University Research Environment Research Articles

Analysis of Behavioral Factors Affecting Researchers’ Intention to Comply with Research Security in University Research Environments - Focused on the Comparison of Research Security and Information Protection -

Analysis of Behavioral Factors Affecting Researchers’ Intention to Comply with Research Security in University Research Environments - Focused on the Comparison of Research Security and Information Protection -

Baseline testing of a variable-speed water-cooling Chiller according AHRI standard 550/590

A new experimental test facility was designed to test vapor compression chillers of up to 145.9 refrigeration tons (approximately 513 kW). To implement such a large-capacity test facility in a university laboratory research environment, the system design is based on regenerative shell and tube heat exchangers. The capacity load on the chiller can be controlled via a bypass valve that allows a flow change over the internal heat exchangers. In addition to the internal sensors of the chiller, a variety of sensors in the system ensures a detailed recording of data as well as an automation of the test procedure.The test facility is constructed and commissioned to execute the performance according the AHRI Standard 550/590. The chiller has been tested in full load and part load rating conditions to achieve a characteristic performance line of the machine. Recorded data is averaged and evaluated according to the requirements of the AHRI standard. The results of the baseline testing and the data processing are presented in this paper. A detailed analysis of the outcomes allows a comparison with the manufacturer rated efficiency values.Finally, the potential instabilities of the test systems that caused problems during the test runs and their reasons are discussed, as well as possibilities to overcome them. The given ability of the test facility for a rapid change between different load conditions allows the arrangement of test cycles to investigate the performance degradation of the twin-screw chiller over time.

Research environment and organisational learning mechanisms in the age of pandemics: the case of accounting research

PurposeThe university research environment, the broader context where academics produce research, is changing rapidly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study looks at the role of the research environment and organisational learning mechanisms with respect to the capacity of accounting academics to achieve research outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe theoretical concepts of research environment and organisational learning mechanisms are used as a basis for analysing documentary and qualitative interview evidence. Interviews were conducted with accounting academics and higher degrees research accounting students based at Australian universities.FindingsA key finding is that COVID-19 restrictions are affecting the capacity of accounting academics to conduct research. The restrictions are affecting meaningful interactions and engagement amongst accounting academics which are essential in maintaining and developing networks, research dialogue and debate, and research culture. Significant and deliberate efforts and innovation are required in attempts to replicate traditional face-to-face engagement and interaction benefits in online settings.Originality/valueThe study explains how and why the research environment and organisational learning mechanisms are changing as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions. In doing so, it highlights the implications on the capacity of accounting academics to achieve research outcomes.

Research on the Quality Assurance Path of Academic Gradaute Education

The study investigates the effect of tutor guidance, student maturity and university research environment on the quality assurance of the academic graduate education. A structural equation model was developed for an empirical test, based on teaching experience and Situational Leadership theory. A sample of 150 academic postgraduates in Shaanxi Province participated in the experiment. The results show: (1) All three factors are positively related to the quality of academic postgraduate education. (2) The guidance mode mostly affects the effect of the tutor guidance. (3) Among three elements of student maturity, the contribution of scientific attitude is the highest. (4) Compared with infrastructure, the institutional system and campus culture can more effectively represent the research environment of a university. In order to effectively guarantee the quality of academic graduate education, the three main bodies, universities, tutors and postgraduates, must have a joint effort.

Freedom of Information Applications and the Confidentiality of University Research and Research Review Processes

There have been a number of disputed freedom of information (FOI) applications concerning research conducted at Australian universities. This article explores how FOI legislative principles favouring disclosure and the legislative exemptions operate where the content, methodologies, funding and ethics processes of university research are being questioned. It examines several decisions, identifying the types of research related information being sought by FOI applicants and the main grounds relied upon to refuse disclosure. It focuses on the balancing of the disclosure required under FOI legislation and the confidentiality that many argue is an essential element of the university research environment.

Analyzing a CRIS: From data to insight in university research

The exponential growth of data in digital environments has highlighted the emergence of developing analytics processes for data visualization and evaluation. The same happens at the university research level. Therefore, universities need to have specific analytical processes for research evaluation.The aim of our study is to find the way to apply general data analytical methods and technologies, specifically for university research environments, to help improve the results of their research.We have found that universities that maintain a Current Research Information System, CRIS (CERIF Compliant), containing high quality data, are able to implement these analytical processes and improve their results in the assessment and evaluation of their research data.This paper explains the process to implement such methodologies and techniques. Some results are also explained.

