Our ‘Comprehensive Innovation for Sustainable Development’ (CI4SD) team led by Dr. Lili Wang has won €250,000 in ‘Merian’ funding from the Dutch Research Council and the Chinese Academy of Sciences for a vertical farming project entitled, ‘GREENFARM’. Her team will work with counterparts at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands, the Institute of Botany at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Genetics and Development Biology in China. Vertical farmin...

Do countries’ research priorities match their SDG challenges? Will science and technology inequalities prove a barrier to success? A new policy brief argues that funders, donors and international organisations should review their research priorities — by consulting with a wider range of stakeholders and assessing the unequal impacts on society of research itself. Can social protection policies improve the educational achievements, as well as the mental and physical health, of immigrant stu...

How do we measure national progress towards carbon neutrality, holistic sustainable development, and building a green, innovative and competitive economy? A new policy brief outlines the performance and ranking of all EU Member States. How can governments and other stakeholders put together a systems approach for social protection policies? A new book chapter considers the importance of various fields including taxation, humanitarian aid and livelihood approaches. These are just two questions ta...

What particular challenges does the EU face in transitioning to a low-carbon electricity system? What are the likely scientific and social impacts? A new PhD thesis considers the main hurdles for the EU in its shift from intensive use of fossil fuels to a low-carbon power system. What are the causes and drivers of inequality across Botswana? A new report for UNDP reveals the structure and drivers of inequality including the role of tertiary education and the links between land ownership, demogra...

The institute showed its resilience in 2020, with staff showing incredible levels of commitment, strength and resourcefulness, which leaves the institute in a strong position to face the ongoing challenges and to take the opportunities that will be available as the global community looks to ‘build back better’ from the pandemic....

Does it pay to do ‘novel’ science? Based on applications to a Swiss research funding programme, a new article finds that novel scientists have a higher probability of applying for funds than non-novel scientists, but that on average they receive lower ratings by grant evaluators and have lower chances of being funded. When it comes to learning and innovation, do small firms differ from large ones across India? A new article weighs up formal and informal learning approaches in small a...

The European Commission today released the European Innovation Scoreboard 2021, which was prepared and coordinated by our researchers Hugo Hollanders and Nordine Es-Sadki, with contributions from Adriana Rantcheva.  This year’s European Innovation Scoreboard is based on a revised framework, which includes new indicators on digitalisation and environmental sustainability, bringing the scoreboard more in line with the EU political priorities. On average, innovation performance has increased ...

Three UNU-MERIT researchers contributed to the UNESCO Science Report 2021: Luc Soete and Hugo Hollanders among others co-authored the chapter on the European Union, while Shuan Sadreghazi wrote the chapter on Iran. In a preface to the 750-page document, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has underscored three important lessons. The first is that we are all deeply interconnected. No-one will be safe from the virus until everyone is safe. The second lesson is ...

Are production activities sustainable along Global Value Chains? A new article, which considers the empirical evidence on social and environmental sustainability, gives ambiguous results. On the one hand, GVCs can lead to sizeable amounts of carbon leakage, as they allow firms to offshore polluting production activities. On the other hand, GVCs make firms more energy and emission efficient than  domestic peers, thus dampening overall emission growth. In terms of social sustainability, GVCs are l...

How should the ‘Greater Mekong Subregion’ — flowing through Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam — close the gap with the world’s most advanced economies? A new report for the Asian Development Bank says the region can improve its prospects by further integrating into the global economy, significantly upgrading production and exports, enabling cities to be engines of growth, and improving road infrastructure and connectivity. How does digital infrastructu...