Will Syria break apart along sectarian lines? What are the origins of the conflict? What are the pros and cons of a US-led intervention? How is the war impacting individual lives? These were among the questions of a panel debate on the Syrian civil crisis at Maastricht University in October 2013. Panellists included Drs. Zina Nimeh and Lutz Krebs of UNU-MERIT and its School of Governance, as well as the former director of The Netherlands Institute in Damascus. Read the review by Diego Salama....
Welcome to UNU-MERIT! We quickly wanted to tell you something about UNU-MERIT, who we are and what our masters programme is all about. UNU-MERIT is the UN’s institute for comprehensive innovation: a research and training institute that mobilises knowledge, education and policy to unlock the full potential of comprehensive innovation for sustainable development. We collaborate closely with Maastricht University for our Master of Public Policy and Human Development programme. It in itself is a ver...
Bolivia was the location of our latest training course on the ‘Design and Evaluation of Innovation Policies’ (DEIP). One of the least developed countries in Latin America but with one of the highest investment rates in education, Bolivia is a special case in many ways. In the last few years the Bolivian Government has focused on the potential rewards of innovation and R&D, specifically by bringing together researchers and manufacturers. The main themes are summarized in the blog and videos b...
Fellows on our part-time PhD programme (GPAC²) work for governments and international bodies around the world. Their day jobs land them at the centre of events in geopolitical hotspots, meaning they are often better informed than even the best connected journalists. In this new series, we speak with alumni and fellows about historic events, hot topics and how their PhD research helped them in their careers. This time we asked PhD alumnus Joe Abah about his new role in the Nigerian Government. Se...
In October 2013, Jun Hou successfully defended his PhD thesis on ‘Complementarity in Innovation and Development: A Cross-country Comparison’. Having analysed several thousand firms in more than 30 developing countries, he gives a range of recommendations. In particular, these are based on commonly found obstacles including competition, finance, skilled labour and tax regimes. In answering the questions for our blog, Hou explains the context of his research and how he made use of massive datasets...
We are now accepting applications for the Migration Management Diploma Programme (MMDP), which starts on 1 April 2014. Sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we offer 10 scholarships per year to government officials from 40 developing countries with at least three years’ experience in the field of migration and/or asylum. Our three month course includes three different courses: 1) Migration management and protection, 2) Migration and development, and 3) Migration Policy. The course ...
Rectification notice, 9 July 2019 [Dutch below] The initial report Dealing with (non-)deportability: A comparative policy analysis of the post-entry migration enforcement regimes of Western European countries by Dr. Marieke van Houte and Prof. Dr. Arjen Leerkes, which was cited in a range of Dutch and Belgian media, contained a significant error. With this message we want to report our mistake and share the correct numbers. The report compared, amongst other things, estimates of return percentag...