Role Of Research Universities Research Articles

The Role of Research Universities in Turkish Higher Education

Araştırma üniversitelerinin yükseköğretimdeki yeri, ülkenin bilimsel ve teknolojik gelişimine katkıda bulunmaları ve öğrencilere öncü bir eğitim sunmaları nedeniyle önemlidir. Bu üniversiteler genellikle kapsamlı araştırma programlarına sahip ve öğrencilere, bilim ve teknoloji alanlarında en son bilgileri ve teknolojileri öğrenme fırsatları sunarlar. Araştırma üniversitelerinin yükseköğretimdeki yeri ile ilgili olarak öğrencilere sağladıkları öncü eğitim ve uygulamalı bilim ve teknoloji alanlarında öncü araştırmalar yapmaları ile ülkenin bilim ve teknoloji alanında rekabet edebilirliğini arttırmada önemli rol oynarlar. Ayrıca, araştırma üniversitelerinin yaptıkları araştırmalar ile ülkenin sektörlerinde çalışanlarına ve genel olarak toplumun bilgiye ve teknolojik gelişmelere erişimini sağlarlar. Bu çalışmada ülkemizdeki 23 araştırma üniversitesinin, 13 göstergeye göre konumlarının ve yükseköğretimdeki yerlerinin belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Çalışma sonucunda 23 üniversitenin, özellikle araştırma bazlı ve lisansüstü eğitim göstergelerinde ülkemizdeki diğer 200’e yakın üniversitenin toplamı kadar yükseköğretime katkı sağladığı görülmüştür.

The Content Evolution of Basic, Mission-Oriented, and Applied Research in European Universities

The dynamics of basic and applied research have steadily changed since the eighties, with the private sector reducing its investments in science and universities experiencing significant remodelling in the governance of their funding. Studies looking at this have mostly focussed on industry, and less attention has been paid to understanding the evolution of the contents of university research. We adopt a critical perspective of the basic versus applied research dichotomy, and using a patent-based analysis we first identify a variety of indicators to determine the pure basic, mission-oriented, and pure applied research content. Following this, we observe how university research content has evolved with respect to industrial research content from 1978 to 2015. Our results suggest that relevant shifts occurred in academic research. In particular, while pure basic and mission-oriented research contents remain mostly a matter of university knowledge production, their intensity progressively declined after the early 2000s. Conversely, the pure applied content of university research has been steadily declining since 1978. These results complement recent literature focussing on basic and applied research dynamics in the private sector, while opening up considerations on the role of university research and its value for society.

TOWARDS ACHIEVING SDG 3 AND 4: THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITY RESEARCH THROUGH IMPLEMENTATION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE IN EAST AFRICA

Abstract Education has been acknowledged to be a human right, a public good and a public responsibility. Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, nations will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind (UNESCO, 2020). In the labour of attaining the sustainable development goals, quality education, good health and well-being - Goals 3 and 4 respectively - have been placed as the central dogma in achieving the global goals. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the role of university research through the implementation of quality assurance in attaining quality education, good health and well-being for sustainable development in East Africa. The paper examines the heart of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) - Quality Education & Good health and well-being - in the context of how university researchers can get it delivered. This paper perceives promoting interdisciplinary and collaborative research, linking research outputs into teaching as well as commercialization of science as the leeway in assuring and achieving quality education, good health and well-being through higher institutions (universities) in East Africa. The paper concludes that achieving the ambitiously adopted sustainable development goals by United Nations in quality education, good health and well-being can be achieved by adopting, implementing and practically applying quality research outputs from universities done under quality assurance measures. The paper recommends amongst other measures that implementation of research-tutored system by designing curriculum that emphasizes learning focused on students writing and discussing research papers or essays. Key words: Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), Education, Health, Well-being, University research, Quality Assurance

