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| Latest news |
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2007 another good year for the EU, finds UNU-MERIT team
Posted: 2008-02-18
The European Commission has published the 2007 European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) - prepared by a UNU-MERIT team and commissioned by the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry - which shows a continuation of positive innovation performance across the EU. Furthermore, three of the newer Member States - Estonia, the Czech Republic and Lithuania - are on track to reach the EU average innovation performance within a decade. The study however found that the EU continues to lag behind the US in overall terms, and that the catching up process in ICT investments, broadband penetration, early stage venture capital and international patenting has recently slowed down. The study was conducted by Hugo Hollanders, Anthony Arundel, Minna Kanerva, Adriana van Cruysen and Catalina Bordoy. |
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A Lecture worthy of Charles Cooper
Posted: 2008-02-27
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| Cash prizes for the most beautiful toilet - just one of many ingenious ideas that Dr. Ramani (pictured above) uses to promote ecologically sustainable sanitation in India |
On 20th February more than 150 Maastricht University students, international scholars and members of the public were treated to a captivating lecture by Dr. Shyama Ramani on "the economics of toilets in India." In the best storytelling tradition, Dr. Ramani delivered a lively mix of anedcotes and insightful analysis of the complex interplay of economic, political, historical and cultural factors that have contributed to a preventable public health crisis in a technologically sophisticated country. Arguing that any realistic solution would need to tap into the neglected and 'invisible market' at the bottom of the income pyramid, Dr. Ramani narrated her own experiences in working with an Indian community after the 2004 Tsunami to develop and diffuse locally appropriate and culturally acceptable sanitation technologies. In their responses, UNU-MERIT research collaborators Dick Nelson (Columbia University, USA), Suma Athreye (Brunel University, UK) and Shulin Gu (Tsinghua University, China) said the lecture was an apt homage to the pioneering work of UNU-INTECH (now UNU-MERIT) founding director Charles Cooper. The full text of the lecture is now available for download as UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2008-012. See link below.
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| Research & policy analysis |
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European Patent system needs reform, concludes Parliament
Posted: 2008-02-18
The European Parliament has published a report titled “Policy options for the improvement of the European patent system.” The study was carried out in 2007 by an independent, inter-diciplinary working group commissioned by the European Parliaments panel on Scientific Technology Options Assessment (STOA). UNU-MERIT Professorial Fellow Robin Cowan participated on the project, which was led by The Danish Board of Technology. |
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| Training & capacity development |
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New DEIP courses in 2008
Posted: 2008-02-18
As part of its "Design and Evaluation of Innovation Policy in developing countries" (DEIP) series, UNU-MERIT will co-organize a series of new workshops with local partners in 2008. Among the scheduled courses are DEIP sessions in China (21-23 May); Jordan (10-12 June) and Maastricht (10-14 November). |
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UNU Launches OpenCourseWare portal
Posted: 2008-02-18
United Nations University has joined a global consortium of more than 100 higher education institutions and associated organizations offering free online access to their learning materials. UNU-MERIT is part of an initial group of four UNU research and training institutes, and the Tokyo-based UNU Media Studio, that has uploaded a dozen courses to the Portal. The long term goal of the project is to promote the development, use and distribution of training materials under Creative Commons licenses.
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| Face of the month |
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Niels Sprong
Posted: 2008-02-25
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| Niels Sprong |
For the past four months, Niels Sprong has been hard at work developing audio material and lecture slides for UNU-MERIT courses and uploading them on the UNU OpenCourseWare (OCW) portal. Niels finished his MA at the European programme on Society Science and Technology (ESST) in 2007 and has always been interested in new information technologies and their consequences for society. Niels has worked closely with Philipp Schmidt, who coordinates the project at UNU-MERIT. Concerning the progress of the OCW project at UNU-MERIT Niels notes that: "The institutional support for OCW at MERIT has been great, and shows a commitment to sharing knowledge and progressively shaping the education environment of the future. Every lecturer or PhD student I approached on issues related to OCW has responded positively. UNU-MERIT is currently taking up a prominent place in UNU OCW. The challenge now is to maintain the momentum and build on the work we have started."
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| Events & networking |
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Inaugural Lecture Adam Szirmai
Posted: 2008-02-18
To mark his appointment as Professor of Development Economics at Maastricht University, Adam Szirmai gives his inaugural lecture on Friday 15th February titled: “Explaining Success and Failure in Economic Development. Szirmai holds a joint professorial appointment at UNU-MERIT and the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance. |
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