The book traces the main stages of third mission and social impact assessment, in the context of ... more The book traces the main stages of third mission and social impact assessment, in the context of the (recent) history of higher education and research assessment in Italy, starting with a review of the transformation of the relationship between the University and the society. Several social drives are leading the university to a series of transformations, at the national, European and international level. The requirement to use transparency criteria and the associated returns of research spending (in accountability) has become a fundamental issue in informing government, business, citizens and society on the achieved results. The introduction of social impact assessment frameworks is also advancing research agendas towards socially relevant domains, to provide solutions in international competitiveness, social welfare, sustainability and other grand challenges. A terminological and conceptual shift is occurring from a traditional concept of technology transfer and third mission towards a broader meaning of knowledge exchange and co-creation between universities and extra-academic actors and the impact generated. However, this shift towards a transdisciplinary, trans-epistemic and inclusive evaluation framework poses new challenges to capture this complexity, requiring the adoption of new methods and tools presented in this book. The international literature and debate on practices are vital combined with trial-and-error approaches, community involvement, and targeted pilot studies. Beyond controversies, resistances, and easily contrived enthusiasms, this is what this volume tries to investigate.
Academic freedom is a fundamental principle of any university and
research system or institution,... more Academic freedom is a fundamental principle of any university and research system or institution, and is essential for a healthy democracy. The concept can be traced back to the birth of the Humboldtian research university model in Germany in the early 1800s. Despite international declarations and constitutional and legal protections, in recent years there has been renewed interest in academic freedom around the world owing to major challenges and threats from governments, industry and civil society. This study complements existing efforts to monitor academic freedom, by screening and assessing possible policy options to strengthen and improve implementation of Recital 72 in Horizon Europe, identifying opportunities and bottlenecks and proposing applicable solutions.
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Higher education institutions increas... more <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Higher education institutions increasingly live in environments in which they are subject to evaluation and rankings. We examine the way in which Italian (mostly public) universities adapted to the new landscape created by the official research assessments, which have produced rankings at national level, published in 2013 and 2016. We compare the media coverage of rankings after the first research assessment (covering 2004–10) and the second one (2011–4). By examining the same type of media data longitudinally, replicating regression analysis, and using robustness checks, we discover a remarkable degree of organizational adaptation. After the initial shock following the first research assessment (2004–10), in which universities were mostly passive, universities rapidly learnt how to deal with rankings. After the second exercise, they actively and professionally communicated with the media, building up self-made rankings data aimed at protecting and enhancing their image, using a range of categorization tactics.</jats:p>
The article enters the international debate on university rankings, observing the visibility prem... more The article enters the international debate on university rankings, observing the visibility premium that institutions gain from their publication. Despite the deep academic skepticism towards the composite indicators used at this aim, rankings are an adaptive solution for individuals to treat information uncertain in nature. Rankings summarize many university quality dimensions into one single number and they fit well the need of media to package information. We have used data from the press review of the Italian VQR 2004–10 to analyze the factors that lead universities to be more frequently cited, under the hypothesis that the visibility of a university is a function of its intrinsic characteristics, such as number of students, prestige, age, or size or density of population in its location. Through a set of regression models, we find that the only variable that matters is the presence in the top positions.
The results of the Italian Quality Research Assessment VQR 2004–10 in the area of Sociology were ... more The results of the Italian Quality Research Assessment VQR 2004–10 in the area of Sociology were characterized by the scarcity of excellent ratings and a lack of consensus among referees. These two aspects, which affected the assessment of all social sciences and humanities, descend directly from the use of the peer review as a method of evaluation. As a matter of fact, peer review, although irreplaceable, poses different issues on which critical thinking is needed. In this paper, I aim to contribute to this discussion. Firstly, I focus on the system framework, i.e. an assessment exercise where in total almost 200,000 scientific publications from universities and research institutes have been analyzed. Then, the rules of the game have been reviewed and also the specific characters of the macro-area “14” where Sociology is located. The judgments formulated by the referees and the level of inter-rater agreement were descriptively considered, considering the main features of the referees, the publications and the authors. Finally, some possible interpretations are outlined together with recommendations for future improvements.