Beyond Education: The Role of Research Universities in Innovation Ecosystems

Universities are increasingly perceived as agents involved in regional development. It is now recognized that academic contributions to the socioeconomic environment go well beyond scientific investigation and teaching activities, and incorporate market-oriented initiatives to the academic mission. However, these effects are geographically bounded. Given these conditions, this article aims at addressing universities’ impacts upon output vectors of localized innovation ecosystems. Using data from cities and microregions in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil observed throughout the period of 2002-2014, we address universities’ effects upon the local-level generation of patents and utility models, software production and emergence of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship. Besides the scant available evidence on innovation ecosystems located outside developed economies, dealing with a developing country also means we are addressing an analytical unit in which universities play a critical role in terms of knowledge production and diffusion, a function of the weak competences of local firms.Findings support the hypothesis that major academic institutions lie at the heart of innovation ecosystems, but impacts are mostly local, happening more strongly at the level of cities. While the formation of human capital also contributes to innovative output, its impacts are of minor relevance as compared to higher education institutions that achieve excellence in research. This poses severe challenges for policymakers when targeting the formation and enhancement of initiatives to develop innovative ecosystems, particularly for peripheral areas. First, these regions are not likely to reap substantial benefits from proximity to successful hubs. Beyond that, creating local conditions is not as straightforward as sometimes announced in political discourse. In this regard, some fundamental vectors are not easily manipulated in the short-term and there seems to be fundamental importance attributed to long-term, evolutionary conditions. Such is the case for high-quality universities.

The Role of Universities in Research and Technology Transfer to Improve Livelihoods in Southern Africa

Every country in Southern Africa has well-regarded universities where expert researchers work in a wide array of disciplines. Yet, not far from these campuses rural poor might be living whose lives could be dramatically transformed if the universities used some of its expertise to develop and transfer appropriate technology to such communities. Since the gap in knowledge of modern science and technology between experts in universities and the poor communities is so vast, a programme of developing and transferring appropriate technology could be a game changer for rural communities. Areas of need could be identified by forming multidisciplinary teams comprising specialists in adult education, social scientists, engineers, architects, agriculturists, community medicine specialists, environmental scientists and public health experts among others. Some areas where appropriate technology transfer may be relevant depending on the community and the available expertise are solar energy, biogas, water harvesting and conservation, communications, animal husbandry, arid agriculture and horticulture, tourism, housing and cottage industry. Some of this work is already taking place, but we emphasize a multi-disciplinary approach where social scientists, educationists, financial experts and marketing specialists (for cottage industry) work side by side with scientists and technologists. Key words: Multidisciplinary, technology transfer, research, livelihoods, rural communities, extension.

The Role of Research Universities in U.S. College-Town Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

This project focuses on the role of research universities in U.S. college-town entrepreneurial ecosystems. Combining regression analysis and in-depth interviews, we systematically evaluate various roles that anchor research universities can play both in assisting entrepreneurs and in building regional entrepreneurial ecosystems. In the quantitative part of the project, we examine factors associated with the entrepreneurial activities of 53 U.S. college-town metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). We find no evidence that the presence of university entrepreneurship programs such as entrepreneurship degrees or certificates, incubators, research parks, or Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) significantly improves the startup rate of college towns. Similarly, the number of college graduates relative to the metro size and the university research and development (R&D) in science and technology fields are not significantly associated with startup activities. In the qualitative part of the project, we compare and contrast the cases of two college towns — Boulder, CO and Iowa City, IA — through information gathered from semi-structured interviews. We report both similarities and differences in the entrepreneurship efforts of the two anchor universities. We find that, facing a much less entrepreneurial environment, the University of Iowa plays a more visible role in its regional entrepreneurial ecosystem than the University of Colorado. Based on our results, the following practices emerged as desirable ways that research universities can effectively participate in an entrepreneurial ecosystem of a college town: • Cultivate the talent pipeline • Utilize nationwide resources and best practices in entrepreneurship support • Serve as brokers/connectors • Raise awareness and change mindsets by building an on-campus entrepreneurial ecosystem embedded in the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem • Market both university entrepreneurship efforts and the entire regional entrepreneurial ecosystem • Promote diversity • Remove internal barriers, such as: bureaucracy and tardiness inherent in large organizations such as public universities; the culture of risk aversion and the lack of an entrepreneurial mindset; the “silo” university structure and subsequent fragmented on-campus entrepreneurship services; tenure policies that discourage — or at least do not encourage — faculty startup activities; technology transfer agreements that do not give inventors sufficient credit or incentives.

Advancing the national and global knowledge economy: the role of research universities in developing countries

Research universities are a central part of all academic systems. They are the key points of international contact and involvement. Research is produced, disseminated and in many cases imported. For developing countries, the mechanisms for the involvement of research universities in the global knowledge economy is complex, and includes issues of mobility, the use of technology, collaboration, and other elements.

