Background and experience
James Karlsen is a professor at the Department of Management and Innovation at the School of Business. He holds a PhD in Industrial Economics from NTNU, Trondheim, and a Master’s degree in Human Geography from the University of Oslo. Since 2009, Karlsen has been affiliated with the Basque research center Orkestra in San Sebastian, Spain.
Karlsen served as Head of Department of Working life and innovation from 2019 to 2024 and was appointed as a member of the Competence Needs Committee (KBU) during the period 2021–2023.
Karlsen has experience as a senior researcher at NORCE (formerly Agderforskning), as County Planning Director and Special Adviser in Fisheries and Aquaculture at Finnmark County Municipality, and as an adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development and the Ministry of Fisheries.
Areas of responsibility
Teaching
Karlsen teaches qualitative methods and action research.
Research
Academic interests
Karlsen's research interests include innovation, regional industrial development, and action research, in which the researcher collaborates with practitioners in co-created change processes.