Is Medical Environment Detrimental to Memory? A Test of A White Coat Effect on Older People’s Memory Performance

ABSTRACTObjectives: Test if older people’s memory assessment may be impacted by a medical environment and if memory self-efficacy (MSE) will moderate this effect.Methods: We evaluated memory performance and MSE in 27 older adults in two different settings: a (control) university research environment, or a (proxy-medical) neuropsychological examination environment.Results: The results showed a MSE × environment interaction effect on story-recall performance, with older people with low MSE performing less well in the proxy-medical situation than in the control situation and with elders with high MSE performing better in the proxy-medical situation than in the control situation. The same marginally significant effect for the word-span task was also found.Conclusions: Testing in a medical environment undermines the memory performance of older people with low MSE and boosts performance of older people with high MSE.Clinical Implications We encourage neuropsychologists to pay attention to psychosocial determinants of older people’s performance when assessing their memory abilities.

Modelling and Compensation of Thermally Induced Positioning Errors in a High Precision Positioning Application

Abstract: Thermal scanning probe lithography (t-SPL) is a promising technology to create patterns at the nanometre scale. So far, a commercially available t-SPL tool only exists for small, centimetre scale work pieces typically used in the university research environment. Scaling this technology to work with industry standard wafers requires much larger mechanical positioning units. These are subject to thermally induced deformations and consequently positioning errors. This work suggests a model based compensation of a mechanical positioning unit in combination with a direct position measurement enabled by the t-SPL patterning tool. Based on a linear model of the positioning unit, a Kalman based filter is designed, to estimate thermal errors during the patterning process and use position measurements between patterning phases for re-calibration. The presented filter does not require additional measurement equipment for the compensation. An application of the presented algorithm on an experimental set-up shows a significant reduction of thermally induced position errors.

Improving the computational efficiency of an agent-based spatiotemporal model of livestock disease spread and control

Agent-based models (ABMs) are well suited to representing the spatiotemporal spread and control of disease in a population. The explicit modelling of individuals in a large population, however, can be computationally intensive, especially when models are stochastic and/or spatially-explicit. Large-scale ABMs often require a highly parallel platform such as a high-performance computing cluster, which tends to confine their utility to university, defence and scientific research environments. This poses a challenge for those interested in modelling the spread of disease on a large scale with access only to modest hardware platforms.The Australian Animal DISease (AADIS) model is a spatiotemporal ABM of livestock disease spread and control. The AADIS ABM is able to complete complex national-scale simulations of disease spread and control on a personal computer. Computational efficiency is achieved through a hybrid model architecture that embeds equation-based models inside herd agents, an asynchronous software architecture, and a grid-based spatial indexing scheme.

Increasing Research Productivity: The Impact of Knowledge Management Applications in University Research Environments

Scientists and universities strive to produce a large volume of high‐quality research. Universities supply the resources to enable scientific inquiry, such as the recently developed knowledge management (KM) tools. The use of KM platforms varies substantially in different environments. We examined the association between the use of KM tools and research productivity among four state universities in New York using analysis of variance techniques. We found a significant positive association. Important limitations are noted, and implications for both the study and the use of KM tools are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Detecting structural change in university research systems: A case study of British research policy

The university research environment has been undergoing profound change in recent decades. Aiming at international competitiveness and excellence, a variety of polices have been designed and implemented in many countries. However, evidence-based analysis of policy effects is scarce. This paper develops methods for evaluating the effect of university research policy on university system research input-output dynamics. We assume stable dynamics between inputs and outputs, and that effective policy change introduces external interventions and therefore structural changes into the system. Our proposed method involves three steps: modeling system dynamics, detecting structural change, and mapping policy change. Examining the case of the United Kingdom, we identified three structural changes in 1990, 1994, and 2001 respectively. The first change corresponds to the second round of the Research Selectivity Exercise (RSE), and the latter two changes may be caused by the database effect. The British case is a provocative demonstration of this method, which could be further developed to provide evidence-based analysis for policy learning and a foundation for cross-case comparison.

How Could I Be Missing So Many?

