Engage
The world is constantly changing, with increasing pace and intensity. These changes have profound consequences for human life – for the climate and environment, technological opportunities, business practices, public policy, safety, education, and society as a whole.
This complex environment calls for citizens who have the ability to identify challenges, the will to act upon these challenges, the knowledge to acquire the resources and skills needed and the confidence to be the driving force for change, regardless of resistance. These people are the agents of change, the entrepreneurs, willing and able to make changes, engaging challenges with creativity and fearlessness.
The ambition of Engage is to develop students’ entrepreneurial skills at the higher education level to become change agents in all contexts.
Background
Engage – Centre for Engaged Education through Entrepreneurship has been a Centre of Excellence in Education since 2017. The Norwegian Centres for Excellence in Education (SFU) is a national initiative to recognize and stimulate excellence in Norwegian higher education. The initiative was established in 2010 and is funded by the Ministry of Education and Research. There are currently tvelve centres. The initiative is administered by Diku.
Engage was going trough a midterm evaluation in 2020. An expert panel with excellent knowledge, and interest in, educational development in higher education was doing the evaluation.
“Our panel’s review… led us to the conclusion that Engage has become a world-leading centre for entrepreneurship education.”
Review comitee
“Our panel’s unanimous evaluation is that Engage has achieved the stated goals for its first five years.”
Review comitee
“Engage is a role model for other current and future centres of excellence in Norway and around the world which seek to blend teaching, research, and practice, and through a multi-disciplinary set of stakeholders across faculty, students, staff, industry, and other partners.”
Review comitee
You can read the Diku comitee report here (Engage evaluation starts at page 16).
Ambition
Engage ambitions is to ensure that the ability to identify new opportunities, the will to act upon these opportunities, and the knowledge to acquire the resources and skills needed to innovate for the better, becomes fundamental elements in all disciplines at the higher education level.
We call for a change in how universities educate students in entrepreneurial skills that can prepare them for important roles as change agents in business and society.
Engage develops education methods and materials on entrepreneurship, advises on the implementation of entrepreneurship in all disciplines at the higher education level and facilitates cooperation and networking. Student engagement is key for developing a centre for excellence in education, and the students are involved in designing and testing new teaching methods in various contexts.
Engage has a strong research group connected to the centre, including ten PhD candidates. Through research, Engage seeks to generate new knowledge about how to teach entrepreneurial skills in various disciplines.
Organisation
Engage is a consortium consisting of the NTNU School of Entrepreneurship, Nord University Business School, NTNU Experts in Teamwork, and Spark NTNU.




Together these four partners contribute with variations in action-based, challenge-based and experience-based learning models as a basis for interdisciplinary interactions and complementary skills and approaches. This is a strong foundation for developing entrepreneurial skills among students in different disciplines. The centre host is NTNU faculty of economics and management.
Team
Managment group
Torgeir Aadland, Centre Director, NTNU
Iselin Kristine Mauseth Steira, Project manager, Nord University
Gunhild Marie Roald, Head of Education, NTNU
Lars Reyes-Gjølme, Head of Student Engagement, NTNU
Lise Aaboen, Head of Research, NTNU
Line Karlsen, Coordinator, Nord University
Håvard Engen, Coordinator, NTNU
Core team students
Lars Reyes-Gjølme, NTNU
Line Karlsen, Nord University
Dag Håkon Haneberg, NTNU
Ellinor Ida Jensen Kirkfjell, Nord University
Malin Toften Mangersnes, NTNU
Elise Hamnes Høvik, NTNU
Mukesh Hasirumane Venkatesh, NTNU
Ragnhild Fauchald, NTNU
Vivek Sinha, NTNU
Core team education
Gunhild Marie Roald, NTNU
Eleni Georgiadou, Nord University
Gunhild Marie Roald, NTNU
Gunn-Berit Neergård, NTNU
Jicky Isabell Lullies, NTNU
Fufen Jin, NTNU
Maiken Nilsen Stensaker, Nord University
Marianne Arntzen-Nordquist, Nord University
Core team research
Lise Aaboen, NTNU
Dag Håkon Haneberg, NTNU
Einar Agur Rasmussen, Nord University
Fufen Jin, NTNU
Gunhild Marie Roald, NTNU
Jicky Isabell Lullies, NTNU
Lidia K. Lindelid, Nord University
Maiken Nilsen Stensaker, Nord University
Mariel Hjelle, NTNU