International collaborations between research universities: experiences and best practices

The world science scenario has observed, in recent years, an important transformation. With the advent of fairly complete publication databases and the improvement of the Internet a number of world university rankings were created, with a clear bias towards research universities. Also, a new field of scientometrics has been developed, and recent studies have clearly demonstrated that the impact of a publication increases if it is written by authors of more than one country. A general overview of the research collaboration landscape is presented, considering the advantages and problems of international cooperation and the role of research universities. In particular, the case of Ibero-America is explained, with a detailed focus on Brazil. Some interesting practices that have been introduced to improve the degree of internationalization of Brazilian science are shown and discussed.

Research universities, technology transfer, and job creation: what infrastructure, for what training?

Technology transfer and innovation are considered major drivers of sustainable development; they place knowledge and its dissemination in society at the heart of the development process. This article considers the role of research universities, and how they can interact with key actors and institutions involved in ‘innovation ecosystems’. Considering various approaches of innovation and institutional analysis design (IAD), it proposes an institutional model of innovation where different authorities produce rules and knowledge that can be mobilized and/or changed in their respective action arenas. On this conceptual basis, one initiative is described: integrated poles of excellence (IPEs) for renewable energy in West Africa, which were conceptualized as a resource and knowledge centre connected to project implementation.

The Role of Research Universities in Creating Entrepreneurial Clusters: What Do We Know?

Research universities may be a potent source of regional development, as witnessed by the importance of Stanford and MIT to the development of Silicon Valley and Route 128. Indeed, some researchers...

Ideas and Innovations: Which Should Be Subsidized?

The Bayh-Dole Act allows universities to commercialize their research. University laboratories therefore have two sources of funds: direct grants from the government and funds from commercialization. In addition to giving direct subsidies to university laboratories, the government also subsidizes the commercial sector, for example, through tax credits. Subsidies to commerce contribute indirectly to the university's research budget, because they increase the profit from commercialization. This paper investigates the optimal mix of direct and indirect subsidies to the university, in a context where the role of university research is to turn up for commercial investments, and the role of commerce is to turn the ideas into innovations. It also asks whether there is an argument for protecting as well as commercializations, as is authorized by the Bayh-Dole Act.

Government science in forestry: Characteristics and policy utilization

The relationship between forest research, its producers and forest policy is extremely complex. While there is a growing body of work about the role of university research in informing forest policy, comparatively little attention has been paid to government science in forestry. This paper describes the characteristics of government science and explores how it informs forest policy using the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), Canada, as a case study. A close and effective relationship was found between scientists and policy developers/analysts where the OMNR was legally required to engage in scientific research to inform the development of guidelines and associated evaluation processes. Other factors that contributed to an effective use of research in the development of policy included the active engagement of policy developers/analysts in the design of projects using “policies as hypotheses” within an adaptive forest management framework. While our results suggest that government science at the OMNR has effectively addressed many of the policy risks associated with forest management, it can also generate risks where government science challenges the strategic directions set by forest policy in response to societal values. Another associated risk is that publicly-funded research will result in “irrelevant” knowledge in the context of current policies. These risks are difficult to manage and can affect relationships. Nevertheless, the OMNR will need to continue taking calculated risks to effectively monitor the dynamic relationship between forests, policy and society into the future.

Regionalizing “mode 2”? the adoption of centres of excellence in swedish research policy

.This article contributes to the ongoing debate on the role of university research for innovation and economic growth, a debate highly influenced by concepts such as Mode 2 and regional innovation systems and clusters. A prominent trend in many EU and OECD countries is to direct research funding towards so‐called Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in order to stimulate the industrial output of scientific research. The implementation of the CoE approach is viewed as an attempt to bridge research and innovation policy. By using Sweden as an example and providing an overview and critical discussion concerning Swedish research policy during the period 2001 to 2007 we show that the rhetoric within research policy has changed and become increasingly intertwined with innovation policy. In practice, however, this is not as evident. The study draws on (a) an analysis of policy literature pointing out regulatory and organizational changes concerning the increasing emphasis on linking research to competitive industrial milieus, and (b) a comprehensive database including 110 CoEs, presenting a detailed picture of university‐industry collaboration, cross‐disciplinarity, and prioritized sectors. We fiind that the CoEs account for a relatively small share of government funding, but may however have a strengthening impact on particular research milieus and industries, especially in the life sciences. Additionally, although contemporary policy rhetoric appears to highlight steering funding to geographically‐concentrated milieus, thereby linking leading university research to regional industrial clusters, this has only been manifested in a few cases – notably in the Vinnväxt programme run by Vinnova, the national agency promoting innovation systems.