The focus of this column is a project that a colleague (1) and I have been involved with for the past four years. Specifically, we have made a concerted effort to track and collect published articles and other material by faculty members, graduate students, and others on our campus and then to share that information with the rest of our university. Both of us are public service librarians who are heavily involved in liaison work to our assigned academic departments. Our overarching motivation for doing this is the belief that it's vital for us to be aware of scholarly activity taking place in our departments and throughout the entire institution--in other words, to be good students of the organization. A major benefit of this work is that we can better support the research interests of our faculty, and potentially contribute more broadly to the accreditation process as well as to some of the annual surveys that departments and the university participate in. The quality control study that is described here also presents some challenges that will require future reflection on our part. THE ENVIRONMENT My university identifies itself as being the comprehensive liberal arts institution for the state of South Dakota. Our enrollment is approximately 10,000 students. In addition to our undergraduate programs, The University of South Dakota (USD) offers graduate degrees in approximately 65 different areas, a dozen of which are doctoral granting. (2) USD also has a medical school with an emphasis on rural health and primary medical care, a law school, a business school, a school of education, and a school of health sciences (for nursing, social work, physical and occupational therapy, medical laboratory sciences, alcohol & drug studies, and physician assistant training). As with most universities and colleges, the research expectations for our faculty have become more stringent during the past decade. THE PROJECT Against this backdrop, a colleague and I co-manage a monthly project for the USD libraries. Over the last four years, the two of us have devoted time and energy to tracking the academic journal articles and other publications that USD faculty members, graduate students, and other researchers on campus have had published stemming from the research they conduct. We want to monitor the university's research environment as well as showcase the material being published from across our campus. Doing this also helps to more effectively position our library in its collection development and other marketing endeavors. This project is very detail-oriented, not to mention labor-intensive, work. We first have to sort out which authors are actually affiliated with USD. Often I look up individuals in an online campus directory to ascertain who meets this criterion. This is a daunting task, though less so than it would be on a larger campus. Next, we need to confirm that an article did not appear in a previous month which can easily happen when using two different database vendors (in this case, Thomson-Reuter's Web of Knowledge and the EbscoHost databases). Again, an intangible reward for doing this is that it enables us to have an increased awareness of the active scholars on our campus and what their interests are, all of which affects our ability to perform more effectively as public services librarians and academic liaisons. Colleges and universities, like many other types of institutions, seem to operate in a silo-like environment in which individuals know and work primarily with those who are part of the same silo. Getting to know people in other silos can often be difficult. This project helps us break down some barriers. Truth be told, I often find myself tapping the same tendencies in this project that I did with my baseball card collection which was started in third grade and maintained for the next 20 years. In addition to benefiting from it financially--it covered my library school expenses--that baseball card collection was a tremendous asset for me to know almost everyone in major league baseball during that 20 year span and beyond. …

Performance-based university research funding systems

The university research environment has been undergoing profound change in recent decades and performance-based research funding systems (PRFSs) are one of the many novelties introduced. This paper seeks to find general lessons in the accumulated experience with PRFSs that can serve to enrich our understanding of how research policy and innovation systems are evolving. The paper also links the PRFS experience with the public management literature, particularly new public management, and understanding of public sector performance evaluation systems. PRFSs were found to be complex, dynamic systems, balancing peer review and metrics, accommodating differences between fields, and involving lengthy consultation with the academic community and transparency in data and results. Although the importance of PRFSs seems based on their distribution of universities’ research funding, this is something of an illusion, and the literature agrees that it is the competition for prestige created by a PRSF that creates powerful incentives within university systems. The literature suggests that under the right circumstances a PRFS will enhance control by professional elites. PRFSs since they aim for excellence, may compromise other important values such as equity or diversity. They will not serve the goal of enhancing the economic relevance of research.

The role of proximity in university-business cooperation for innovation

The potential for universities to contribute positively to business innovation has received much attention in recent years. While the determinants of university-business cooperation have been examined extensively, less attention has been given to the mediating influence of proximity in this relationship. The analysis in this paper builds on the UK business innovation survey (2002–2005) by incorporating measures of the university research environment for each of the 16,500 businesses surveyed. These measures allow us to look beyond business-level characteristics as determinants of the geography of university cooperation and account for the character of the local university environment. Measures include the distance from each business to its nearest university, the quality of local university research and the density of the university research environment. The findings suggest that significant differences exist between those businesses that cooperate with local universities and those that cooperate with non-local universities. These differences relate to business size, sales profile, location, absorptive capacity and innovation activity. In addition, we also find that if a business is located close to a research excellent university, cooperation tends to remain local, however, the distance between businesses and the nearest university is not a significant determinant of university-business cooperation and further, the higher the concentration of universities in the business locale, the more likely businesses are to cooperate with non-local universities.

