Professor Mani has a Ph.D. in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University and has done postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford as a Ford Foundation Fellow. Prior to joining the Centre for Development Studies as a Professorial Fellow on September 14, 2004, he was Head of Graduate Studies and member of the faculty at the United Nations University-Institute for New Technologies, Maastricht, The Netherlands.

Professor Mani has authored five books [which include Government, Innovation and Technology Policy, An International Comparative Analysis, Cheltenham, UK and Nothampton, Mass. USA: Edward Elgar, 2002, second edition due in 2006, Financial Systems and Innovation, and Venture Capital, Cheltenham, UK and Nothampton, Mass. USA: Edward Elgar, 2004 (edited with Anthony Bartzokas), Innovation, Learning and Technological Dynamism of Developing Countries, Tokyo: United Nations University, 2004 (edited with Henny Romijn)] and a number of articles in refereed journals.

He is currently a member of : (a) the Experts Committee on Innovation Surveys, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India; and (b) International Technology Indicators Panel, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA and is a co-convener of the Science and Technology Working Group of the European Association for Development Research and Training Institutes, Bonn, Germany.

Further, he is also on the advisory panel of the Science and Development Network (SciDevNet, a website on Science and Technology issues jointly promoted by Nature and Science). His current research interests include innovation policy instruments, measurement of innovation and the telecommunications industry.