CALL FOR CANDIDATES – ‘POLITICS, POLICIES AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS’ DOCTORAL PROGRAMME.
THESIS TOPIC: INNOVATION POLICY DESING AND EVALUATION

Download Call for candidates – PPIR UAB (pdf)

 

The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), through the Institute of Government and Public Policy – IGOP (Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology) and the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation Research – CREIS (Faculty of Economics and Business) open a joint call for proposals for one position as: PhD student under the programme “Politics, Policies and International Relations” to work in the field of “Innovation policy: governance, design and evaluation”.

The UAB will support the candidacy of the chosen candidate to apply for the scholarship provided by EURECAT Technology Centre of Catalonia, through the backing of the academic team of both IGOP and CREIS at UAB (see ‘funding’ section). The selected student will work under the direction of two co-directors from IGOP and CREIS respectively, Dr. Raquel Gallego and Dr. Ricard Esparza Masana (see profile below), and a tutor from EURECAT (to be decided).

RESEARCH LINES

Topics of analysis (general – detailed topic to be discussed with the candidate):

– Innovation policy design, including strategies, instruments, and governance.
– Innovation ecosystems and stakeholders participatory processes.
– Direct and indirect impact of research and innovation projects.
– Impact evaluation of technology innovation policies

Expected methodology: Literature review, case and field studies involving qualitative and quantitative data, data analysis (existent data, collection and experiments),

PROFILE OF THE THESIS CO-DIRECTORS

Dr. Raquel Gallego Calderón

Raquel Gallego holds a Ph.D. in Government and a M.Sc. in Public Administration and Public Policy by The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She also holds a M.Sc. in Political Science and a 5 year-Degree (Licenciatura) in Political Science and Sociology by Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). She is Full Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at UAB. She has been Director of the Institute of Government and Public Policy (IGOP) at UAB (2016-2019), of which she currently is Secretary. She was the Academic Coordinador of the Inter-University Master in Public Management (UAB – University of Barcelona – Pompeu Fabra University) from 2001 to 2016. Her research interests include: policy analysis, public administration and public management reform, welfare policies and decentralization.

She has directed and/or participated in numerous international and local research projects (30), and has published books (7), chapters (40), and articles (28) in journals such as Governance, Policy Studies, Social Indicators Research, International Public Management Journal, Public Administration –An International Quarterly-, Public Administration Review, Public Policy and Administration, and Health Policy. She is reviewer and editorial board member of numerous journals. She has worked as international consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank. Available at: ORCID, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, Research ID, Academia.edu

Dr. Ricard Esparza Masana

Ricard Esparza Masana holds a bachelor (4-year programme) in Economics by the Autonomous University of Barcelona, two MSc in Specialised Economic Analysis (Major in Innovation Economics) by the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and the Pompeu Fabra University, and a PhD in Business Economics (specialisation in innovation policy) by the Technical University of Catalonia. He is currently an interim professor of economic analysis at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He previously served as head of the international department of the university’s science and technology park. He has undertaken works linked to research in the field of innovation policy, with a large range of collaborations and contracts with several institutions worldwide, in more than 30 countries in 6 continents, including the European Commission, the World Bank, the Government of Peru, the Government of Catalonia, and different EU and foreign national and regional governments and agencies, all in the field innovation policy. He has participated in over 15 European and international research and innovation projects in collaboration with over 100 partners in the EU and worldwide. More info at: ricardesma.eu

REQUIREMENTS

Access requirements (general):

  • European citizenship (EU27* + CH, NO, IS, LI).
    (*Please note that, being a 3-year programme and contract – see funding section – UK citizens are not eligible due to the UK’s exclusion from the EU common work area from 1 January 2021).
  • Having achieved a minimum of 300 ECTS in higher education studies and at least 60 of them at Master level in Economics, Business, or Political Sciences (and directly related domains).

These ECTS must have been granted under official programmes from the state of Spain or other EU states (or third countries), having previously confirmed with the university  that this qualification accredits a level of training equivalent to the official Spanish university Master’s degree and that it would serve as a means of access to a PhD in the country in which it was awarded. This admission does not under any circumstances imply official recognition of the previous qualification or recognition for any purpose other than access to PhD studies.

Access requirements (specific):

  • Minimum 70 points out of 100 (or equivalent) on the Master degree’s dissertation.
  • Advanced knowledge of English (at least C1 level).
  • Basic knowledge of data analysis software (Stata, R, Atlas.ti, NVivo, etc.).
  • More info: http://ppir.uab.cat

FUNDING
As stated before, the selected candidate will receive the backing of the university to her/his candidacy to the scholarship of EURECAT Technology Centre, via a support letter that will be taken into account by the selection committee. Our experience shows that chances with the programme support are big. Main characteristics of the scholarship:

  • The candidate will have to submit the required documents to apply (see link below).
  • It is based on a 3-year part-time contract with € 14,400 compensation for the 1st year, and € 15,600 for the second and third years.
  • It also covers the university’s tuition fees.
  • It can be made compatible with other sources of funding (i.e. it does not come with exclusivity).

More info: https://eurecat.org/en/eurecat/vicente-lopez-phd-scholarship-programme2019/

(please notice that even if the topics we describe in ‘research lines’ are not included in the list you will find at this address, they are actually eligible and they can be included).

APPLICATION PROCESS

Deadline for applications: 30 April 2020 – 18 h CEST
How to apply: Send all the information / documents stated below to Ms. Charlotte Fernández (charlotte.fernandez@uab.cat).

Required information / documents:

  • Annex at the end of this file duly filled.
  • Curriculum Vitae, including average grades of previous academic degrees, through Bachelor and Master transcripts (at this stage, you only need to send a copy of those, no need for a certified one). Make sure that you state any previous knowledge on the research topics stated above.
  • Motivation letter (in English, 1 page max.).
  • 2 reference letters.
  • English language certificate (C1 or higher); not required for students who have previously obtained academic degrees in English.
  • A document answering the following two questions (max. 1 page per question + references, if any):

Notification of the results to candidates: 15 May 2020 via email.
Personal interview: the three candidates with a higher score (see next section for scoring mechanism) will be invited to have a 20 minutes interview (in site or videocall).
These interviews will take place in in the period 18 – 27 May.
Notification of the result: 29 May 2020 via email.

Registration to the programme: The selected candidate will be Application for the scholarship: The application will be open in June 2020. The team at UAB will support the candidate in this process.

PROPOSALS EVALUATION

Evaluation of the 1st phase:

  • Curriculum vitae – background (30 points)
  • Curriculum vitae – skills (20 points)
  • Motivation letter (20 points)
  • Thematic answer to questions (20 points)
  • Reference letters (10 points)

Evaluation committee:

  • Dr. Ismael Blanco Fillola, Director of the IGOP and Professor of the Department of Political Science and Public Law.
  • Dr. Ricard Esparza Masana, Researcher at CREIS and Professor of the Department of Economics and Economic History.
  • Dr. Raquel Gallego Calderón, Researcher at IGOP and Professor of the Department of Political Science and Public Law.
  • Dr. David Urbano, Deputy Director of the CREIS and Professor at the Department of Business.

After reviewing all the candidates, the selection committee has the right to declare the position void.