University Parks Research Articles

Bridging the valley of death: examining university science parks' influence on revenue generation

PurposeThis study examines the impact of university science parks’ (USPs) capabilities on revenue generation and introduces regional innovation as a moderating variable. This study aims to provide insights into enhancing revenue generation and fully leveraging the role of USPs in promoting revenue generation.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation for 116 universities in China from 2008 to 2020, using hierarchical regression analysis to examine the relationships between variables.FindingsThe findings suggest that USPs play a beneficial role in fostering revenue generation. Specifically, the provision of incubation funding demonstrates a positive correlation, while USPs size exhibits an inverted U-shaped pattern, with a threshold at 3.037 and a mean value of 3.712, highlighting the prevalent issue of suboptimal personnel allocation in the majority of USPs. Moreover, the analysis underscores the critical moderating influence of regional innovation, affecting the intricate interplay between USPs size, incubation funding and revenue generation.Research limitations/implicationsThe single country (China) analysis relied solely on the use of secondary data. Future studies could expand the scope to include other countries and employ primary data collection. For instance, future research can further examine how regional development and USPs strategic plan impact revenue generation.Practical implicationsThe study recommends that USPs managers and policymakers recognize the importance of incubation funding and determine the optimal quantity of USPs size to effectively foster revenue generation in USPs. Policymakers can use regional innovation as a moderating variable to reinforce the relationship between USPs size and incubation funding on revenue generation.Social implicationsThe study’s findings can contribute to the strategic industry growth and economic development of nations by promoting revenue generation. Leveraging the role of USPs and implementing the study’s recommendations can strengthen innovation and technology capabilities, driving strategic industry growth and economic development. This can enhance global competitiveness and promote sustainable economic growth.Originality/valueThis study introduces regional innovation as a moderating variable and provides empirical evidence of its influence on the relationship between USPs size and incubation funding on revenue generation. This adds value to research to the existing literature on USPs and revenue generation by showcasing the importance of examining the regional impact in research and innovation.

University Science Parks as an Innovative Tool for University-Business Cooperation

Collaboration between universities, business and government is important in creating innovation, but often they face barriers which block the successful cooperation among institutional spheres. To improve and strengthen collaboration and overcome existing barriers were created hybrid organizations (like university science parks, research centres or incubators) to address innovation blockages. With the growing popularity of this tool among regional policy makers, there is a need to specify their roles and functions in regional innovation systems. The main goal of our paper is to examine the contribution of university science parks and research centres in Slovakia, which were built thanks to financial support from European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF). University science parks (USPs) and research centres (RCs) are tools for connecting the university, industry and government sector in a Triple helix framework. They create a suitable space for generating innovation with existing resources at universities, research institutes, research departments of companies and governments, and improve them through mutual interactions. We applied the method of quantitative research – an online questionnaire survey complemented with interviews, which we used to collect basic data on all science parks in Slovakia. The key question in the article is whether research infrastructures represent effective investment with long-term sustainability. We evaluated the current functioning of the parks in terms of fulfilling the functions that contribute to innovation creation, because quality and modern infrastructure is a prerequisite for the implementation of research, the results of which have a high development and innovation potential. We found that the research infrastructure doesn’t perform the required functions, which were declared during their creation. The main barriers to development include insufficient funding for research, technological infrastructure and long-term financing of professional staff. Unclear conditions for the continued operation of parks and uncertain position of government support shows that these investment projects financed by the European Funds are not independently viable after the end of the sustainability period.

SINGLE BUILDING DESIGN OF NEW CAMPUS OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES AND ITS INFLUENCE ON ANXIOUS AND DEPRESSED STUDENTS

