Prof. dr. Carolina Castaldi holds the Chair in Geography of Innovation and co-leads the section Economic Geography. 

Her research deals with processes of innovation and how they unfold over time and over space. Her goal is to develop a broad account of innovation, as including both technological and non-technological forms. Her original research contribution also includes the development of novel indicators of innovation, exploiting patent and trademark data. She has published her work across disciplines, including economics, management and geography. She is an advisor to policymakers on matters related to innovation, intellectual property rights and sustainable regional development.

Her teaching covers Bachelor, Master and PhD level courses, at Utrecht University and as guest speaker at different other institutions. She chairs the Geosciences University Teaching Qualification commission.

Current PhD students under her supervision are: Tingting Liu, Fabia Beckers, Christian Hoefnagel, Lia Millar, Martijn Stut

Prior to joining the Department of Human Geography and Planning, she held academic positions at the University of Groningen, Utrecht University (Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development) and Eindhoven University of Technology. She was also a Robert Solow Postdoctoral fellow, right after obtaining her PhD in Economics and Management from Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.

Carolina Castaldi is Editor at Economic Geography and  Industrial and Corporate Change, member of the Board of EPIP (European Policy for Intellectual Property) and program team member of the UU Strategic Theme Institutions for Open Societies .

Read her inaugural lecture here

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