Expanding Undergraduate Education to Meet National Goals: The Role of Research Universities

President Obama's higher education goal is to provide “every American with a quality higher education—whether it's college or technical training.” The work must begin now, despite the current econo...

Academic Drift, Institutional Production, and Professional Distribution of Graduate Degrees in Educational Leadership

Purpose: This article sheds light on some basic questions about the distribution of educational leadership preparation degree programs among different types of institutions and the distribution of advanced degrees, by type, exploring change over time and the relationship to regional labor market estimates.Method: We used data from five major national data sets (Institutional Postsecondary Education Data System, Survey of Earned Doctorates, Schools and Staffing Survey, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data, and Census data) to explore the production of graduate degrees in educational leadership by institutions of higher education and the distribution of graduate degrees across building level leaders in K-12 public education systems. We used two institutional classification systems— the Carnegie Classification and the U.S. News & World Report higher education classification—to group postsecondary institutions by resources and rank. The time period for our analysis is 1990 to 2003.Findings: On the production side, we found that the number of graduate degree programs and degrees granted in educational leadership increased considerably from 1993 to 2003, with master's degree programs increasing by 16% and the number of master's degrees granted increasing by 90%. Degree production shifted by institutional type, with the role of research universities in producing master's, specialist, and doctoral degrees declining dramatically and Comprehensive colleges and universities showing over a four-fold increase in the share. Degree production fluctuates widely among states, unrelated to school population estimates, suggesting areas for further research and policy analysis.

Taking Root in the Silicon Forest: High-technology Firms as Surrogate Universities in Portland, Oregon

Most case studies of successful high-technology industry regions highlight the role of research universities in fostering regional economic development. The Portland, Oregon, region managed to root a thriving high-tech industry in the absence of this critical factor. In this article, I present a case study of the evolution of Portland's high-tech industry and propose that high-tech firms can act as surrogate universities that attract and develop labor, create knowledge, and function as incubators for startups. I conclude that planners working to develop high-tech industries in regions without major research universities should attract R&D-intensive firms, maintain information on key busineses and entrepreneurial ventures, support an innovation milieu, and set realistic goals.

University—Government Policy Linkages and the Knowledge-based Approach to Internation Development

ABSTRACT This article compares the role of university research and its use by bilateral development agencies in Canada and the United Kingdom. This focus is motivated by the ascendance of a new development paradigm: knowledge-based co-operation. This approach identifies knowledge as the new currency of development assistance and values relationships that foster knowledge creation and sharing. Drawing on recent studies and comparative data, this article analyses university—government interaction across a set of variables conducive to promoting knowledge creation and research utilization. It finds the official donor agencies in both countries attuned to the discourse of a knowledge-based approach to development. Yet, the framework for analysis suggests that the institutional setting, programs, and policy linkages in the United Kingdom are more conducive to fostering research utilization than in the Canadian context.

Strengthening the Science behind Certification: The Role of University Research and School Forests

Abstract The Pinchot Institute for Conservation conducted a study to gauge the potential for refining certification assessment methodologies through research in school forests involving faculty, staff, and students. The study was based on a series of interviews with certification experts and a survey completed by 38 schools with research and teaching forests. It evaluated the potential for better use of untapped capacity at research universities by addressing needed improvements in certification programs, current level of participation by school forests, and capacity for and interest in certification. Facilitating the dialogue and coordination between the certification programs and the students, faculty, and staff who conduct research in school forests can refine the assessment methodologies used for certification.

The university's role in creating radically new products

This paper explores the role of research universities in creating radical new products. Existing activities include cooperative research, entrepreneurial activities, technical publications and student training. While each of these activities are valued endeavours, none of them address the scope of issues confronting the task of commercialising technology. Industry and universities operate at different levels in the development process. Industry difficulties and needs are examined and found to be inconsistent with present university activities. The need for universities to develop the capacity to create product concepts and business plans is explained.

Rethinking the Role of Research Universities in Economic Development

In this article, Mary Walshok offers a new way of thinking about university–industry relations. She argues that there is a need to support simultaneously ‘basic’ research and to establish institutional mechanisms which make knowledge more accessible and useful to economic development. Rather than advocating, as some have, that universities pursue a more ‘applied’ research agenda, she emphasizes the vital role basic research plays in technology–driven economic development and provides a description of a university–industry programme, CONNECT, which is successfully making knowledge linkages vital to economic development in the context of a leading US research university, the University of California, San Diego.