BackgroundAs a campus building, the new campus of colleges and universities is more likely to become the representative of educational buildings because of its economic advantages, diversity of design methods, land use and plot ratio. Colleges and universities implement the advanced concepts of modern urban construction and higher education development, implement high starting point planning, and invite well-known experts at home and abroad to design single building schemes to highlight the characteristics of campus culture. The architectural design of the new campus is the main feature of campus modernization. It must be designed before any construction project starts. In order to solve the problem that the evaluation method of single building design scheme in the new campus of colleges and universities does not consider the influence of different financing results. There are still operational difficulties in determining indicators that cannot be measured by architectural style and social benefits. At the same time, the construction of university parks should also help alleviate students' anxiety and depression.Research Objects and MethodsOn the basis of qualitative index evaluation, the utility theory and projection method of multi-attribute decision-making using language variables are introduced. According to the evaluation data of more than 20 provinces and cities in China, the single scheme of new campus construction of colleges and universities is divided into overall target layer, macro target layer and micro target layer. According to the system evaluation index system, the macro objective layer is composed of four objectives: technical feasibility, economic feasibility, construction and environmental impact, as well as social, political and economic significance. The micro target layer is the subdivided macro target layer, as shown in Table 1. It includes 29 quantitative and qualitative indicators. The qualitative index is transformed into interval number, the financing effect is quantified by defining utility function, and the evaluation model of single building design scheme under the influence of different financing effects is established. At the same time, this study uses the emotional Self-evaluation Scale, which is used to evaluate one aspect of self-evaluation - self-confidence.ResultsIt is generally believed that self-confidence is a person's feeling of his ability or skills and a subjective evaluation of his ability to effectively cope with various environments. As a self-assessment tool, Pei does not cover as wide a range as some existing scales, such as Rosenberg's self-esteem scale. But it can estimate most problems in the field of self-confidence. The six most frequently mentioned dimensions are used as their subscales; Academic performance, sports, appearance, love relationships, social interactions and conversations with people. In addition to these subscales, there are also some items to evaluate the overall level of self-confidence and the state of mind that may affect the judgment of self-confidence. The selection of items is based on the following four criteria: high correlation between items and subscales, low correlation with other subscales, low correlation with Marlowe crown social expectation scale, and balance the items of positive tone narration and negative tone narration in each subscale. Except that the sports subscale includes 5 items, the other subscales have 7 items respectively, with a total of 54 items. They are scored at level 4, with a total score range of 54216. The higher the score, the higher the degree of self-confidence.ConclusionAccording to the model, different financing factors K are used to select the optimal design scheme. Finally, the operation process of the model is explained through empirical analysis, which provides a new comprehensive evaluation method for the selection of single building design scheme in the new campus of colleges and universities. The selection of single building design scheme in the new campus of colleges and universities should consider the possible impact on the construction scale, construction content, construction investment and other indicators on the premise of considering the influence of financing effect. In order to select the best financing effect design scheme, so as to reduce the investment risk brought by the financing effect to the construction of a single campus. This is a further improvement of the existing monomer design scheme comparison system. Through a comparative study of the impact of the construction of University Parks on the suicidal ideation of depressed students, this study found that the scientific design of university parks can improve the suicidal ideation of depressed patients, which can not only effectively improve the depression and suicidal attitude of patients, but also enable them to face difficulties and setbacks rationally and better adapt to the society, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

The Exploration and Practices of TusPark in Promoting Business Incubation and Industrial Development

As a new platform for innovation, China's national university science parks gather a wealth of resources for innovation. They are not only the carriers of new knowledge, technologies and systems, but also that of new cultures. As one of the first batch of national university science parks in China, TusPark, which is backed by Tsinghua University with the active participation of varied entrepreneurial, R&D and financial institutions, has basically developed an ecological network for innovation that is distributed throughout the country. It has become an important platform for further transformation of the scientific and technological achievements of universities, as well as promoting the development of strategic emerging industries. Focused on TusPark’s functions and roles in advancing startup incubation and industrial development, this paper conducts an in-depth analysis of TusPark’s developmental path, with research based on interviews conducted with people involved in TusPark’s construction and operations, as well as reviewing the developmental history and models of global university science parks with international perspectives and extracting TusPark’s unique developmental path and model. The aim of this paper is to analyse how TusPark, as the science park of China’s top university, blazed a trail for business incubation and industrial development. The paper presents some typical cases and explains TusPark’s major models for business incubation and industry cultivation. It also discusses the main factors of TusPark’s success and explores its approaches for encouraging future development under new domestic and international circumstances. This article is mainly divided into two parts: The first part mainly introduces historical background, main functions, operation mode, core achievements, success factors and future development prospect of TusPark; the second part briefs planning, construction and the operation management organization TusPark - Tus-Holdings Co., Ltd., including the company's founding background, development history, equity structure, management team and other basic information, as well as the original business model by TusHoldings, that is, building an innovation ecosystem with features of TusHoldings through the "multi-dimensional triple helix" model of government-enterprise-university, park-industry-finance and technology-capital-industry; and the ways to enhance core competitiveness of TusHoldings by building global innovation network, vertical incubation system and innovative industrial clusters.