Mukesh Hasirumane Venkatesh, NTNU
Nils Magne Killingberg, NTNU
Ragnhild Nordeng Fauchald, NTNU
Roger Sørheim, NTNU
Sara Maryami, NTNU
Trine Åsheim Bernhardsen, Nord University
Vårin Vaskinn, NTNU
Iselin Kristine Mauseth Steira, Nord University (on parental leave)
Steering committee
Marielle Christiansen, Leader of the steering committee, Dean and professor, Faculty of Economics and Management, NTNU
Levi Gårseth-Nesbakk, Pro-Rector for Education, Nord University
Gry Agnete Alsos, Dean, Nord Business school, Nord University
Elsebeth Holmen, Head of Department, Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, NTNU
Emilie Vistung, Student Representative, Nord
Stephanie Z. Solbakken, Student Representative, Nord
Filiz Emirli, Student Representative, NTNU
Nora Solhøi Tvete, Student Representative, NTNU
Advisory board
Diamanto Politis, Professor, Lund University
Hans Landström, Professor, Lund University
Candida Brush, Professor, Babson College
Andrew Corbett, Professor, Babson College
Ulla Hytti, Professor, University of Turku
Riccardo Fini, Associate Professor, University of Bologna
People
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Torgeir Aadland
Director
Department of Industrial Economics anTechnology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 957 73 628
About
Director at Engage and Associate Professor at NTNU. Torgeir has a PhD from NTNU focusing on assessment of entrepreneurship education.
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Iselin Kristine Mauseth
Associate Professor
Nord University Business School
+47 75 51 76 02
About
Associate Professor at Nord University Business School. She teaches entrepreneurship and teamwork at the master level at Nord University Business School. She conduct research related to new venture teams, learning processes and entrepreneurship education. Her Phd is on new venture team processes in venture creation programs.
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Håvard Engen
Centre Coordinator
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 48 044 088
About
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Line Mathilde Karlsen
Higher executive officer
Nord University Business School
+47 7551 7006
About
Project manager at Engage and Nord University, focusing in student innovation and social media and administrative work. Line graduated in 2019 with a Master of Science in Business, specializing in innovation and entrepreneurship.
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Lars Reyes-Gjølme
Senior Adviser
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 917 52 901
About
Head of Students at Engage. Site Manager for the Student Innovation Ecosystem at NTNU, centered around “Gruva”.
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Lise Aaboen
Professor
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 7359 5328
About
Researcher at Engage and Professor at NTNU School of Entrepreneurship. Her research interests include incubators, entrepreneurship education and early customer relationships. In Engage, she has primarily organized courses and seminars for the PhD students as well as book-projects, special issues and conferences.
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Gunhild Marie Roald
Researcher
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 416 41 021
About
Researcher at Engage, involved in e.g. the Train-the-trainer-initiatives for all disciplines. With a background in counselling, she is also interested in relational dynamics in entrepreneurship education, particularly in teamwork.
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Gunn-Berit Neergård
Researcher
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 928 34 506
About
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Vivek Sinha
Innovation Manager
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 7359 3123
About
Innovation Manager at Engage and Faculty of Economics and Management.
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Dag Håkon Haneberg
Associate Professor
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 959 09 622
About
Teaching entrepreneurship at NTNU School of Entrepreneurship and the SHIFT program (University of Agder). Works on projects such as SUPER, ENHANCE and FABRIC, and researches student entrepreneurship and venture creation programs. Has been involved in initiatives like Spark, FRAM and DRIV.
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Eleni Georgiadou
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Elise Hamnes Høvik
Adviser
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 48 044 088
About
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Ellinor Ida Jenssen Kirkfjell
Senior Advisor
Nord University Business School
+47 7551 7557
About
Engaged in development of the student innovation ecosystem at Nord University.
