Rune Dahl Fitjar

Pro-rector for Innovation and Society
University of Stavanger
N-4036 Stavanger
Norway

Email: rune.d.fitjar@uis.no
Tel.: (+47) 51 83 15 62

Biography

I am the Pro-rector for Innovation and Society at the University of Stavanger. I am also Professor of Innovation Studies at the University of Stavanger Business School, a position that I have held since 1 September 2013. I am affiliated with the Centre for Innovation Research.

My research deals with different aspects of regions, in recent years mostly related to regional innovation.

I also hold a Toppforsk-UiS grant, where we examine how regional institutions and networks affect innovation in firms.

I trained as a political scientist in Bergen and at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), gaining my PhD in Government from LSE in 2007. My thesis was on the drivers of regionalism in Western Europe. From 2007 to 2013, I worked as a researcher at the International Research Institute of Stavanger (now Norce). During the 2011/2012 academic year, I was a visiting scholar at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

I was the chair of the Geography of Innovation Conference 2020 in Stavanger. I also chaired the Regional Innovation Policies Conference 2014 in Stavanger and currently chair the scientific committee for the Regional Innovation Policies conference series. From 2019 to 2023, I am a member of the Research Council of Norway's portfolio board for industry and services. From 2020 to 2022, I am a member of the Norwegian reference group for Horizon Europe for Excellent Science.

I currently supervise four PhD students: Jonathan Muringani examines how regional quality of government and political authority affect economic growth. Utku Ali Riza Alpaydin works on the role of geographical and non-geographical proximity in university-industry collaboration. Kwadwo Atta-Owusu studies how academics manage international scientific networks and regional industry networks. Jason Deegan examines how regions develop smart specialisation strategies. I have supervised three PhDs to completion: Marte Cecilie Wilhelmsen Solheim on the role of diversity in innovation processes. Silje Haus-Reve on diverse knowledge in innovation networks and Nina Hjertvikrem on collaboration in research and innovation networks.

In 2014, I was awarded the Lyse Research Prize, which recognizes excellence in research at the University of Stavanger. In 2012, I won the Stavanger Forum Prize for Communication of Research for actively presenting my findings both to an academic and a public audience. In 2019, I was awarded Region Stavanger's Ambassador Prize for attracting academic conferences to the region.

Research Interests
Regionalism, regional development, innovation, regional identity, comparative politics, European politics

Find me online:

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