An Analysis of the Correlation Between University Science Parks and Economic Development

The university science park is an important base for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and an important force for promoting regional economic development. There is a certain correlation between university science parks and economic development. In this paper, the author will analyze the correlation between the two, hoping to provide a corresponding theoretical basis for the construction of university science and technology industrial parks and economic development in the future.

The effect of university science and technology parks’ financial supports on their tenant firms: Evidences from Iran

Science and technology parks (STPs) play an essential role in strengthening industry–university relationships and fostering innovation that can be considered an important mechanism to facilitate the formation and growth of knowledge-based firms. Therefore, this article investigates the effect of university STPs’ financial support, which was found to be the main barrier to innovation in the literature, on the innovation of their tenant firms. Data were collected in the summer of 2019 through interviews with ten experts and questionnaires filled by 348 firms located in university-affiliated STPs in Iran. Data were analysed quantitatively by SPSS. The findings of the research indicated that there is a positive and significant correlative relationship between the university STPs’ financial support and the innovation of firms. Although the effect of different STPs’ financial support mechanisms was in a similar range, branding facilities were more effective, particularly on marketing innovation. Eventually, to make improvements in this regard, suggestions were made to STPs, their tenant firms for conducting fruitful future research.

Research on Education Performance Evaluation Based on Characteristic Index Vector Analysis

The research on the performance of cultivating innovative and entrepreneurial talents in higher vocational colleges is to combine the teaching theory of innovation and entrepreneurship education with the practice of university parks, form new thinking of innovation and entrepreneurship education, and cultivate a number of innovative and entrepreneurial talents in the new era. This paper proposes the design of teaching performance model based on data decision. With the method of characteristic index information sampling, the sample data of educational resource service performance are obtained. Combined with the optimal strategy to track the human resource management and service performance of colleges and universities, the cost function of education index performance management is constructed. Based on the characteristic index query and optimization control of education performance management, the performance prediction is carried out, and the design of human resource service performance model based on characteristic index vector is realized.

Test-riding the driverless bus: Determinants of satisfaction and reuse intention in eight test-track locations

The introduction of shared autonomous vehicles (SAVs) presents a wide range of challenges and uncertainties regarding their general acceptability. Hence, it is essential that transit managers have a good understanding of passenger satisfaction and of their behavioural intentions after experiencing a driverless vehicle trip. To this end, 1,062 face-to-face surveys were conducted following driverless bus trials in eight Catalan (Spain) municipalities. Using a three-step SEM-MIMIC ordinal Probit approach, we seek to identify the heterogeneity in user perceptions and reuse intentions, a novelty in SAV literature. Specifically, we analyse the users’ behavioural intention to repeat a journey without transit support personnel on the bus and when entirely alone, and how willing they are to substitute their regular bus service with a driverless one. Our results confirm that critical incidents affect user satisfaction concerning safety, the latter constituting one of the most critical factors impacting user reuse intention and overall satisfaction. The test-track scenario also affects reuse intention, with university campuses and parks recording better outcomes than city centres and pedestrianized zones. In contrast to outcomes reported for conventional bus systems, higher socioeconomic status is associated with higher levels of satisfaction with driverless vehicles and a stronger reuse intention. Female users are reluctant to ride on driverless buses alone; however, when they are not regular bus users, they express a reluctance to board SAV both without transit support personnel and alone. In high-income municipalities, we find a positive impact on reuse intention. Finally, a higher degree of satisfaction with the regular bus system is positively linked with a better perceived driverless bus experience. For implementation purposes, location, critical incidents, safety, regular bus user satisfaction, technology affinity, and the income level of the municipalities are all aspects that need to be factored-in when designing an adoption strategy.

