Nicola specialises in economics and management of IP, with a focus on the creative industries and trade secrets.
Dr. Nicola Searle is Senior Lecturer at ICCE. An economist and management scholar who specialises in innovation, intellectual property and the digital economy, Nicola joined ICCE in 2015. She has two key research lines: the first examines innovation in the creative industries through the lens of copyright and business models in digital media. The second investigates trade secrets, knowledge flows and innovation.
Dr. Searle is former Chair of the EPSRC Digital Security and Resilience Advisory Board, member of the UK Intellectual Property Office’s (IPO) Expert Advisory Group, Visiting Professor at Bologna University and Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Innovation Management Research, Birkbeck. Dr. Searle has been awarded three prestigious Fellowships: a Thomas Edison Innovation Policy Fellowship at the Center for Intellectual Policy and Innovation Policy at George Mason University a UKRI Digital Economy Early Career Fellowship and an AHRC/ESRC Placement Fellowship.
Academic qualifications
PhD in Economics, University of St Andrews 2010
MSc in International Strategy and Economics, University of St Andrews 2006
BSFS in International Economics, Georgetown University (U.S.A.) 2000
Teaching and supervision
Dr. Searle teaches on the MACCE degree, where she runs the Theories of Capital and Dissertation & Project modules and supervises students and dissertations throughout the year.
She also supervises PhD research, current student projects include:
From Community to Market: Institutionalizing Intellectual Property in the Commercialization of Traditional Chinese Crafts (with Dr. K. Meng)
Creative innovation hubs and knowledge flows (with Prof. V. Alexander)
The Application of Integrated Data Analytics in Risk Management of the Film Business: Cases Studies of China’s Internet-Based Film Business Models (with Dr. M. Franklin)
Dr. Searle’s primary area of interest is the economics and management of Intellectual Property, with focuses on the Digital Economy and the Creative Industries. In this, she researches the economics of trade secrets and economic espionage, and business models, IP & digital media. Dr. Searle's includes an interdisciplinary theme, reflected in collaborations with scholars in law, sociology, technology and the creative arts.
In 2023 - 2024, Nicola was a Thomas Edison Innovation Policy Fellow at the Center for Intellectual Policy and Innovation Policy, George Mason University. Her project investigated the value of trade secrets and their context in the innovation landscape.
From 2017 - 2022, Dr. Searle held an EPSRC Digital Economy Fellowship (grant EP/P005039/1.) Her fellowship, entitled “Economic Espionage and Cybercrime: Evidence and Strategy,” looks at the increasing importance of trade secrets in the digital world, and the emerging threats of the theft of trade secrets and economic espionage through cybercrime.
Dr. Searle's research incorporates insights developed over her career. She served as a government economist at the IPO from 2013 to 2015. Prior to her role at the IPO, Nicola was the lead Associate on the Moving Targets project at the School of Arts, Media & Computer Games at Abertay University from 2010-2012. Nicola also served as Academic Supervisor for two Knowledge Transfer Projects (KTP) with the Institute for Capitalising on Creativity (ICC, St Andrews) and Creative Scotland on the film industry and use of IP by Scottish creative businesses. Dr. Searle was a member of the prominent IP blog, the IPKat, for five years. Her work also reflects knowledge developed from running a social photography business and four years working for Goldman Sachs.
2023:
Thomas Edison Innovation Policy and Law Fellowship Edison Fellow at the Center for Innovation Policy and Intellectual Property at George Mason University to develop a project on the value of trade secrets.
2018:
Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property, George Mason University, Grant
Principal Investigator commissioned to analyse copyright narratives and digital media business models.
2017:
EPSRC Digital Economy Fellowship Economic Espionage and Cyber Crime: Evidence and Strategy: Four-year fellowship to investigate cybercrime with a focus on economic espionage and the theft of trade secrets.
2017:
CREATe Grant Meta-Analysis of CREATe Business Models
Searle, Nicola and White, Gregor. 2013. Chapter 5: Business models. In: Ruth Towse and Christian Handke, eds. Handbook on the Digital Creative Economy. Gloucestershire: Edward Elgar, pp. 45-56. ISBN 978 1 78100 487 6
Policymaking - Dr. Searle has authored several policy reports for the UK IPO and the European Commission and regularly advises policymaking bodies, including the UN's World Intellectual Property Office. Dr. Searle has served as an Expert Witness to Parliament and consistently provides expertise to government consultations. She is a Board Member for the European Policy in Intellectual Property Association.
Advising UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding and Policies - Dr. Searle is very involved in supporting UK government research funding, including in the following roles:
Member, ESRC Peer Review College, since 2024
Chair, Digital Security and Resilience Project Advisory Group, 2022 - 2024
Member, EPSRC Peer Review College, top 6% Reviewer (2020), since 2017
Chair, EPSRC Technology Missions Fund, Value for Money Panel, 2023
Chair or Member, Digital Economy Project Advisory Board, 2017-2022
Chair, Digital Economy Telling Tales for Engagement Panel, 2022
Chair, EPSRC Network Plus Funding Prioritisation and Interview Panels, 2021–2022
2022:
Article for The Times Higher Education Following her presentation of oral evidence to House of Lords’ Communications & Digital Select Committee, authored this reflection on the process and how academics can maximise their impact.
2022:
Speaker at the Microsoft Intelligence Summit Broadcast to thousands of people worldwide, served as an expert speaker at the Intelligence Summit on cybersecurity and trade secrets.
Conferences and talks
2024:
Speaker Inaugural Conference, The Centre for Interdisciplinary Legal Studies at the University of Hong Kong
2021:
Keynote Speaker
"Trade Secrets and Patents at the Innovation Level", Society of Legal Scholars
2019:
Panel Member
"Innovation and Trade Secrets", WIPO Trade Secrets Symposium, Geneva, Switzerland.
Impact
Dr. Searle's work has featured in two Research Excellence Framework (REF) government evaluations of research:
UK REF Impact Case Study, 2022
Imbedding Economics into Intellectual Property Practice and Policy, Business and Management Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London, based solely on Dr. Searle's research; evaluated as internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour.
UK REF Impact Case Study, 2014
Capitalising on creativity in the film and screen industry, Business and Management Studies, University of St Andrews, as part of a team with Professor Barbara Townley; evaluated as world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour.
