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HELLO and WELCOME to our first quarterly newsletter of 2015, rounding up the latest news and events from UNU-MERIT and its School of Governance. We explore the push and pull of international development: innovation through science and entrepreneurship, and governance through public policy analysis. This time we bring you event reports from Kenya and the Dominican Republic and the latest research from Kazakhstan, Nigeria and Latin America. We also look forward to meetings of minds in India, as well as here in the heart of Maastricht. |
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Latest News Last year closed with an official briefing at UN Headquarters in New York, where Dr. Melissa Siegel spoke about migration as a development enabler. Closer to home, Director Bart Verspagen launched the renovation of our new premises at Boschstraat 24 -- by symbolically demolishing a wall. We also hosted global microsimulation experts to debate models for environment, health and transport policies, etc. and joined the African Union Commission and the Inter-American Development Bank for our latest workshops on innovation policy. |
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Upcoming Events This year we look forward to hosting the 8th Conference on Micro Evidence on Innovation and Development (MEIDE) on 10-12 February in New Delhi, India. The event will be held in partnership with the World Bank, OECD and the Confederation of Indian Industries. We also look forward to welcoming you here in Maastricht on 1-3 June for the 2015 European Meeting on Applied Evolutionary Economics (EMAEE). Under the banner ‘Globalisation, Innovation and Economic Change’, the call for papers closes on 15 March. |
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Recent Publications Over the last three months our researchers have produced major reports for EU and UN agencies. These include a new trend report on clean tech and smart factories for the EU Business Innovation Observatory. We also wrote a report for UNICEF Kazakhstan on how to empower disabled children across the country. Other research looked at the impact of African scientific output, particularly on agricultural sciences and immunology. Another paper highlights the need to improve productivity across Latin America, especially in the service sector. |
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Alumni Activities After our 25-year conference, we set up an email list for all PhD alumni of UNU-MERIT and its School of Governance: http://mailman.merit.unu.edu/mailman/listinfo/alumni. This is designed for all matters of interest to our PhD alumni community, both professional and social. Further information on our alumni activities can be obtained from the dedicated page on our website. Sueli Brodin is in charge of all these activities. Please feel free to contact her with your comments, ideas and questions. |
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Crunching Numbers In 2014 we published three books – Innovation in India, Nanotechnology and Development, and The Age of Migration — plus 45 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 98 working papers. We hosted 68 seminars, while producing exactly 89 videos and (strangely) 89 web articles. By new year’s eve our Facebook page had drawn 4,000 ‘likes’, while our YouTube channel had amassed 64,000 views and 370 subscribers. Meanwhile, our PhDs included 45 UNU system fellows, of whom 40 are from developing countries and 21 are women. |
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Social Media Until next time, in early April, please follow our work via Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. Recent blog highlights include a post on innovation and development, focusing on India's mission to Mars and Argentina's home-grown satellite. We also present our forthcoming glossary app, which aims to raise the quality of debate on issues of global importance. Finally, see the video interviews from our 25-year conference, including Director Bart Verspagen and award-winning PhD fellow Alejandro Lavopa. |
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