Changes are taking place in universities affecting researchers, groups, and scientific practice a... more Changes are taking place in universities affecting researchers, groups, and scientific practice and involving new actors in research processes: policymakers, company managers, non-governmental organizations, diverse stakeholders and public opinion. Scientific research becomes a collective enterprise, context-driven and oriented towards problem solving. In this context, social dynamics assume a higher profile than ever before and research groups represent a privileged observation point. This article aims to contribute to the analysis of social dynamics taking place in research groups and of the influence they have in an academic context that is in constant transformation. The paper claims that the lack of awareness and management of these dynamics undermine the formation, development and survival of research groups. Rather, in the presence of a governance model, social dynamics can provide an opportunity to enable research teams to cross the current complexity, improve their scientif...
This chapter analyzes the evolution of public policies for science and for the qualification of h... more This chapter analyzes the evolution of public policies for science and for the qualification of human resources in academia in Portugal until 2010. It also analyzes how these policies became drivers in creating and sustaining national and international knowledge networks. The analysis shows that science policies have specific moments to be designed and implemented, and also an appropriate dynamic momentum associated to system-wide cumulative effects (policies are built on top of previous, fundamental, policies). Even if the effects that specific policies brought to the scientific and higher education systems cannot always be directly measured, there is ample evidence of synergies amongst different policy programs. These programs led to a consequent dynamism focused on scientific catching-up and fast development of critical masses and international collaborations and mobility. “Policy diversity” and “policy continuity” associated to growing levels of investment in science are key elements of this discussion.
This self-ethnography complements the other articles in this special issue by spotlighting a set ... more This self-ethnography complements the other articles in this special issue by spotlighting a set of key challenges facing international research teams. The study is focused on the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT)- based collaboration and research team dynamics. Our diverse team, drawn from researchers in five countries and three projects, argues that an ironic casualty of the powerful, global phenomena we study, is a lack of insight into what happens to generic research team dynamics, when groups are ‘stretched’ in terms of geographical distance, generations, cultural beliefs, values and norms, as well as disciplinary/specialist traditions. Good intentions are not sufficient to cope with these challenges. This is because of the emerging complexity inherent in many types of international, interdisciplinary fields of study and the complexity of the career trajectories needed to make these studies a reality. Our study underlines that there are no beli...
The Italian Research Evaluation assessment for the period 2004–10 (VQR 2004–10) has analyzed almo... more The Italian Research Evaluation assessment for the period 2004–10 (VQR 2004–10) has analyzed almost 185,000 articles, books, patents, and other scientific outcomes submitted for evaluation by Italian universities and other public research bodies. This article describes the main features of this exercise, introducing its legal framework and the criteria used for evaluation. The innovative methodology that has been used for evaluation, based on a combination of peer review and bibliometric methods, is discussed and indicators for assessing the quality of participating research bodies are derived accordingly. The article also presents the main results obtained at the University level, trying to understand the existing relationship among research quality and University characteristics such as location, dimension, age, scientific specialization, and funding.
The notion of the third mission in SSH is still problematic, as well as the concept of research i... more The notion of the third mission in SSH is still problematic, as well as the concept of research impact. Several streams of critical literature have raised the concern that using the third mission notion or impact may limit the academic freedom of researchers, and reduce the independence from market pressure and impoverish the SSH’s potential for critical thinking and unorthodox visioning. However, countries which have experienced selective cuts in research funding which have penalised SSH disciplines, have seen efforts to make the hidden connections between SSH research and society more visible. This chapter reports on the debate and controversies surrounding this issue. For the first time, preliminary evidence on Public Engagement activities of scholars in SSH, taken from the large-scale assessment of third mission of Italian departments and universities, is presented. This chapter argues that not only scholars in SSH do have a third mission, but that they are not less engaged than...
In recent years, the growing interest of universities in valorization of research activities (tip... more In recent years, the growing interest of universities in valorization of research activities (tipically through technology transfer—patenting and licensing—and academic entrepreneurship) has generated a debate on its impact on scientific knowledge production. There have been controversies on the potentially negative effect of university research valorization on public research, in terms of quality, long term vs short term orientation, and accessibility. The debate has been traditionally framed in terms of substitution vs complementarity between public research and valorization. In this paper we argue that the key to understand the relation between public research and valorization lies in the role of research funding, particularly: (a) competitive public research funding; (b) third party commercial funding. If the funding system (both public and private) takes the value of academic research as signal of quality, then high quality researchers are able to attract extra-funds beyond ord...
