Lili Wang is an Associate Professor at UNU-MERIT and also a guest professor at Dalian University of Technology, P.R.China. She obtained her PhD degree from Eindhoven University of Technology (Department of Technology Management, currently known as Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences) and joined UNU-MERIT in September 2008. She has been coordinating various research projects funded by the European Commission, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing Academy of Science and Technology, etc. She is currently leading one of the “Comprehensive Innovation for Sustainable Development” teams, i.e. Managing new technologies towards inclusive societies.

To address challenges in the 4th industrial revolution, it is important to understand the development of new technologies and to support the transition of existing structures into the sustainable development system. Managing new technologies is an important strategy not only for advanced countries, but also for developing countries. In the past years, Lili Wang has conducted research on new technologies in various domains, such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, solar energy technology, 3D printing technology, digitalisation and AI technology. Her work has been widely published in top peer-reviewed journals, such as Research Policy, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), Regional Studies, Technological Forecasting & Social Change, Journal of Informetrics, Industrial and Corporate Change, Journal of Technology Transfer, Oxford Development Studies, Scientometrics, China Economic Review, Research Evaluation, etc.

Her recent research focuses on Managing New Technologies, digitalisation and society, including but not limited to the following research lines:

• Economics of science, technology and innovation. To conduct in-depth studies related to science, technology and innovation, Lili actively applies various methods (e.g. Innovation system approach, Scientometrics and Informetrics) and uses Big Data (e.g. publication and patent data) to gain in-depth understanding on the development of innovation and new technology. 

• Application of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies. In this research line, Lili studies the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in various fields, e.g. media and communications industry as well as agricultural sectors.

• New energy technology and sustainability. This includes research related to renewable technology, e-mobility transition, environmental burden shifting, etc.

• Responsible S&T and societal relevance. This includes studies on societal relevance in the context of scientific research and technological adoption in developing countries, and the alignment between S&T priorities and societal need.

Lili is currently leading one of the Comprehensive Innovation for Sustainable Development (CI4SD) projects - Managing new technologies towards inclusive societies. 

Lili’s journal publications can be found via ORCID, ResearchGate and GoogleScholar:

ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0082-8487

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lili-Wang-91

GoogleScholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=_Z_7l2UAAAAJ&hl

Contact email: l.wang@maastrichtuniversity.nl  or  wang@merit.unu.edu

Selected publications by Lili Wang