economic Development, University of Bern, Switzerland. “Entrepreneurship in lagging or less favoured regions”; 2013-2016: Bayerische Forschungsallianz, Germany, different project grants related to “Economic development in globalisation peripheries”/“Rural entrepreneurship”; 2011: Oberfrankenstiftung Bavaria, Germany. “Demographic change and adaptive business strategies in Upper Frankonia”; 2009: German Labour Market Association, Germany. “Regional policy in the German-Czech borderlands: a critical assessment”; 2004-2005: European Union Interreg III A grant, Belgium. “Cross-border business networks in the borderlands between Saxony, Germany, and Northern Bohemia, Czech Republic”
  • Large grants and funding received (>EUR 100,000, role: principal investigator): 2021-2023: Nordregio-NAPA ACP Project "The impact of Airbnb hosts on Arctic local economies: Consumption patterns, entrepreneurship and sustainability" (in collaboration with Icelandic, Norwegian and Danish universities/research institutes)
  • Large grants and funding (>EUR 100,000) involved as collaborator: 2016-2019: EU Interreg Project, Denmark “Benefits for Region Deutschland-Danmark”. Role: collaborator and expert in cross-border entrepreneurship. Principal investigator: University of Southern Denmark.
  • Other medium-sized grants and funding (<EUR 100,000) involved as collaborator: 2020-2022: Southern Jutland Regional Research Fund, Denmark. “Understanding the diversity of business models in local sharing-economy entrepreneurship in a digital context: What can South Jutland as a rural-peripheral region learn?” Principal investigator: University of Southern Denmark

 

Awards

  • 2020: Haaga-Helia Business Innovation (HHBIC) Conference 2020 Best paper award
  • 2015-2016: Equal opportunities award-winner, University of Bayreuth, Germany. Mentoring and career development programme for female professors.
  • 2009-2010: Equal opportunities award-winner, University of Bayreuth, Germany. Coaching and career development programme for female postdoc researchers.

Publications in the Norwegian Research Information Repository