Tom has a Master’s degree and a PhD in Economics and is Professor for Regional Innovation at the University of Stavanger since 2019. His research centers around the question of how geography influences innovation processes. To answer this question, he employs tools of social network analysis, spatial econometrics, text analysis, and large-scale data sets. In addition to having co-authored more than fifty scientific publications, he has written a textbook on innovation policy. Tom has been teaching empirical methods and courses on innovation at the Master and PhD level and at multiple universities in Europe.