Temporal Trend of Aedes albopictus in Local Urban Parks of the Republic of Korea.

Aedes albopictus (Skuse) was first reported in the Republic of Korea in 1941 (Suwon, Gyeonggi Province). Recently, a mosquito-monitoring program was established in response to the potential development of autochthonous infections of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses, to identify the regional characteristics of Ae. albopictus in Suwon. Daily collections of adult mosquitoes were conducted using Blackhole UV-LED traps and BG-Sentinel traps baited with octenol, carbon dioxide or both at five sites in Suwon (Sungkyunkwan University, Manseok, Seoho, Olympic, and Jungang parks) from 1 July to 1 November 2016. Based on the ecological cycle of mosquitoes, an estimated association between the daily mean temperatures [2 wk prior to the collection date (lag 2 wk)] and relative population abundance were developed using a generalized linear model. The overall proportion of female mosquitoes collected from all traps was 88.3%. Higher female trap indices were observed for mosquitoes collected at BG-Sentinel traps. Additionally, the BG-sentinel trap was more effective collecting Ae. albopictus. Culex pipiens (Coquillett) was the most frequently collected mosquito using UV-LED traps, followed by Ae. vexans nipponii (Theobald), Ochlerotatus koreicus (Edwards), Cx. inatomi (Kamimura and Wada), and members of the Anopheles Hyrcanus Group. Within a certain temperature range, daily mean temperatures 2 wk prior to the collection period was significantly associated with a maximum abundance of Ae. albopictus (P < 0.05) at 26.2°C (95% confidence interval: 24.3-29.4°C). The BG-Sentinel trap is an effective trap for monitoring relative population abundance of Ae. albopictus, and trap catches are significantly correlated with daily mean temperatures.

Analysis of the Realities, Evolution and Prospects of Urban Greening from an International Point of View

There is an increasing concern about the imbalance between urbanisation and environmental conservation, with over half of the world’s population living in urban environments. Therefore, urban greening aims to incorporate nature into the city, recovering native flora in a sustainable way. Urban greening is a multi-functional environmental benefit system that incorporates vegetation in urban cores. Urban greening has become one of the most innovative and rapidly developing fields in ecology, green procurement and the built environment. The aim of this study was to provide an insight into the realities, evolution and prospects of urban greening from an international point of view. A sample of 1,727 worldwide urban greening projects was analysed, a Pearson’s chi-square test was used to study the evolution of urban greening, and a binary logistic regression was used to predict determinant factors of public urban greening. Results show urban greening is prevalent in well-developed urbanised cities, while is challenging in the world's fastest growing cities in low-income countries. Urban greening installation has significantly changed from intensive to extensive systems offering the most cost-effective solution, and currently to living walls due to the emergence of this technology. Urban greening has expanded significantly from university campuses and parks, for the general public’s benefit, to streets for families’ use. The urban greening projects were installed mainly in private, residential, commercial, educational and government buildings. The main motivations of urban greening projects were environmental or aesthetic purposes and research aims. The prospects show parks and for general public are determinant factors for public urban greening at global level. This study contributes to the literature by investigating the characteristics and evolution of urban greening systems and prospects of public urban greening from an international point of view.

Abundance and Morphometric Study of Some Lizards (Agama Lizard, Skinks and Wall Gecko) in the University Community in Nigeria: Obafemi Awolowo University as a Case Study

