https://hdl.handle.net/10419/50640 2026-11-07T15:14:58Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/339513 Title: Beyond the PhD: Skill profiles in academic, non-academic and inter-sectoral early career paths Authors: Sánchez-Barrioluengo, Mabel; Lawson, Cornelia; Cañibano, Carolina Abstract: At a time when European science and innovation policy is seeking to better support research talent in navigating increasingly diverse post-PhD careers, we suggest that skill requirements vary substantially across employment sectors. We examine PhD holders' self-perceived transferable skills to identify the distinct skill profiles that characterise career paths in academic, non-academic and inter-sectoral settings. Building on a survey of PhD holders in Europe, we find that while research, commercialisation, and communication skills are perceived as more relevant for those working in academia, cognitive and managerial skills dominate in private sector careers. In addition, skill requirements of inter-sectoral careers emerge between the academic and non-academic sector with managerial, research and commercialisation skills considered relevant, independently of whether the combination of sectors is sequential (mixed careers) or simultaneous (hybrid careers). These findings have important implications for the design and development of doctoral education policies and programmes, as well as of policies targeting inter-sectoral mobility and the employment and attraction of research talent. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/339523 Title: Science policy: An investment perspective Authors: Metcalfe, John S.; Georghiou, Luke Abstract: In this brief essay we shall consider some policy implications which arise from treating scientific expenditure as an investment producing national economic wealth. We shall seek to clarify this investment view, to link it with the question of selectivity in basic science and with the support of strategic areas of scientific activity. The following paragraphs are little more than a thumbnail sketch of an incredibly complex area, and so the first task is to limit the scope of enquiry. Before doing so it is appropriate to summarize the broad conclusions: A) An investment framework for science should be judged by its capacity to ask logically consistent questions of science expenditure. It should not be expected to provide precise quantitative answers, rather it should be the basis for non-arbitrary judgements. B) The investment view identifies certain data requirements for science policy, in particular relating to the productivity of research effort and the likely economic and social impacts of applying research output. It is essential to support an appropriate data gathering process if selectivity is to become a practical policy. C) Investment comes to nought if it is not exploited effectively in the UK interest. The investigation of organizational structures to secure effective transfer of science to industrial application should be a major concern of science policy. The evaluation and monitoring of established structures should also be a permanent feature of science policy support. Numerous detailed recommendations which flow from these broad conclusions are dealt with at appropriate places in the text. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/336627 Title: Move fast and integrate things: The making of a European Industrial Policy for Artificial Intelligence Authors: Vannuccini, Simone Abstract: In this paper, I use the case of artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse the challenges and opportunities in designing a European industrial policy that (i) adopts a pro-competitive posture, (ii) does not fall victim of the risk of double weaponization by pro-nationalistic and pro-oligopolistic narratives, and (iii) re-orients its goals away from the AI ‘arms race’ and to the provision of public goods. At the moment, the AI industry is an infant industry, and the European digital stack enabling AI applications is controlled by non-European actors, which reduces European autonomy and justifies policy support. I suggest that while AI’s economic impact are overestimated and hyped, AI should be a pillar of European industrial policy due to its strategic asset and dual-use nature. Through a series of proposals, I outline the contours of a European AI industrial policy; its features can be summarised by three keywords: public, as in the public assets that the EU should aim to build on the basis of open source technology and in the public interest; federated, through variety and the decentralisation of AI solutions conceived as a non-oligopolistic European alternative to large scale systems; and federal, realising decoupling across the technology stack, when possible and advisable, through supranational tools, institutions, and finances. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/336628 Title: When robots met language (models): An exploration of science and strategy in the vision-language-action models space Authors: Kim, Taekyun; Fuentes, Gabriela; Vannuccini, Simone Abstract: We study the emerging technology of vision-language-action models (VLAMs), a potential breakthrough for the robotics industry. VLAMs connect artificial intelligence’s large language models with robots: they are a software innovation that increases flexibility and expand capabilities of robotic hardware. As the technology is yet in its infancy, we focus our analysis on three directions. First, we study the technological trajectory of VLAMs in scientific publications using scientometric techniques. Second, in order to assess market transformations associated with VLAMs and potential migration in the locus of value generation in robotics, we collect information and offer insights on the actors developing the technology ‘in the wild’. Third, we discuss the strategies put in place by a leading actor in the field to gatekeep the competitive landscape. We then generalise and rationalise our findings through established theoretical frameworks. The paper is the first to single out the forces at work in the development of an innovation poised to rejuvenate the robotics industry, one of the backbones of contemporary economies. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z