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| Latest news |
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Strong resonance to Wikipedia survey
Posted: 2009-04-17 | Updated: 2009-04-27
In October 2008, UNU-MERIT’s Collaborative Creativity Group (CCG) together with the Wikimedia foundation started the first multilingual survey on the global use of Wikipedia. Now, CCG and the Wikimedia foundation present the first results of this extensive survey. More than 170,000 Wikipedia readers and contributors completed the extensive survey questionnaire, a figure that exceeded all expectations. Since the questionnaire had been available in 20 languages and respondents came from over 200 countries, the survey had a true global character that gives the researchers a comprehensive and valuable insight in the Wikipedia community. Please check the related information below for more key outcomes.
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Fresh off the press: new UNU-MERIT annual report
Posted: 2009-04-03 | Updated: 2009-04-20
UNU-MERIT has published a new annual report which covers the first three years of activities since the merger of UNU-INTECH and MERIT in January 2006. The report presents an overview of UNU-MERIT’s two core activities: Research and Training as well as the key activities of the administrative and academic staff. The report highlights in detail the substantial quantity and quality of academic output as well as outlining the institute’s international networks, dissemination, conference activities and media coverage. The report is available in printed form at the reception-desk of UNU-MERIT and can be downloaded from our website. For further order information please contact our communications coordinator.
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LINK news bulletin
Posted: 2009-04-03 | Updated: 2009-04-17
LINK, a UNU-MERIT and FAO initiative based in Hyderabad, India, has published a February/March news-bulletin covering the latest on regional research and policy analysis and institutional developments. Besides this latest news-edition, one can also find and download earlier versions on their website.
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| Research & policy analysis |
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Academic science networks in South-Africa
Posted: 2009-04-03
Robin Cowan from UNU-MERIT is coordinating a project that looks at academic science networks in South-Africa. The project works with a unique dataset, provided by the South-African National Research Foundation. The research is unusual in that, unlike other network studies of academic science, it focuses on the entire research community, rather than on a single discipline. In addition it does so in the context of an emerging economy, one in which contacts with the "rest of the world" might be expected to be very important for the general health of research and knowledge generation. The main objectives of the project are to understand the dynamics of scientific knowledge and how networks within the academic science community in South-Africa have evolved over time and through the dramatic political changes South Africa has seen in the past decade. The project will be ongoing for the next few years, and is being carried out in collaboration with Nicolas Jonard from the University of Luxembourg and Helena Barnard from the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), which is linked to the University of Pretoria, South-Africa. In March Prof. Cowan presented some of their preliminary findings to the National Research Foundation in Pretoria.
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Innovation in Asian banking project
Posted: 2009-04-03 | Updated: 2009-04-28
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| Thanh le Phuoc |
UNU-MERIT researcher Thanh le Phuoc, supervised by Prof. Adam Szirmai and co-supervised by Prof. Pierre Mohnen (both from UNU-MERIT), has set up a research project that focuses on innovation activities and efficiency improvement in the Asian banking sector. The aim of the project is to provide new insights into the way banks handle opportunities to innovate and improve their current systems. A survey plan, containing a substantive questionnaire has been set up, and should deliver the first results which will be published in several working papers, in the coming years.
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Research project at University of Cape Verde
Posted: 2009-04-07
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| Gabriela Dutrenit and Alexandre Vera Cruz |
During February and March, Prof. Gabriela Dutrenit and Prof. Alexandre Vera Cruz from UNU-MERIT visited Cape Verde to conduct a research task involving the country’s young national University (Uni-CV), which was founded only two years ago. The UNU-MERIT team supported the University in confronting two key challenges related to its role in the country’s economic and social development. First, the formation of Human Recourses in Science and Technology (the average age of the population is 17.5 years old) needs to be set in place and second, the creation of knowledge needs to be better connected to the national needs. For more details on their research efforts please follow the link below.
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| Training & capacity development |
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DEIP Uruguay March 30th –April 3rd
Posted: 2009-04-03 | Updated: 2009-04-06
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| Independence Square, Montevideo |
UNU-MERIT partnered up with the International Development Research Centre in Canada and the National Research and Innovation Agency of Uruguay to organise a very successful Design and Evaluation of Innovation Policy (DEIP) - training course in Montevideo, Uruguay. Pierre Mohnen, Adam Szirmai, Micheline Goedhuys, Norbert Janz and Theophile Azomahou all from UNU-MERIT presented on methodological options and examples about different ways to assess the impact on development outcomes and the effectiveness of science, technology and innovation policies. 56 participants mainly from Latin-America took part in the event’s presentations and lectures and were awarded with a certificate.
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PHD Defences
Posted: 2009-04-03
Former UNU-MERIT PhD-fellow, Dr. Sandra Leitner and UNU-MERIT research-fellow Dr. Lili Wang (former PhD-fellow at the Eindhoven University of Technology) both successfully defended their Doctoral theses on 12 March. UNU-MERIT congratulates the new Doctors on their fantastic accomplishment. Dr. Leitner’s dissertation is titled ‘Embodied Technological Change and Patterns of Investment in Austrian Manufacturing’. Dr. Wang’s study is called ‘Aggregate and Regional Productivity Growth in Chinese Industry, 1978-2002’. The respective promoters were Prof. Pierre Mohnen and Prof. Adam Szirmai, both professorial research-fellows at UNU-MERIT.
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| Events & networking |
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ict@innovation: Workshop on FLOSS business models Nairobi
Posted: 2009-04-03
As part of the ict@innovation program, UNU-MERIT research-fellow Sulayman K. Sowe and AITI-KACE trainer Frederick Yeboah facilitated a workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, March 10-12th. The objective of the more than 20 African experts was to create a set of training materials on building a successful FLOSS business in Southern and Eastern Africa. The highly productive environment of the event, hosted at Strathmore University, highlights the impact and interest in FLOSS on the continent. The ict@innovation program is run jointly by the Free and Open Source Software Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) and the German capacity building agency InWEnt, and is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ).
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