This study investigated the abundance and some morphometric parameters of lizards (Agama. agama, Hemadactylus. brookii, Trachylepis. affinis and Trachylepis. quinquetaeniata) in the University campus, Ile-Ife. The specimens were collected in five different locations in the University campus. The samples were collected with sweep nets in all the locations. A total of 624 specimen of lizards (324 of A. agama, 185 of H. brookii, 60 of T. affinis and 55 of T. quinquetaeniata) were caught in all the locations and external body measurement was carried out with the help of calliper. A. agama was found to be abundant in all the locations followed by H. brookii. The number of Skinks (T. affinis and T. quinquetaeniata) in the residential area was low but high in University parks and garden and markets. The morphometric parameters showed that A. agama was different in all the parameters measured compared to the rest specimens and it was expected since the specimens were not of the same family except the Skinks (T. affinis and T. quinquetaeniata). There were similarity in values of some of the measured body parts of H. brookii, T. affinis and T. quinquetaeniata. The Principal Components Analysis (PCA) showed that all the specimens differ in Tail length, Tail width, and Trunk length. In conclusion, the abundance of the Lizards in the University call for concern because their waste can contaminate food and cause infection since they are hosts to a number of parasites.

A typology of university research park strategies: What parks do and why it matters

Abstract A growing body of research examines whether and how university research parks (URPs) enhance the performance of their tenants and foster regional innovation. As the findings in the literature are inconclusive, we argue that the URP construct requires closer conceptual examination, especially in regards to URP strategies. This paper highlights the limitations of treating URPs homogenously and theorizes how URPs’ strategies vary and arise. We develop a conceptual model, a typology, based on URP’s industry specialization and development services, of four types of URP strategies. The model shows how URP strategies can vary in theoretically important ways to generate URP internal and external strategic fit.

Sustainable Urban Environment in the Context of Globalization: “Cambridge Future” Science and Technology Park

The planning and construction of innovative university science and technology parks are facilitated on the basis of urban planning reconstruction, and the sustainable development of our country is the main basis for the implementation of the innovation plan and future design of university science and technology parks. However, some aspects of the transformation of a city have impeded the planning and development of university science parks. In order to solve this problem, in this study, the overall planning and successful establishment of science and technology parks in well-known universities were analyzed; and “Cambridge Future” was selected as the practical example and basis for the construction of innovative university science and technology parks; and then CATIC Science City in Nanjing was used as the object of empirical analysis. In addition, the construction of these parks in universities was evaluated through the case analysis and the excellent design strategies and results, and the planning model and construction concept of these parks were proposed after the contradiction between the transition stage of cities and the design of university science parks was resolved.

Impact of urban spatial restructuring on spatial-temporal evolution ofland leasing in Nanjing City

Urban land use structure is the result and spatial expression of the evolution of urban space functions.In geography, there is a classic field of study that dedicates to the relationship between these two aspects. Based on the industrial, commercial, and residential land leasing data during 2003-2010, this study examines the spatiotemporal evolution of different types of land use in Nanjing. By using the belt transect method, this study demonstrates especially the influence of urban spatial restructuring, such as the old city reconstruction, industrial upgrading, development zone construction, and new city development, on land grant location, scale, and bid-rent.The results show that the spatial structure of land market and land price tend to fit the Alonso bid- renting patterns, but there also exist multicenter characteristics. With higher land price, the remised land in the center of the city is usually small and of high density. Reconstruction of the old city increases land price significantly. Development zones have become a concentrated area for the transfer of industrial land, meanwhile industrial land price is artificially depressed because of strong administrative influences, which lowers the bid-rent curve slope within each industrial development zone. Moreover, new central business districts and university parks led to numerous land transactions and land value increased due to the improvement of peripheral conditions and supporting services. New cities with comprehensive functions may be formed in these places over a short time period.

The profile of European sociologists. Report on the 12th Conference of the European Sociological Associations (25-28 August 2015, Prague)

The title of the conference that was organized in the modern building complex of the Czech Technical University suggested that, besides addressing the usual, practically ‘mandatory’ subjects, the conference would this time include the unusual and fresh topics Differences, Inequalities and Sociological Imagination. Several factors contributed to creating the optimistic, dynamic atmosphere necessary for this. First of all, the conference was attended by the greatest number of participants ever recorded: 3,500 registrants (at the previous conference in Turin there were 2,600 participants), and the number of papers and posters that were presented also set a new record (2,900), along with the number of sessions (700). The obvious presence of a significant number of young participants was conspicuous to anyone who walked through the corridors of the university or in the university parks. According to the official report of the Program Committee, 28% of the participants were students (and according to one non-official estimate, 40%, if PhD students are also included). So, the fruits of the sociology PhD programs have ripened. Many doctoral candidates wish to test themselves in a professional European working environment, and the PhD graduation process also compels them to engage in as much intense publication activity as possible. Perhaps we don’t need to worry so much about the future of sociology science after all.

