Dr. Melissa Siegel, the Head of our Migration and Development Research Theme, talks about our priorities, partners and impacts: http://www.merit.unu.edu/research/rt6.php

Taking Communities of Learning to a Higher Level: Martin Rehm

Feb 13th, 2013 8m 17s

PhD fellow Martin Rehm joins us ahead of his PhD defence on 1 March 2013. The full title of his thesis is: "Unified yet separated: Empirical study on the impact of hierarchical positions within communities of learning". http://www.merit.unu.edu

Report: Cutting Poverty and Boosting Social Protection in Cambodia

Dec 26th, 2012 7m 39s

Over the last 20 years Cambodia has cut poverty rates by a third on the back of rapid economic development; yet most of its people are still vulnerable to malnutrition, natural disasters and precarious employment. So in 2011 the Cambodian Gover

Innovation in the Wine Industry in Chile and Argentina: Fulvia Farinelli

Dec 20th, 2012 2m 20s

We're joined for a pre-defence interview with PhD fellow Fulvia Farinelli, whose thesis investigates 'Natural Resources, Innovation and Export Growth: the Wine Industry in Chile and Argentina'. http://youtu.be/qhD6dEkuvBs

Energy Poverty and Rural Energy Markets in Pakistan: Bilal Mirza

Dec 14th, 2012 3m 39s

This time we're joined for a pre-defence interview with PhD fellow Bilal Mirza, whose thesis looks at improving access to energy for poor people living in the countryside of Pakistan. We also hear how his research can be used in other developin

Manufacturing and Innovation in Chile: Rodolfo Lauterbach

Dec 4th, 2012 3m 17s

We're joined for a pre-defence interview with PhD fellow Rodolfo Lauterbach, whose thesis title is 'Innovation in manufacturing from product variety and labor productivity growth to economic development in Chile'. http://www.merit.unu.edu/about

'A Very Short Introduction to Governance' -- New Professor Mark Bevir

Nov 30th, 2012 7m 19s

Mark Bevir is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkely; and from 2013 will become an Affiliated Professor at UNU-MERIT and its School of Governance. We have a brief chat about his new book: 'A Very Short Introduct

PhD Fellow Wins prestigious South American Award

Nov 30th, 2012 3m 31s

Omar Rodriguez Torres has won the Jorge Bernal award, granting 8,000 euros to support his research into the impact of entrepreneurship policies on the poor. Jorge Bernal, 1952-2010, was a Colombian activist and scholar whose life and work were

Who Joins our Part-time PhD Programme?

Sep 19th, 2012 3m 7s

Today we’re joined by Carlos Cadena Gaitan, one of our PhD fellows who also coordinates our GPAC2 dual career programme. That’s our part-time PhD course, designed for people who want to combine doctoral research with a full-time job. I asked Ca

What's it like to study with us? Stefania Innocenti

Sep 13th, 2012 3m 51s

This week we spoke to Stefania Innocenti, a new PhD fellow on our Joint PhD Programme in Economics and Governance. She gave us her first impressions of the institute, city and PhD course. In terms of background, Stefania has a BA in Development

"Working at the grassroots level in the mountains" -- N.K. Perumal, FINISH Sanitation project

Sep 6th, 2012 4m 15s

In the last three years our FINISH project has built over 100,000 household toilets in India, changing the lives of half a million people in the country. Short for 'Financial Inclusion Improves Sanitation and Health', FINISH held its latest pro

Tracking Afghan Migration: Melissa Siegel

Apr 10th, 2012 6m 32s

The head of our migration group at the School of Governance recently returned from Afghanistan, where she's been overseeing a migration project with the Afghan Government and international organizations. Siegel speaks of the Afghan ministries s

Balancing Renewable Electricity: Thomas Ziesemer

Apr 6th, 2012 10m 14s

"By 2050 anywhere from 80 to even 100 percent of our electricity will be generated from renewable energy sources." That's the ambitious and controversial claim made in a recent German report co-authored by Dr. Thomas Ziesemer. We ask him to jus

Assessing Innovation Policy in Thailand: Adam Szirmai

Mar 23rd, 2012 11m 48s

Professor Adam Szirmai runs our DEIP programme, short for 'Design and Evaluation of Innovation Policies in Developing countries'. It is a course which began in 2004, and since then has trained about 800 senior and mid-level government officials

The Afghan Diaspora and Knowledge Transfer: Katie Kuschminder

Mar 15th, 2012 14m 56s

On 13 March Katie Kuschminder presented to the Dutch Government the first policy report for the IS Academy: Migration and Development Project. Her report looked into the temporary return of highly skilled migrants to Afghanistan and their role

Mobilizing money in Africa: Siegel and Fransen

Mar 2nd, 2012 14m 30s

A new working paper tracks the rise of financial transfers via mobile phone in Africa. Building on this, our latest podcast asks authors Melissa Siegel and Sonja Fransen to explain the trends and the potential for growth across the continent. W

Third Age Online: Stijn Bannier

Feb 1st, 2012 9m 28s

In our first podcast of 2012 we’re joined by Stijn Bannier, who works on our ‘Third Age Online’ project. This international web-based project aims to build and grow a community among the over-50 age group to improve their social integration. We

New globalization institute in China: René Kemp

Dec 15th, 2011 5m

A new 'Center for the Study of Globalization' was inaugurated on 23 November at the International College of Renmin University in China, and René Kemp, representing UNU-MERIT, gave a lecture at the opening ceremony. The institute uses a multidi

Wim Naudé: New professorial fellow at UNU-MERIT

Dec 7th, 2011 17m 11s

Our latest guest is Wim Naudé, a South African economist who recently joined us as a professorial fellow. He gives us his views on the relationship between Africa and Europe, on the role of the media in economics and academia, and the need to f

Strong Organizations in Weak States: Joe Abah

Nov 25th, 2011 9m 14s

Joe Abah is a PhD fellow on our part-time doctoral programme, the GPAC², at our School of Governance. His research compares the performance of six major organisations in Nigeria, including the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration a

Population and growth in sub-Saharan Africa: Thomas Ziesemer

Nov 23rd, 2011 8m 15s

Dr Thomas Ziesemer explains details from his recent working paper on investment, growth and consumption in sub-Saharan Africa, touching in particular on issues of population sustainability. http://www.merit.unu.edu/permalink.php?id=661

Luc Soete: A Mercurial Man

Nov 8th, 2011 15m 12s

Professor Luc Soete is Director of UNU-MERIT, Dean of the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, and in September 2012 will take on the role of Rector Magnificus at Maastricht University. In this brief portrait we find out more about the man

Interrupted innovation: PhD defence interview with Daniel Vertesy

Sep 30th, 2011 14m 34s

Our new season of podcasts begins with Daniel Vertesy, who today successfully defended his PhD on the role of emerging economies in the aerospace industry. We asked him why Brazil has succeeded while others have failed. http://www.merit.unu.edu

Prizing Open Education

Jul 14th, 2011 12m

Can OpenEd bring formal education up to speed with the flatter, online world of the 21st century? Can it guarantee a new wave of culture and class-neutral education? How far is it penetrating beyond the English speaking world?

Successfully managing alliance portfolios: PhD defence interview with Tina Saebi

Jul 7th, 2011 6m 36s

In today's globalized economy, firms depend on external partners to manage uncertainty. After an exhaustive global survey, Tina Saebi explains why firms need to carefully customize their approach in line with their partner portfolios.