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Siri Brorstad Borlaug and Magnus Gulbrandsen

Siri Brorstad Borlaug and Magnus Gulbrandsen. Inside centres of excellence – funding schemes’ effect on researchers role identity and practices. Motivation.

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Siri Brorstad Borlaug and Magnus Gulbrandsen

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  1. Siri Brorstad Borlaug and Magnus Gulbrandsen Inside centres of excellence – funding schemes’ effect on researchers role identity and practices

  2. Motivation • The innovation literature often emphasise the synergies between academic excellence and (potential) for innovation (e.g.VanLooy et al., 2006 and Nesta, 2006) • High correlations between high quality publication and academic entrepreneurship • Researchers experience tensions between different role identities • Academia and commerce • Policy’s focus on combination of excellence and innovation through dedicated funding schemes – a golden opportunity to study researchers role in relation to the goals of excellence and innovation

  3. Research question • How do funding schemes aiming at excellence and innovation affect researcher role identity and practices?

  4. Researchers’ role identity • Basic and applied research functions as normative identity markers • Settler – merchant (Atkinson-Grosjean, 2006) • Buffering processes towards the world of industry and science (neither in nor out) • Researchers’ conception of own identity and their practices areaffected by institutional logics

  5. Institutional logics of excellence and innovation • Institutional logics (Friedland and Alford, 1991) • Excellence and innovation- ambiguous concepts • Excellence associated with basic research, high quality publications, open science (Gulbrandsen& Kyvik, 2010; Lamont, 2009) • Innovation associated with applied research, knowledge and technology transfer (Hollingsworth, 2008; Geuna& Muscio, 2009) • Track these associations to early writing on the norms of science and norms of innovation (Merton, 1973; Mitroff, 1974): • Universalism versus particularism • Communalism versus private property • Disinterestedness versus personal interest

  6. Method • Case study of 8 centres • 4 Centres of Excellence in Research and Innovation (CoERI) • 4 Centres of Excellence (CoE) • Sweden and Norway • One university in each country (largest and oldest, classical multi-disciplinary) • Semi-structured interviews with 33 researchers

  7. Centre of Excellence and Centre of Excellence in Research and Innovation- what are they? CoE • Time limited research centres, characterised by concentrated, focused and long-term fundamental research on a high international level • 10 years • Partners: Universities, colleges and research institutes • Main selection criteria: Scientific quality CoERI • Time limited research and innovation centres aimed at supporting long-term research that generates new knowledge and technology for innovation • 8-10 years • Partners: Universities, colleges, research institutes, firms and public offices • Main selection criteria: Scientific quality and potential for innovation and value creation

  8. Organisational conditions • Formal/informal collaboration with industry and public agencies • Formation of centre: embedded networks or engineered/emerging • The institutional logics of innovation is embedded in the CoERI - scheme

  9. Researchers’ role

  10. Practices

  11. Four categories

  12. Overall results • Technology transfer – individual practices in all centres – also in CoERIs (which has this as a goal) • CoERI perceived as less acknowledge by peers and the university • CoE the A-team

  13. Conclusion • Funding mechanisms dedicated to excellence and innovation affect researchers’ identity • Different degrees of negotiations between the two logics from bridging to buffering • Organisational conditions important • embedded/emerging networks • Formal/informal collaboration • They do not affect researchers’ technology transfer practices

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