The Neoliberal Assault on the Public University: The Case of Recreation, Park, and Leisure Research

Public universities face critical challenges in terms of teaching, researching, and providing service. Funding mechanisms for various departments, programs, and professors have become increasingly intertwined with market-driven forces in light of neoliberal political and economic philosophies. In this essay, we illuminate neoliberalism and its multiple influences in university recreation, parks, and leisure studies departments. In noting classical theories of leisure and the deleterious aspects of neoliberalism, we encourage researchers, teachers, administrators, and students to resist these prevalent cultural trends, evoking a normative role for universities in the provision of a liberal education.

Returnee Entrepreneurs, Science Park Location Choice and Performance: An Analysis of High–Technology SMEs in China

Building on an asset complementarity perspective, human capital and social capital measures are used to examine the science park location decisions of returnee entrepreneurs and the performance of their ventures. The study uses a unique, hand–collected data set of 349 SMEs from Zhongguancun Science Park in China, including 53 SMEs from locations administered by universities. The article considers the antecedents of university and nonuniversity science park location and firm growth with a view to drawing conclusions that go beyond the specific context of Beijing and China. Its findings include the tendency for returning entrepreneurs with academic knowledge in the form of patents transferred from abroad to locate in nonuniversity science parks, and for those with previous firm ownership abroad to choose university science parks. The firms of returnees with patents from abroad enjoyed stronger employment growth in nonuniversity science parks and those with commercial experience abroad with MNCs performed better in university science parks. This evidence is consistent with the view that returning entrepreneurs seek complementary (academic and commercial) assets in their location decisions, although some inconsistencies with this view are also discussed.

Business Processes and Networks in University Incubators: A Review and Research Agendas

While the technology aspects of university incubators in university science parks (USPs) receive considerable attention and development, as the primary force in the creation of incubator businesses, the business and social inputs (entrepreneurial networks) are less well defined. Anchoring to the resource-based view of the firm (RBV), it is argued that a business process perspective is useful to conceptualize the deployment of key resources in USPs—namely business support and social support (entrepreneurial networks). This paper reviews existing literature in relation to university incubator business processes and networks. In particular, the paper seeks to link the process and network concepts to define research agendas.

Entrepreneurship: the missing ingredient in China's STIPs?

China is concerned to improve the technical capability of its industry. It has chosen Science and Technology Industry Parks (STIPs) as the model for incubating its R&D capability and driving its hi-tech policy. Against this background, the authors examine two main issues. First, we review assessments of university science parks in the UK and a wider context extracted from the literature before examining specifically China's R&D intensity and hi-tech policy. Second, we examine the performance of hi-tech companies situated on STIPs and those located outside STIPs, comparing their success in commercializing technology. We pay particular attention to the role of entrepreneurship in this activity by those engaged in it. Our findings are based on secondary quantitative data and qualitative data collected by means of interviews and focus groups in the Beijing and Shanghai areas in March 2004. From our research it is clear that China lags behind OECD countries in its R&D capability and the technology transfer rate is low, hampering China's hi-tech potential, although China is achieving some success in hi-tech exports, notably of ICT goods. Furthermore, innovation capability, locational factors such as being located in a regional industry cluster (in or outside STIPs), guanxi and networking opportunities, entrepreneurial skills, including international business experience and access to more financial sources and capital for developing the business, are essential for commercializing technology effectively in China. The role of entrepreneurship is evident. However, it remains still underdeveloped in China's STIPs.

Molecular motion of endohedral fullerenes in single-walled carbon nanotubes.

