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55th Session of the UNU Council in Bonn
Posted: 2009-01-07
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| UNU Council Bonn |
The 55th session of the UNU Council, which is the governing body of the United Nations University, was hosted from 1-5 December 2008 for the first time by the Vice Rectorate in Europe at the UN Campus in Bonn, Germany.
During this annual meeting, Luc Soete from UNU-MERIT and the other international Council members discussed the decisions made at the previous UNU Council sessions. UNU's Strategic Plan 2009-2012 and strategy documents on UNU's activities in Africa were the focal points of discussion. The Council also decided on new projects and budgets for the United Nation’s University and elected new UNU Council members and chairs.
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ICIM conference held in Maastricht
Posted: 2009-01-07 | Updated: 2009-01-27
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| Conference venue: Vaeshartelt Castle |
The 5th International Conference on Innovation and Management (ICIM, 2008) was successfully organised by the scientific and organising committee of UNU-Merit in Maastricht in December 2009. ICIM is an annual event organised by UNU-MERIT (The Netherlands), Wuhan University of Technology (China) and Yamaguchi University (Japan). The 2008 ICIM proved to be an intellectually stimulating event for leading international scholars, practitioners and stakeholders in the area of management and innovation. The upcoming ICIM, 2009 will be hosted by the Catholic University of Sao Paulo in Brazil.
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UNU-MERIT advisory board meeting
Posted: 2009-01-07
On 8 and 9 December the new UNU-MERIT’s Board members gathered in Maastricht for the first time in 2008. During these two days the Board was informed about the Institute’s research and training activities of 2008, the strategic plans with respect to post-graduate teaching and the various twinning initiatives.
The presentations of the research carried out over the last two years and the strategic plan were positively received and underpinned the Board’s belief that UNU-MERIT has today grown to become one of the world’s leading economic institutions in the field of innovation and technology.
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The private sector in developing countries
Posted: 2009-01-07
Luc Soete from UNU-MERIT participated in the workshop "The doing business agenda and beyond: smart policies for competitiveness and social inclusion", which was held in Bonn, Germany on 4 and 5 December 2008. The workshop was organized by the German Development Institute and covered topics concerning the role of the private sector in developing countries and the way this sector could be stimulated to foster economic growth.
The workshop is part of the research project "Doing Business – and beyond" that deals with the assumptions of the "Doing Business Reports" and develops proposals for their improvement.
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| Research & policy analysis |
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‘Lisbon-strategy’-report published
Posted: 2009-01-07
Recently the report ‘Lisbon strategy: Between revolution and illusion’ by Claire Nauwelaers has been published.
‘Lisbon strategy: Between revolution and illusion’ is a synthesis report of the expert group for the follow-up of the research aspects of the revised Lisbon strategy (LEG), of which Claire Nauwelaers from UNU-Merit is the rapporteur. The Expert Group (LEG) was created by the European Commission (DG RTD) in 2006 to give support in analysing and monitoring the research aspects of the revised Lisbon strategy.
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Recently completed project - South Asia Regional Agricultural Research Programme: Scoping Study
Posted: 2009-01-07
As part of its Strategy for Sustainable Agriculture, the UK's Department for International Development contracted UNU-MERIT to carry out a scoping study to inform the development of its South Asia agricultural research programme. The study team led by Andy Hall and Rasheed Sulaiman interviewed 50 key agricultural stakeholders in Nepal, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
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| Training & capacity development |
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PhD defence Abraham Garcia
Posted: 2009-01-22 | Updated: 2009-02-16
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| Abraham Garcia |
On 12 February 2009, Abraham Garcia Torres will defend his PhD thesis "The Role of Demand in Technical Change." Prof. Dr. Robin Cowan, Prof. Dr. Luc Soete and Prof. Dr. Pierre Mohnen are the promoters of Abraham.
In brief this thesis analyses the role of consumer demand on technical change. Using a variety of techniques and approaches it discusses how successful innovations change consumers’ options. The focus on product innovation is the read line through the thesis.
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PhD defence Semih Akçomak
Posted: 2009-01-22 | Updated: 2009-02-16
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| Semih Akçomak |
On 12 February 2009 Semih Akçomak will defend his PhD thesis "The Impact of Social Capital on Economic and Social Outcomes." Prof. Dr. Pierre Mohnen and Dr. Bas ter Weel are the respective promoter and co-promotor of Semih. In brief Semih’s thesis elaborates on social capital, which has a wide range of applications in social sciences. Researchers have used the concept to explain various associations with socio-economic outcomes. However, two important aspects have largely been ignored: (i) what forms social capital, and (ii) how social capital affects outcomes. This study provides advancements on these relatively shallow aspects.
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PhD defence Saurabh Arora
Posted: 2009-01-22 | Updated: 2009-02-16
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| Saurabh Arora |
On 12 February 2009 Saurabh Arora will defend his PhD thesis "Knowledge Flows and Social Capital: A Network Perspective on Rural Innovation." Prof. Dr. Robin Cowan is the promoter of Saurabh. In brief Saurabh’s thesis elaborates on the role of social capital in distributed learning and innovation for sustainable agriculture. Social capital is mapped using informal social networks of an innovative rural Indian community. These networks transfer relevant knowledge, goods, credit and socio-political support.
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