UNU-MERIT at 25 years: How doctoral training at UNU-MERIT contributes to the community of scholars in the economis of innovation?
Semih Akçomak, Abraham Garcia & Fernando Santiago-Rodriguez
#2015-036
This paper contributes to literature on the emergence of innovation
studies as a scientific field. This area of research documents the
mechanisms, interactions and meeting spaces that innovation scholars
have developed to give substance and legitimacy to their work. What role
is there for the training of young scholars in the development of this
scientific field? Based on a web survey of UNU-MERIT's PhD alumni, we
explore the ways in which doctoral training at a major research
institute has contributed to the formation of young scholars in the
broad field of innovation studies. In line with literature on the
creation of science and technology human capital, we find that doctoral
training grants PhD holders the technical knowledge and skills, together
with the relational skills that sustain their membership and scholarly
contributions to innovation studies. The evidence likewise suggests that
the contribution of UNU-MERIT's PhD programme on the building of
innovation research capacities in developing countries is constrained by
postgraduate decisions to stay in the developed world. Young scholars
follow a career development strategy of linking to mentors and key
senior researchers, while scientific interactions with fellow students
are more limited. Social interactions tend to be more prominent for
maintaining relations with the research community.
JEL Classification: D85, I23, O30
Keywords: UNU-MERIT, innovation studies, doctoral training, social
capital