The establishment of a university can be used as policy instrument to revitalize peripheral regions. Such newly established universities tend to experience rapid growth, but little is known about how this affects the labour market for graduates in these regions over time. A quantitative case study, employing individual-level microdata, analyzed changes in the wage levels and mobility of graduates of Aalborg University, which was established in 1974 in the North Denmark region. The analysis shows that the establishment of Aalborg University contributed to the upgrading of the human capital in the region, fulfilling a demand in the labour market, as indicated by wage growth similar to that of the labour market in other regions and a growing percentage of local young people to stay in the region after graduation. Furthermore, the university increased its intake of students from outside the region, who then as graduates dispersed to other parts of the country, thereby serving to supply human capital at the national level. These insights add to our understanding of how a new university can play a role in the economic development of a peripheral region, while at the same time also having impact at the national level. Nevertheless, this instrument is not applicable to all regions in the same way, since local critical mass and regional embeddedness are required to enable a region to absorb a substantial number of graduates and benefit from the presence of the university. ARTICLE HISTORY

Increased public investment in PhD education to drive innovation has led to a recent rapid growth in the number of PhD graduates. Academic labour markets have not developed at the same pace. An ever-larger share of the graduates is finding employment in industry. The transition from academia to industry is not always easy. The present study aims to provide insights into the role played by PhDs' networks in the job search after graduation. Our data comprise interviews with industry-employed doctoral graduates in STEM disciplines from Sweden, Norway and the UK. Our findings show that PhDs' autonomously built personal networks can help match their specific scientific expertise with labour market demands. We distinguish country-specific patterns and characteristics of the transition, in which regional career paths are more (Scandinavia) or less (the UK) noticeable. The study has practical implications, in particular for PhD students and graduates, related to their career orientation.

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This paper focuses on two cases of interaction between Aalborg University and science-based industries that have appeared in the North Denmark region in recent decades: the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and biomedical industries. These two cases provide a unique opportunity to study the mechanisms behind the more or less successful development of localised capabilities through university-industry interaction: while both of them are sciencebased industries with tight linkages with the university, the outcome of the exchanges with the higher education institution has differed. The feedback loops between university and industry seem to have stimulated the development of localised capabilities favouring the competitiveness, and success, of the ICT industry. However, the university actions supporting the development of the biomedical industry do not seem to have been followed by a growing industrial development, as would be expected if the biomedical industry had developed localised capabilities ensuring its competitiveness. For each case, qualitative and quantitative research methods have been applied: this paper combines desk research on secondary sources with qualitative interviews and descriptive analyses based on data from Statistics Denmark.

Rhoda was a RUNIN research fellow at the University of Lincoln and has a PhD on the 'Microfoundations of Academics Networks: Initiation, Evolution and Context'. She also holds a BSc. in Biochemistry from the University of Ghana and an MSc. in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the University of Oslo. She has industrial experience working as a supply chain quality specialist in Nestle Ghana. She is a visiting researcher at the University of Lincoln's International Business School and currently works as a business development manager at a startup company, Wattero AS in the Oslo area.