The book traces the main stages of third mission and social impact assessment, in the context of ... more The book traces the main stages of third mission and social impact assessment, in the context of the (recent) history of higher education and research assessment in Italy, starting with a review of the transformation of the relationship between the University and the society. Several social drives are leading the university to a series of transformations, at the national, European and international level. The requirement to use transparency criteria and the associated returns of research spending (in accountability) has become a fundamental issue in informing government, business, citizens and society on the achieved results. The introduction of social impact assessment frameworks is also advancing research agendas towards socially relevant domains, to provide solutions in international competitiveness, social welfare, sustainability and other grand challenges. A terminological and conceptual shift is occurring from a traditional concept of technology transfer and third mission towards a broader meaning of knowledge exchange and co-creation between universities and extra-academic actors and the impact generated. However, this shift towards a transdisciplinary, trans-epistemic and inclusive evaluation framework poses new challenges to capture this complexity, requiring the adoption of new methods and tools presented in this book. The international literature and debate on practices are vital combined with trial-and-error approaches, community involvement, and targeted pilot studies. Beyond controversies, resistances, and easily contrived enthusiasms, this is what this volume tries to investigate.
Academic freedom is a fundamental principle of any university and
research system or institution,... more Academic freedom is a fundamental principle of any university and research system or institution, and is essential for a healthy democracy. The concept can be traced back to the birth of the Humboldtian research university model in Germany in the early 1800s. Despite international declarations and constitutional and legal protections, in recent years there has been renewed interest in academic freedom around the world owing to major challenges and threats from governments, industry and civil society. This study complements existing efforts to monitor academic freedom, by screening and assessing possible policy options to strengthen and improve implementation of Recital 72 in Horizon Europe, identifying opportunities and bottlenecks and proposing applicable solutions.
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Higher education institutions increas... more <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Higher education institutions increasingly live in environments in which they are subject to evaluation and rankings. We examine the way in which Italian (mostly public) universities adapted to the new landscape created by the official research assessments, which have produced rankings at national level, published in 2013 and 2016. We compare the media coverage of rankings after the first research assessment (covering 2004–10) and the second one (2011–4). By examining the same type of media data longitudinally, replicating regression analysis, and using robustness checks, we discover a remarkable degree of organizational adaptation. After the initial shock following the first research assessment (2004–10), in which universities were mostly passive, universities rapidly learnt how to deal with rankings. After the second exercise, they actively and professionally communicated with the media, building up self-made rankings data aimed at protecting and enhancing their image, using a range of categorization tactics.</jats:p>
The article enters the international debate on university rankings, observing the visibility prem... more The article enters the international debate on university rankings, observing the visibility premium that institutions gain from their publication. Despite the deep academic skepticism towards the composite indicators used at this aim, rankings are an adaptive solution for individuals to treat information uncertain in nature. Rankings summarize many university quality dimensions into one single number and they fit well the need of media to package information. We have used data from the press review of the Italian VQR 2004–10 to analyze the factors that lead universities to be more frequently cited, under the hypothesis that the visibility of a university is a function of its intrinsic characteristics, such as number of students, prestige, age, or size or density of population in its location. Through a set of regression models, we find that the only variable that matters is the presence in the top positions.
The results of the Italian Quality Research Assessment VQR 2004–10 in the area of Sociology were ... more The results of the Italian Quality Research Assessment VQR 2004–10 in the area of Sociology were characterized by the scarcity of excellent ratings and a lack of consensus among referees. These two aspects, which affected the assessment of all social sciences and humanities, descend directly from the use of the peer review as a method of evaluation. As a matter of fact, peer review, although irreplaceable, poses different issues on which critical thinking is needed. In this paper, I aim to contribute to this discussion. Firstly, I focus on the system framework, i.e. an assessment exercise where in total almost 200,000 scientific publications from universities and research institutes have been analyzed. Then, the rules of the game have been reviewed and also the specific characters of the macro-area “14” where Sociology is located. The judgments formulated by the referees and the level of inter-rater agreement were descriptively considered, considering the main features of the referees, the publications and the authors. Finally, some possible interpretations are outlined together with recommendations for future improvements.