Spherical carbon cages of fullerene molecules interact by van der Waals forces to form close-packed arrangements in the solid state, such as the face-centered cubic lattice formed by C60 at room temperature. [1] Owing to the low directionality and low energy of the interfullerene interactions neutral fullerene molecules (such as C60) are freely rotating in the crystal at room temperature. Contrasting to the empty fullerene cages, metal-containing endohedral fullerenes are known to have large electric dipole moments of 3–4 Debye. Therefore, it should be expected that intermolecular interactions in the solid M@Cn, (M=metal center) are dominated by strong dipolar interactions. For example, fullerene Ce@C82 has a large dipole moment owing to the transfer of three valence electrons from the Ce atom to C82 cage. [4] This fullerene crystallizes in a hexagonal or a face-centered cubic close pack arrangement. However, despite the dipole moment the fullerene Ce@C82 has been shown to retain its rotational freedom in the crystalline state with an energetic barrier of only 1.3 kJmol . In contrast to bulk-fullerene crystals, fullerene molecules inserted in single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) form linear chains in which each fullerene has only two nearest neighbors as compared to 12 neighbors in the crystalline bulk fullerenes. 5] As a result the intermolecular interactions in these self-assembled carbon nanostructures, designated as Cn@SWNT, and the dynamic behavior of the encapsulated molecules are expected to be different to those in solid fullerenes. Cn@SWNTs exhibit unique electronic properties and are currently attracting attention as building blocks for functional nanodevices. Cn@SWNTs structures containing magnetically active mono-metallofullerenes M@Cn are of interest as candidate materials for solid-state quantum computers. We present herein for the first time a study on the molecular motion of mono-metallofullerene Ce@C82 chains inside SWNTs demonstrating different modes of translational and rotational motion. Raw SWNTs (Aldrich) were purified by a combination of standard techniques. Only nanotubes with diameters 13.5 ; and 15.0 ; (as shown by Raman spectroscopy; Supporting Information) were present in the samples used for the experiments. The purified SWNTs were effectively filled with C60, C70, and Ce@C82 (synthesized by DC arcdischarge method) at 400–500 8C and 2= 10 6 torr, which resulted in Cn@SWNT “peapod” structures in 60–90% yields. The yield for inserting C82 in SWNTs was lower ( 30%) even when an excess of C82 was used. High-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM, JEOL 4000EX, LaB6, information limit 0.12 nm) imaging conditions have been carefully tuned by lowering the accelerating voltage of the microscope to 100 kVand reducing the beam current density to a minimum to enable a direct observation of the molecular motion for the mono-metallofullerene inside SWNTs. Under these conditions the amount of the energy transferable from the electrons to the specimen is significantly reduced compared to the standard TEM imaging conditions. No beam damage was observed in sp-carbon structures under these conditions over a period of 20 min. Most of the micrographs were obtained by using 2 s exposures of a charge-coupled-device (CCD) detector. Translational motion can be observed for all types of Cn in SWNTs (Figure 1a), which indicates that the molecules are mobile inside the nanotube at room temperature and move independently of one another. This effect is particularly noticeable in the peapod bundles where several nanotubes are aligned parallel to each other. Observation of the ends of the nanotubes and side-wall defects confirms that there is no relative motion of nanotubes within the bundle. It is remarkable that the molecules continue their translational motion even inside apparently completely filled nanotubes (Figure 1b, c). In contrast to the independent translations observed for sparsely filled nanotubes, the chains of fullerenes with regular van der Waals separations between the molecules undergo collective translations, so that the entire chain shifts in a short time without changing the intermolecular separations. The motion of an isolated molecule in sparsely filled nanotube (Figure 1a) is not continuous: the molecule performs abrupt jumps with irregular intervals of approximately 10 s. In contrast to isolated fullerenes the motion of the chains is significantly slower and appears to be more continuous than abrupt: the rectangular (Figure 1b) and zigzag (Figure 1c) arrangements do not transform immediately into each other. Instead the rearrangement occurs through a series of states [*] Dr. A. N. Khlobystov, Dr. K. Porfyrakis, D. A. Britz, Prof. G. A. D. Briggs Department of Materials Oxford University Parks Rd, Oxford, OX1 3PH (UK) Fax: (+44)1865-273789 E-mail: Andrei.Khlobystov@materials.ox.ac.uk Andrew.Briggs@materials.ox.ac.uk