PhD Programme on Innovation, Economics and Governance for Development (IEGD)

The Ph.D. Programme on Innovation, Economics, and Governance for Development (IEGD) is a multidisciplinary course offered by UNU-MERIT and its School of Governance. 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.

The programme provides advanced training in the knowledge and skills most relevant to the economics of technology and innovation, and to governance, social protection, and migration. Built around a core of courses on innovation and development, the programme also features modules on the economics of technological change, complex social systems, governance and policy evaluation, social protection, and migration.

During their first year, fellows complete an intensive programme of required and elective courses, taught by leading scholars of UNU-MERIT and our partner universities. These courses are taught in English, in Maastricht, and spread across two semesters, starting in September each year. The course work is followed by three years of dissertation research and writing, ending with a completed Ph.D. thesis. At the end of the programme, the doctoral degree is awarded by Maastricht University upon successful defense of the thesis. Our students pursue a wide variety of dissertation topics, fitting into any of the institute’s eight research themes:

1. Economics of Knowledge and Innovation

2. Structural Change and Economic Development

3. Economic Complexity and Innovation

4. Governance and institutions

5. Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Sustainability Transitions

6. Migration and Development

7. Social Protection

8. Population, Development and Labour Economics

The United Nations University (UNU) is a global think tank and postgraduate teaching organization headquartered in Japan. The mission of the UN University is to contribute, through collaborative research and education, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems of human survival, development, and welfare that are the concern of the United Nations, its Peoples, and the Member States.

In carrying out this mission, the UN University works with leading universities and research institutes in the UN Member States, functioning as a bridge between the international academic community and the United Nations system.