Universal

Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the role of the Leiden University on the Leiden BioScience Park, a bioscience cluster in the Netherlands. Building on a theoretical analysis of the possible roles for university in the economy, this thesis focuses on three of those roles: education, research and the enhancement of regional economic development (the so-called ‘third role’). Using data on key personnel on the park, research agreements between the university and firms on the park and other data on relationships between firms and the university, it turns out that the university plays an important role on the park, but that this role keeps changing over time.