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UNU-MERIT (Maastricht) and the Enrico Fermi Research Centre - CREF (Rome), in collaboration with the Young Scholar Initiative of the Institute of New Economic Thinking are calling for submissions to the second edition of the Economic Fitness and Complexity Summer School, which will be held on 8-12 July 2024 in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The school will take place at the United Nations University – Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU MERIT).


The school is an extensive introduction to the economic complexity framework, with theoretical and practical lessons. The first four days will focus on classes covering the following topics: economic complexity measurement, network theory, machine learning, and the measurement of relatedness. Theoretical lectures will be followed by coding labs, where participants will have the chance to apply the methodologies introduced in class and carry out assigned group projects, focusing on the school's core themes. Moreover, on the last day of the school, worldwide renowned scholars have been invited to present their frontier research linking economic complexity with economic development, economic geography, labour economics, sustainability, the economics of science, and innovation policy. 


Confirmed speakers include Chiara Burlina, Masud Cader, Bernardo Caldarola, Davide Consoli, Carolina Castaldi, Dario Diodato, François Lafond, Nanditha Mathew, Dario Mazzilli, Önder Nomaler, Ljubica Nedelkoska, Frank Neffke, Neave O’Clery, Aurelio Patelli, Luciano Pietronero, Emanuele Pugliese, Angelica Sbardella, Luc Soete, Andrea Tacchella, Fabiana Visentin, Reinhilde Veugelers, and Andrea Zaccaria.


The summer school is open to postgraduate students, early-career researchers, and practitioners from any area and discipline. You are required to submit an application using the application form, where you will be asked to upload a CV and a short statement (max 5,000 characters) indicating how the school relates to your research interests, if you applied to previous editions of the school, and in which way you think you might benefit from the programme. Please keep in mind that availability is limited.


The fee will be EUR 400 for students (Master’s and PhD) and post-docs, and EUR 600 for all other participants. The fee includes lunches and coffee breaks during the five days of the school. Selected participants with no access to funding from their institutions will be able to apply for a travel stipend offered by YSI (200 USD for European participants, and 500 USD for non-European participants). If you intend to apply for a travel stipend, please indicate this when filling out the application form. Please bear in mind that travel stipends are limited, so consider applying only if you do not have access to other sources of funding from your own institution. In case of travel stipend applications exceeding the number of stipends availability, we will allocate stipends based on the content of your application, while also ensuring that criteria of inclusiveness and diversity are applied. 


If you would like to get in touch with us, send us an email at efcschool@merit.unu.edu.



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