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Finn Lippestad
Higher Executive Officer
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 907 82 751
About
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Fufen Jin
Analyst / Researcher
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 412 15 584
About
Fufen Jin is a researcher and analyst in Engage. Prior to joining Engage, Fufen has undertaken numerous research projects ranging from child language and literacy development to STEM education. She has extensive experience in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data. Fufen holds a PhD in Linguistics from NTNU.
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Ingrid Berg Sivertsen
Associate Professor
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 93485404
About
Associate professor at the NTNU School of Entrepreneurship. Ingrids has a BA in Industrial Design from AHO, and a MBA from Nord University. She is the CEO and founder of the company Ingrid Oline.
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Jicky Isabell Lullies
PhD Candidate
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
About
PhD candidate with interest in nascent new venture teams and how they handle uncertainty and deal with uncertainty in their team process.
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Kristina Wegner
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Maiken Stensaker Emilsen
PhD candidate
Nord University Business School
+47 7551 7675
About
PhD-student within entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainable development. She graduated with a Master of Science in Business at Nord University Business School in 2017 with a specialization in innovation and entrepreneurship.
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Malin Toften Mangersnes
Adviser
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 7355 9087
About
Malin will mainly contribute to Engage Students and documentation of impact from centre activities. She holds a PhD in Linguistics and has a background from our partner Experts in Teamwork.
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Marianne Arntzen-Nordqvist
Associate Professor
Nord University Business School
+47 7551 7163
marianne.arntzen-nordqvist@nord.no
About
Marianne’s academic interests include entrepreneurial finance, innovation and entrepreneurship education. Marianne`s work within Engage include teaching, research and development within innovation and entrepreneurship education.
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Mukesh H. Venkatesh
Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 462 86 765
About
Postdoctoral Fellow with primary focus on entrepreneurship education, digital entrepreneurship, and family business.
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Nils Magne Killingberg
Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 984 90 004
About
Nils Magne finished his PhD at NMBU in 2024 with the title “Putting entrepreneurial competencies to work : an exploration of the early careers of entrepreneurship education graduates .”
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Ragnhild Nordeng Fauchald
Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 990 00 448
About
Postdoctoral Fellow after finishing her PhD from 2024: “Social interaction in student entrepreneurs’ experience-based learning processes.”
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Roger Sørheim
Professor
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 918 03 448
About
Professor at NTNU and Adjunct Professor at Nord University Business School. His main research interests include entrepreneurial finance and entrepreneurship education. Roger is one of the founders of the NTNU School of Entrepreneurship.
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Sara Maryami
Postdoctoral fellow
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 485 01 657
About
The title of her Ph.D. thesis was ”Team entrepreneurial passion and its influence on team performance, opportunity recognition, opportunity exploitation, and well-being”. The purpose was to explore how experiencing collective passion among entrepreneurial teams affects team performance and entrepreneurial outcomes in the early stage of entrepreneurship. Her research interests include entrepreneurial teams, entrepreneurial passion, emotions, as well as the psychosocial aspects of individual and team levels in entrepreneurship and their influence on entrepreneurial behavior and outcomes.
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Trine Åsheim Bernhardsen
PhD Candidate
Nord University Business School
+47 415 51 635
About
Trine is a PhD fellow at Engage and Nord University. Her prior work experience spans from a technology start-up, via software testing, to student advising. Her research interests include innovation and entrepreneurship education, sustainability, team work, learning, mindset and the regional role of the universities in educating change agents.
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Vårin Vaskinn
PhD Candidate
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 911 47 562
About
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Øystein Widding
Professor
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT), NTNU
+47 412 15 584
About
Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Adjunct Professor at Nord University Business School. Øystein is one of the founders of the NTNU School of Entrepreneurship.
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Åshild Wilhelmsen
phd candidate
Department of Industrial Economics anTechnology Management (IØT), NTNU
About
Interests within assessment in the context of entrepreneurship education and how assessment in more complex courses, with authentic cases and complex problems and ambiguity looks like. Also interested in the impact of AI on higher education and especially assessment practices.

