Dr. rer. pol. Nils J. Tschoppe
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Dr Nils J. Tschoppe has been a postdoctoral researcher (working towards his habilitation) at the Chair of Business Administration, specialising in Information Management, at the FernUniversität in Hagen since October 2026.
He obtained his doctorate at the Institute for Business Informatics at Leuphana University Lüneburg (Dr. rer. pol.). His doctoral thesis (“Growth Trajectories of Digital Start-ups: Empirical Evidence and Directions for Digital Entrepreneurship Research”) was awarded the distinction of magna cum laude. In it, he examined how digital start-ups overcome the organisational, technological and strategic challenges associated with rapid expansion.
As a visiting scholar, he conducted research on this topic at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi and at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. The findings were presented, amongst other venues, at the leading international business informatics conference ‘ICIS’ (2024).
Methodologically, he employs a broad spectrum of qualitative (including Grounded Theory) and design-oriented (including Action Design Research) approaches. He has integrated his practical experience from the start-up ecosystem, IT consultancy, the SME sector and academia into numerous German- and English-language courses at the interface of entrepreneurship, business informatics and organisational sciences.
| Professional Experience | |
|---|---|
| 10/206 - present | Postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of B*IMA, FernUniversität Hagen |
| 06/2026 - 09/2026 | Startup Manager, Jade University of Applied Sciences, Wilhelmshaven |
| 01/2025 - 06/2025 | Visiting Researcher, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi |
| 01/2020 - 12/2024 | Research Fellow, Leuphana University of Lüneburg |
| 08/2022 - 09/2022 | Visiting Researcher, Victoria University of Wellington |
| 10/2018 - 12/2019 | Associate Consultant & Bid Manager, Sopra Steria |
| 10/2017 - 04/2018 | Development Policy Voluntary Service, eThekwini Municipality (Durban, South Africa) |
| 10/2016 - 11/2017 | Founder, Job Pirates UG (limited liability) |
| 04/2016 - 12/2016 | Information Literacy Tutor, Flensburg University of Applied Sciences |
| 08/2011 - 09/2015 | Business IT Specialist, Nedschroef Plettenberg GmbH |
| Education | |
|---|---|
| 04/2020 - 05/2026 | PhD programme in Digital Entrepreneurship (Dr. rer. pol.), Institute of Business Informatics, Leuphana University of Lüneburg |
| 09/2015 - 09/2017 | Master’s degree in Business Management, specialising in ‘SME Management & Entrepreneurship’ (M.A.), Flensburg University of Applied Sciences |
| 09/2011 - 05/2015 | Dual Bachelor’s degree programme in Business Informatics (B.Sc.), FOM Hochschule, Dortmund |
| 04/2011 - 07/2011 | Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Otto-Friedrich-University, Bamberg (Accepted an offer to join a work-study programme, without a degree) |
| 08/2011 - 08/2013 | Part-time training programme to become an IT business administrator |
