Birkbeck graduate wins NESTA prize

Birkbeck graduate, Francesca Bria, has been awarded the prestigious NESTA prize for her Masters dissertation: NEW MODELS FOR USER-DRIVEN OPEN INNOVATION Co-creating services with users and citizens: The case of The European Network of Living Labs.
The award recognises outstanding Master's dissertations on the subject of innovation management and technology policy.

Francesca is from Rome and has a background in Social Sciences. She achieved her undergraduate from the University of Rome La Sapienza with a thesis on Digital Innovation Ecosystems for endogenous development. She is a policy consultant on Innovation for the Region of Lazio, the Province of Rome and the European Commission.

Programme Director, Professor Birgitte Andersen, said ‘Francesca Bria is a bright, independent and motivated student. The NESTA prize is well deserved, and we are confident that she has a successful research career ahead of her.’

Francesca studied MSc E-Business and Innovation. So far, more than 300 students have graduated from Birkbeck’s E-business programme. From next academic year, the E-business programme will be offered as a pathway under Birkbeck’s new Business Innovation postgraduate (MSc and MRes) programmes.

The Business Innovation programmes at Birkbeck are designed for graduates who wish to develop a thorough understanding of the importance of innovation for rethinking management, business strategy, corporate assets, intellectual property rights, institutions, organizations, firms, entrepreneurship, and globalization in a changing world.

Francesca is now a PhD researcher at Imperial College Business School, with full scholarship, in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group and is researching Innovation and service co-design and co-production.

Congratulations Francesca!

L-R (Brian MacAuley from NESTA, Birkbeck graduate Francesca Bria, and Head of Department of Management Professor Helen Lawton Smith)