Carolin Nast

Carolin Nast serves as a Research Fellow and PhD candidate at the University of Stavanger's School of Business, Department of Innovation, Management and Marketing. She is a key member of the EU-funded Innovative Training Network "Policies for Smart Specialization" under the Horizon Europe program.

Her academic background:

• Bachelor's in Politics, Administration, and International Relations, Zeppelin University, Germany
• Master's in Urban and Economic Geography, Utrecht University, Netherlands

Her research investigates innovation policy mechanisms, particularly how government interventions affect technological complexity and regional development trajectories. She employs mixed-method approaches to analyze academic-industry knowledge flows and smart specialization strategies, with strong emphasis on empirical policy evaluation in European contexts.

Recent publications reveal a cohesive interdisciplinary thread connecting innovation economics, replicability science, and knowledge transfer dynamics. Her work consistently addresses real-world policy challenges, including pandemic-era research communication, public R&D funding efficacy, and cross-sector collaboration models for regional innovation.

No scientific awards were documented in the source materials.

Her primary research support comes from the EU Framework Program grant for the Policies for Smart Specialization network. As a doctoral candidate, she does not supervise students but actively collaborates with senior researchers across European institutions through her ITN project.

Carolin is embedded in the Policies for Smart Specialization network, a pan-European consortium developing evidence-based frameworks for regional innovation strategies through coordinated training and research activities.