Changes are taking place in universities affecting researchers, groups, and scientific practice a... more Changes are taking place in universities affecting researchers, groups, and scientific practice and involving new actors in research processes: policymakers, company managers, non-governmental organizations, diverse stakeholders and public opinion. Scientific research becomes a collective enterprise, context-driven and oriented towards problem solving. In this context, social dynamics assume a higher profile than ever before and research groups represent a privileged observation point. This article aims to contribute to the analysis of social dynamics taking place in research groups and of the influence they have in an academic context that is in constant transformation. The paper claims that the lack of awareness and management of these dynamics undermine the formation, development and survival of research groups. Rather, in the presence of a governance model, social dynamics can provide an opportunity to enable research teams to cross the current complexity, improve their scientif...
This chapter analyzes the evolution of public policies for science and for the qualification of h... more This chapter analyzes the evolution of public policies for science and for the qualification of human resources in academia in Portugal until 2010. It also analyzes how these policies became drivers in creating and sustaining national and international knowledge networks. The analysis shows that science policies have specific moments to be designed and implemented, and also an appropriate dynamic momentum associated to system-wide cumulative effects (policies are built on top of previous, fundamental, policies). Even if the effects that specific policies brought to the scientific and higher education systems cannot always be directly measured, there is ample evidence of synergies amongst different policy programs. These programs led to a consequent dynamism focused on scientific catching-up and fast development of critical masses and international collaborations and mobility. “Policy diversity” and “policy continuity” associated to growing levels of investment in science are key elements of this discussion.
This self-ethnography complements the other articles in this special issue by spotlighting a set ... more This self-ethnography complements the other articles in this special issue by spotlighting a set of key challenges facing international research teams. The study is focused on the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT)- based collaboration and research team dynamics. Our diverse team, drawn from researchers in five countries and three projects, argues that an ironic casualty of the powerful, global phenomena we study, is a lack of insight into what happens to generic research team dynamics, when groups are ‘stretched’ in terms of geographical distance, generations, cultural beliefs, values and norms, as well as disciplinary/specialist traditions. Good intentions are not sufficient to cope with these challenges. This is because of the emerging complexity inherent in many types of international, interdisciplinary fields of study and the complexity of the career trajectories needed to make these studies a reality. Our study underlines that there are no beli...
The Italian Research Evaluation assessment for the period 2004–10 (VQR 2004–10) has analyzed almo... more The Italian Research Evaluation assessment for the period 2004–10 (VQR 2004–10) has analyzed almost 185,000 articles, books, patents, and other scientific outcomes submitted for evaluation by Italian universities and other public research bodies. This article describes the main features of this exercise, introducing its legal framework and the criteria used for evaluation. The innovative methodology that has been used for evaluation, based on a combination of peer review and bibliometric methods, is discussed and indicators for assessing the quality of participating research bodies are derived accordingly. The article also presents the main results obtained at the University level, trying to understand the existing relationship among research quality and University characteristics such as location, dimension, age, scientific specialization, and funding.
The notion of the third mission in SSH is still problematic, as well as the concept of research i... more The notion of the third mission in SSH is still problematic, as well as the concept of research impact. Several streams of critical literature have raised the concern that using the third mission notion or impact may limit the academic freedom of researchers, and reduce the independence from market pressure and impoverish the SSH’s potential for critical thinking and unorthodox visioning. However, countries which have experienced selective cuts in research funding which have penalised SSH disciplines, have seen efforts to make the hidden connections between SSH research and society more visible. This chapter reports on the debate and controversies surrounding this issue. For the first time, preliminary evidence on Public Engagement activities of scholars in SSH, taken from the large-scale assessment of third mission of Italian departments and universities, is presented. This chapter argues that not only scholars in SSH do have a third mission, but that they are not less engaged than...
