News

A consortium led by our School of Governance has won a million euros to manage an EU project for “Innovating Teaching and Learning of European Studies” (INOTLES). Running from 2014-2016 under the TEMPUS umbrella, the project aims to modernize higher education in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Backgro...

UN University Rector David M. Malone signed the Host Country Agreement for a new UNU Institute on 4 March 2014 with Senegalese Foreign Minister Mankeur Ndiaye. This is a further step in a long-term process between UNU-MERIT in Maastricht and CRES in Dakar. Set to become a key UNU hub in Francophone ...

Our MSc in Public Policy and Human Development ranks number one in the category of Political Science and Public Administration, according to the 2014 Keuzegids Masters. Published by the Dutch Higher Education Information Centre, this evaluates and compares higher education programmes based on: ̵...

The United Nations University (UNU) announces the launch of the UNU Migration Network. Responding to the need of policymakers and scholars to better understand and cope with migration-related issues, the new network — coordinated by the UNU Institute on Globalization, Culture and Mobility (UNU-GCM) ...

Migration flows into Europe are changing. A decade ago most migrants entered Europe via North Africa, straight across the Mediterranean; but the main route is now through the Eastern Mediterranean, with many trying to cross through Greece. The violence suffered by asylum seekers in Greece is well-do...

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced 30 January 2014 the appointment of Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania as his new Deputy Special Representative and Deputy Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), where he will also serve as Resident Coordinator and Resi...

How can we nurture eco-innovation in developing countries? How can we support the market for renewable energy technology? How can we assist energy efficiency initiatives, particularly in agriculture and industry? At a conference in Berlin hosted by the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Developme...

The final conference of the IS Academy Migration and Development project was held in Maastricht from 22-24 January 2014, with sessions focusing on Afghanistan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Morocco and the Netherlands, and themes such as remittances, entrepreneurship and diasporas. Under the banner “A Wo...

There is a huge and mostly untapped market for organic solar cells, in everything from construction to consumer goods. But how can we improve the design, roll out and marketability of these advanced nanomaterials? And how do we bridge the gaps between research institutes and the business community? ...

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Khalid Koser has been appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) “for his services to refugees and asylum seekers in the UK”. The appointment was announced as a part of the British Queen’s New Year Honours List for 2014. The Order of the Briti...

UNU-MERIT has found a new home in the ex-Sphinx offices on Boschstraat, Maastricht. We will rent the property for 20 years and, after a renovation period, move in during the course of 2015. The new building will provide around 3,000 square metres, roughly a quarter more than our current facilities, ...

The conference ‘Sustainable Growth and Development in Africa’, Dakar, 25-26 November 2013, aimed to create a bridge between research, policy and practice and to promote evidence based policy making. It was attended by researchers from various countries, mostly African, as well as policy makers and o...

How is innovation being internationalised? How important are intellectual property rights for development? How well are these rights managed in developing countries? These were the questions driving the 7th annual conference on Micro Evidence on Innovation and Development (MEIDE), Santiago de Chile,...

Can strong institutions prevent abuse of power on the one hand or collapse into anarchy on the other? Can efficient bureaucracies help achieve long-term growth and development goals? Can governance indicators reliably measure — and help prevent — state corruption and conflict? These were...

Dear reader, We’re delighted to present the new website of UNU-MERIT. With this we aim to boost our visibility in a dynamic and integrated way. Dynamic, by using numerous sliders and 3D tag clouds refreshed with every new post. Integrated, by embedding all possible media, from lecture slides to vide...

This year’s UN-Habitat Global Report on Human Settlements is dedicated to sustainable mobility. In its foreword, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon highlights the urgent need to invest in urban transport to ensure sustainable development around the world. Undoubtedly, 2014 will see a multiplication of...

I started my PhD in 2008 as a mid-career professional, having already worked for several years in Iran and a few years in Afghanistan. Due to my previous experience, I realized that I wanted to continue working with children. I also wanted to work on Iran as I thought my local knowledge would be a k...

The latest PhD defence from our part-time GPAC² programme looked at ‘Mozambique Governance Assessments in the Context of Aid Effectiveness Discourse’. Laura Torvinen, who previously worked for UNDP and is now a senior advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Finland, defended successfully on 21...

UNU-MERIT has openings for visiting researchers and professors in Innovation, Governance and Development. These are available at all levels after completion of a PhD, and for periods of between one and six months in 2013 and 2014. Proven prior research experience in a relevant theme (as evidenced by...

From innovation to migration, economic development to public policy, UNU-MERIT’s research is organized around seven themes based on broadly common approaches. Five research theme leaders have so far come on camera to explain the broad lines of their research programmes, covering methodologies,...