Neil Aaron Thompson

Neil Aaron Thompson is an Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship and Organization Studies at the School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and a research fellow at the Amsterdam Business Research Institute. His work bridges theoretical rigor with practical applications in entrepreneurship and organizational dynamics.

He holds an MSc in International Economics and Business from Utrecht University (2009) and earned his PhD in 2013 with a dissertation on Institutional Logics and Entrepreneurship – Struggling for legitimacy in the emerging bio-energy field.

Thompson's research centers on Entrepreneurship as Practice, exploring how entrepreneurs experience anxiety, navigate institutional constraints, and leverage imagination for organizational creativity. His work examines entrepreneurial ecosystems through historical and practice-theory lenses, addressing Sustainable Development Goals in social economy and economic growth. Current projects investigate anxiety coping mechanisms, global ecosystem evolution, and historical institutional work in creative industries.

Recent publications (2024-2025) demonstrate a cohesive focus on practice theory applications, circular economy transitions, and rural entrepreneurship frameworks. These works consistently integrate methodological innovation with real-world sustainability challenges.

Scientific recognition includes:

• 7000 GBP workshop grant on entrepreneurship as practice (2015)
• ASI funding for integrative projects (2020)
• Babson PhD Consortium participation (2012)
• Grant for hosting PhD workshops on practice theory (2015)
• Kaufman Grant for doctoral research (2012)

Thompson coordinates premaster programs and core MSc Entrepreneurship courses while supervising master's theses. As principal investigator for projects like AURORA 2030 and ACCELERATE Entrepreneurship Education in Europe, he develops pan-European entrepreneurship curricula and ecosystem mapping frameworks.

He actively builds scholarly communities through the annual Entrepreneurship as Practice Conference and PhD Symposium, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue on emerging theoretical frontiers.