In recent years, the growing interest of universities in valorization of research activities (tip... more In recent years, the growing interest of universities in valorization of research activities (tipically through technology transfer—patenting and licensing—and academic entrepreneurship) has generated a debate on its impact on scientific knowledge production. There have been controversies on the potentially negative effect of university research valorization on public research, in terms of quality, long term vs short term orientation, and accessibility. The debate has been traditionally framed in terms of substitution vs complementarity between public research and valorization. In this paper we argue that the key to understand the relation between public research and valorization lies in the role of research funding, particularly: (a) competitive public research funding; (b) third party commercial funding. If the funding system (both public and private) takes the value of academic research as signal of quality, then high quality researchers are able to attract extra-funds beyond ord...
Nel capitolo si analizza l'evoluzione dell'insieme delle risorse umane impegnate nell'... more Nel capitolo si analizza l'evoluzione dell'insieme delle risorse umane impegnate nell'università: il personale docente (professori ordinari, associati e ricercatori) il personale non strutturato impegnato esclusivamente in attività di ricerca (assegnisti, borsisti e collaboratori) e il personale tecnico amministrativo.
A tool for promoting science and technology socialisation policies addressed to policy makers, re... more A tool for promoting science and technology socialisation policies addressed to policy makers, research and innovation actors and stakeholders http://www.scienzecittadinanza.org/Public/SSERChandbook.pdf
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Books by brigida blasi
Several social drives are leading the university to a series of transformations, at the national, European and international level. The requirement to use transparency criteria and the associated returns of research spending (in accountability) has become a fundamental issue in informing government, business, citizens and society on the achieved results. The introduction of social impact assessment frameworks is also advancing research agendas towards socially relevant domains, to provide solutions in international competitiveness, social welfare, sustainability and other grand challenges.
A terminological and conceptual shift is occurring from a traditional concept of technology transfer and third mission towards a broader meaning of knowledge exchange and co-creation between universities and extra-academic actors and the impact generated. However, this shift towards a transdisciplinary, trans-epistemic and inclusive evaluation framework poses new challenges to capture this complexity, requiring the adoption of new methods and tools presented in this book. The international literature and debate on practices are vital combined with trial-and-error approaches, community involvement, and targeted pilot studies. Beyond controversies, resistances, and easily contrived enthusiasms, this is what this volume tries to investigate.
Papers by brigida blasi
research system or institution, and is essential for a healthy
democracy. The concept can be traced back to the birth of the
Humboldtian research university model in Germany in the early
1800s.
Despite international declarations and constitutional and legal
protections, in recent years there has been renewed interest in
academic freedom around the world owing to major challenges and
threats from governments, industry and civil society.
This study complements existing efforts to monitor academic
freedom, by screening and assessing possible policy options to
strengthen and improve implementation of Recital 72 in Horizon
Europe, identifying opportunities and bottlenecks and proposing
applicable solutions.
Several social drives are leading the university to a series of transformations, at the national, European and international level. The requirement to use transparency criteria and the associated returns of research spending (in accountability) has become a fundamental issue in informing government, business, citizens and society on the achieved results. The introduction of social impact assessment frameworks is also advancing research agendas towards socially relevant domains, to provide solutions in international competitiveness, social welfare, sustainability and other grand challenges.
A terminological and conceptual shift is occurring from a traditional concept of technology transfer and third mission towards a broader meaning of knowledge exchange and co-creation between universities and extra-academic actors and the impact generated. However, this shift towards a transdisciplinary, trans-epistemic and inclusive evaluation framework poses new challenges to capture this complexity, requiring the adoption of new methods and tools presented in this book. The international literature and debate on practices are vital combined with trial-and-error approaches, community involvement, and targeted pilot studies. Beyond controversies, resistances, and easily contrived enthusiasms, this is what this volume tries to investigate.
research system or institution, and is essential for a healthy
democracy. The concept can be traced back to the birth of the
Humboldtian research university model in Germany in the early
1800s.
Despite international declarations and constitutional and legal
protections, in recent years there has been renewed interest in
academic freedom around the world owing to major challenges and
threats from governments, industry and civil society.
This study complements existing efforts to monitor academic
freedom, by screening and assessing possible policy options to
strengthen and improve implementation of Recital 72 in Horizon
Europe, identifying opportunities and bottlenecks and proposing
applicable solutions.