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Winter Newsletter WELCOME to our first quarterly newsletter of 2018, rounding up the latest news and events from UNU-MERIT. We explore the push and pull of international development – innovation through science and entrepreneurship, and governance through public policy analysis. These roughly equate to #SDG9 and #SDG16, yet our work covers and connects all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. To this end, over the next three months we look forward to a social protection course in Cape Town, a migration lecture in Munich, and a series of ‘SITE4Society’ workshops in Maastricht. |
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Upcoming Events - Join Dr. Franziska Gassmann for her inaugural lecture as Professor in Social Protection and Development on 23 March 2018 (UM Aula, 16:30). The lecture title is: 'Why governments need to invest in social protection (and why it's in their own best interests)'(#SDG1). - Come and quiz staff and students from our top-ranked Master’s degree programme in Public Policy and Human Development at our next Open Day on 24 March 2018. Several info sessions will be held throughout the day (#SDG4). |
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Latest News - Young entrepreneurs from our project partners 'Finish Society India' and 'Sidian Bank Kenya' were honoured at this year's Amsterdam International Water Week in October 2017 (#SDG6). - We co-hosted the 10th ‘Model-based Evidence on Innovation and Development’ (MEIDE) conference in Uruguay in November 2017, with partners including the Inter-American Development Bank. One of the highlights was a round table discussion on how policymakers perceive academics and how much they trust their research findings (#SDG9). |
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New Database - Check out our new structural change database, recently compiled by Prof. Eddy Szirmai. - Covering nine sectors, the database includes sectoral shares in GDP for 156 countries with more than 1 million inhabitants (1950-2016). It also presents sector shares as a percentage of GDP in local currency units. - See the dedicated research memo for more on the sources and methods used in building the database (#SDG9). |
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Application Deadlines - The next application deadline for our full-time PhD programme on Innovation, Economics and Governance for Development (IEGD) is 15 February 2018. - The programme focuses on research skills and methods, training fellows to become both scholars and practitioners in the fields of governance and the economics of technology. - See our ‘Alumni Watch’ series for more on the lives and careers of recent PhD graduates, including Dr. Oxana Slobozhan, Dr. Andrea Franco-Correa, and Dr. Andrés Mideros Mora – Ecuador’s new Minister of Planning and Development (#SDG4). |
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Alumni Activities - Prof. Melissa Siegel will deliver one of the 12 Star Lectures for Maastricht University alumni on 1 February 2018. She will speak in Munich on 'Understanding Migration in a European Context'. Every year, 12 UM Star Lectures are organised in 12 different cities and four countries on the same day at the same time (#SDG16). - The first major alumni reunion of our Master's programme will take place on 17 February 2018 in Geneva. The event will feature short talks by staff members and (former) students, time for informal networking, and a dinner (#SDG4). |
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Recent Publications - Innovation spurs employment across South Asia; but what kind of innovation and in what industries? Read about this and more in our December publications. - Across Africa, mobile broadband has helped drive technological development; but what of the digital divide between men and women, cities and countryside? See all our November publications. - Migration can be a harrowing experience that drives some into drug abuse; so why is there such limited mental health provision in destination countries? Browse all our October publications. |
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Multimedia - Read our recent blogs on science reporting in the Middle East, on innovation policy and partnerships in West Africa, as well as four recent posts from our ‘Dual Focus’ series, which spotlights high-flying part-time PhD fellows from around the world. - Until next time, in early April, please check our social media accounts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. - You can also stay up-to-date on all our major publications via our monthly ‘First Impressions’ roundup. |
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