September 4-6, 2017, Brocher Foundation, Hermance (Geneva), Switzerland

Registration Deadline: July 15
Submission Deadline: Not Provided

The 2017 international conference on the Economics of Innovation will be held in Geneva, from Monday, Sept. 4, 2017 to Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. This international conference will bring together leading economists, research scientists, scientists involved in policy and funding, experts from tech transfer and R&D in industry as well as venture capitalists to determine the state-of-the-art in the field of economic theory of innovation. Together, we will stimulate interdisciplinary work and communication to better understand the innovation process.

The efficient translation of scientific discovery into innovative products that benefit society is a major goal of many countries, in particular those without substantial natural resources. However, the processes involved in taking an idea or result to the market are quite varied and poorly understood. Furthermore, the economic theory is still fairly primitive and needs to be improved.

To develop new economic theory in this area it is important to understand the rate-limiting or critical steps at each stage of the process and then to carefully evaluate how different factors, such as agglomeration effects, globalization, or public financing of basic research, influence the outcome. This is particularly relevant in the information age, where science funding agencies promote open-access publication of basic research.

For this reason, an interdisciplinary effort is required to create a foundation for applying economic theory to the process of innovation. Improved economic theory should create a basis for a rational discussion about investments in scientific research and their value for the economy.

SPEAKERS: The conference will host 21 plenary lectures with outstanding speakers from various prestigious institutions such as:
- Prof. Venki Ramakrishnan, 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, President of the Royal Society, UK
- Prof. Maria Leptin, EMBO Director
- Prof. Dietmar Harhoff, Director Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
- Prof. Marie Thursby, Georgia Institute of Technology

SESSIONS: There will be 4 sessions on:
- Public and private funding in basic research / Systems of innovation / Scientific concentration / Diverse centres of innovation (chairman: Prof. Venki Ramakrishnan)
- Seeking financing at the pre-seed stage / Venture capital / Competition and innovation / Intellectual property (Chairman: Dr. Carsten Fink)
- Industry - academic relations / Industry strategy / Economics of technology policy (Chairmen: Prof. Monika Mrazova and Prof. Anja Schulze)
- Going to the local/global market (Chairman: Prof. Raymond G. Riezman)

PROGRAM: Discover the program and the full list of speakers at: https://theeconomicsofinnovation.org/programme/?utm_source=ern&utm_medium=mail&utm_campaign=program

MORE INFORMATION: https://theeconomicsofinnovation.org

DEADLINE TO REGISTER: July 15

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT THE CONFERENCE OFFICER: Phaedra Simitsek - Phaedra.simitsek@unige.ch - +41 (0)22.37.96.407

ORGANISER: NCCR Chemical Biology hosted by the University of Geneva and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale of Lausanne (EPFL)