Digital Tools for Bringing Evolution to Everyone

Evolutionary Studies (EvoS) programs, conceived of in the terms elaborated by David Sloan Wilson in his book Evolution for Everyone, are intrinsically interdisciplinary. They are also intended to bring individuals and organizations outside the university teaching and research environment together with academe. Internet technologies in use at present are designed for the purpose of promoting such collaboration and community building. This paper explains several such technologies, describing their best uses and the differences between them, in the context of a project management framework.

Gender issues in the university research environment

Recruiting and retaining females within science, engineering and technology continues to challenge many European higher education institutions. This study looks at female self-perceptions relating to effective research work and career progression. Focus groups are used to examine the attitudes and experiences of females and a questionnaire is used to explore perceptions in four main skills areas: group work; communication; personal awareness; project planning and management. The study indicates consistent female concerns on issues pertaining to effective female role models, negative work-role stereotypes and the work–life balance of an academic career. For all four skills areas, the average confidence scores of the female participants fell below those of males, but these differences were only statistically significant for perceptions on group work and communication skills and prior to an intense skills development course. Based on these findings, a student workshop on gender issues has been developed, an outline of which is presented.

Re-visiting scholarly community engagement in the contemporary research assessment environments of Australasian universities

Restructuring of university environments to meet funding requirements based on research performance presents challenges internationally to nursing and other allied health groups. These funding models generate more emphasis on the scholarship of discovery than on the scholarship of integration, the scholarship of application, and the scholarship of sharing knowledge. Yet achievement of health advances by these disciplines is unlikely to emerge through laboratorybased research. They are more likely to emerge through scholarly research activities which involve partnerships between universities and communities. Current emphases on research assessment and quantum measurements are particularly associated with the scholarship of discovery, and thus raise concerns that such pressures may lead universities and other organisations away from community engagement.In response to these issues, the importance of linking scholarship and communities, furthering mechanisms to legitimise scholarly community engagement, and reducing barriers to this in the context of the contemporary university research environments are argued. Boyer’s model of scholarship (that the work of universities centres around four areas of scholarship: discovery, integration, application and sharing knowledge) highlights these tensions. It is suggested that by revisiting Boyer’s model and considering the ways in which it may generate possibilities for scholarly community engagement, university schools of nursing in the contemporary research assessment environment could find ways to balance the forms of scholarship by which social good can be advanced.

Investigating the Impact on Skill Development of an Undergraduate Scientific Research Skills Course

This paper describes the design and subsequent impact of a scientific research skills course. Student understanding of the university research environment, their confidence in finding and using sci...

Opening the ivory tower's door: An analysis of the determinants of the formation of U.S. university spin-off companies

This paper presents findings from an analysis of the determinants of the formation of university spin-off companies within the university's research park. We find that university spin-off companies are a greater proportion of the companies in older parks and in parks that are associated with richer university research environments. We also find that university spin-off companies are a larger proportion of companies in parks that are geographically closer to their university and in parks that have a biotechnology focus.

Development of a Low-Cost, Multi-Disciplinary Rotorcraft Simulation Facility

A low-cost rotorcraft simulation facility was developed for use in university-based multidisciplinaryresearchprograms.Theobjectivewastodevelopaflexibleandeffectiveresearch facility with a low initial cost and minimal recurring costs. The simulation facility was constructedentirelyfromcommerciallyavailablecommodityhardwarecomponents.Several computers are linked together via a local area network to form a “graphical cluster,” which allows for interaction between multiple computing nodes and multiple displays. The facility uses the open source FlightGear flight simulation code and the U.S.Army/NASA GENHEL flight dynamics model. In addition, a graphical user interface and a suite of data processing and analysis tools were developed using MATLAB. The system is being used for advanced research programs in the areas of flight control design, advanced rotorcraft flight dynamics modeling, and near real-time acoustics simulation.The use of open source software provides needed flexibility and cost-effectiveness, although incomplete or nonexistent documentation presented challenges. Overall, the simulation facility fulfills the needs of the university research environment in the areas of control design and rotorcraft acoustics. Some weaknesses related to control feel were noted, but were found to be acceptable relative to the low-cost nature of the facility.