Institutionalizing the triple helix: research funding and norms in the academic system

Factors influencing the work of researchers in Scientific Initiation: A systematic review protocol

INTRODUCTION

Scientific Initiation (SI) is an educational activity that allows students to begin their scientific training and research under the guidance of an experienced researcher. While several studies have examined students' perceptions of SI, research on the perspective of researchers working in this field is currently lacking. Thus, this study's aim is to describe the protocol design for conducting a systematic review. At the same time, the review aims also to identify factors influencing the work of researchers in SI and explore the motivations leading researchers to engage in research projects within institutions and their respective impacts.

METHOD AND ANALYSES

Literature search will be done using the bibliographic databases, including Academic Search Premier, APA PsycNet, CINAHL Plus, ERIC, SocINDEX, Scopus, and Web of Science. The search strategy was guided by the PICo framework (Population, phenomenon of Interest, and Context). The preparation and development of this protocol following guidelines were employed: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Protocols 2015 (PRISMA-P 2015), Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies 2015 (PRESS 2015), and PRISMA-Search (PRISMA-S). Original, peer-reviewed articles that examine the factors related to the work of researchers in SI will be included without any language or publication date restrictions. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods studies will be screened by two independent researchers. The included studies will be analyzed to identify factors, policies, and their impacts obtained analytically. Findings will be objectively categorized and synthetically represented through figures, diagrams, and graphic models. The risk of bias will be assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) and the Downs and Black checklists. A third senior reviewer will resolve any discrepancies.

DISCUSSION

We aim to understand the factors that drive researchers to engage in SI research through the dissemination of the findings of this systematic review. This may aid the development of institutional strategies and actions that can support the enhancement of SI programs and encourage greater researcher participation.

Governmental Support Options for the Technology Transfer of Deep Tech Innovations

In recent years, systemic and society-changing technological innovations (Deep Tech or DT innovations) have emerged primarily in the USA and Asia, while Europe is technologically dependent in many application fields. The development of DT is characterised by high financial capital needs. Additionally, intellectual property (IP) management plays a major role. To reduce the technological dependency for many areas in Europe, an adjustment of the government’s role as an actor in the innovation system appears beneficial. Targeted measures can improve the development and transfer of DT and, thus, contribute to securing long-term competitiveness of European nations. The aim of this contribution is therefore to identify support options within the technology transfer of DT innovations by conducting a structured literature analysis. In total, 27 applicable options are identified and structured into derived fields of action within innovation systems.

The effect of facilitating interdisciplinary cooperation on the research productivity of university research teams: The moderating role of government assistance

Interdisciplinary research is vital to research productivity. However, the existing research has not given a reasonable explanation on how and under what condition facilitating interdisciplinary research cooperation promotes research productivity. This article aims to contribute to the existing literature by examining the link between facilitating interdisciplinary cooperation and research productivity as well as the role of government assistance in this link. Using a sample of 314 members of Chinese university research teams, we show that management, operations, evaluation, team building, and collaborating with industry to facilitate interdisciplinary cooperation all have significantly positive effects on the research productivity of university research teams. Among them, evaluation has the most significant impact on research productivity. Moreover, government assistance weakens the relationship between evaluation and research productivity but strengthens the relationship between management and research productivity. However, the moderating effects of government assistance on the links among team building, operations, collaborating with industry, and team research productivity are not statistically significant. Overall, our study has important implications for governments and universities seeking to facilitate interdisciplinary cooperation.

The effect of competitive public funding on scientific output: A comparison between China and the EU

Public funding is believed to play an important role in the development of science and technology. However, whether public funding and, in particular, competitive funding from public agencies actually helps to increase scientific output (i.e. publications) remains a matter of debate. By analysing a dataset of co-publications between China and the EU and a dataset of joint project collaborations in European Framework Programs for Research and Innovation [FP7 and Horizon 2020 (H2020)], we investigate whether different public funding agencies’ competitive assets have different impact on the volume of publication output. Our results support the hypotheses that competitively funded research output varies by funding sources, so that a high level of funding does not necessarily lead to high scientific output. Our results show that FP7/H2020 funded projects do not have a positive contribution to the output of joint publications between China and the EU. Interestingly, cooperation in the form of jointly writing proposals to these EU programmes, especially when they are not granted by the European Commission, can contribute significantly to joint scientific publications in a later stage. This applies in particular to cases where funding from China is involved. Our findings highlight the key role that funding agencies play in influencing research behaviour. Our results indicate that Chinese funding triggers a high number of publications, whereas research funded by the EU does so to a much lower extent, arguably due to the EU’s strong focus on social impact and its funding schemes as tools to promote European integration.

Changing research on research evaluation: A critical literature review to revisit the agenda

The current range and volume of research evaluation-related literature is extensive and incorporates scholarly and policy/practice-related perspectives. This reflects academic and practical interest over many decades and trails the changing funding and reputational modalities for universities, namely increased selectivity applied to institutional research funding streams and the perceived importance of university rankings and other reputational devices. To make sense of this highly diverse body of literature, we undertake a critical review of over 350 works constituting, in our view, the ‘state-of-the-art’ on institutional performance-based research evaluation arrangements (PREAs). We focus on PREAs because they are becoming the predominant means world-wide to allocate research funds and accrue reputation for universities. We highlight the themes addressed in the literature and offer critical commentary on the balance of scholarly and policy/practice-related orientations. We then reflect on five limitations to the state-of-the-art and propose a new agenda, and a change of perspective, to progress this area of research in future studies.

Triple helix and its evolution: a systematic literature review

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the most extensively studied topics with respect to the triple, quadruple and quintuple helix models developed to explain these links. The review also focusses on ascertaining future trends within this field.

Design/methodology/approach

Relevant documents obtained from a search in the Institute for Scientific Information’s Web of Science were submitted to bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer software.

Findings

The results of this systematic review illustrate that, despite growing concern about society and the environment, issues related to the three helixes of universities, industries and governments continue to be the most often studied. However, an additional focus on research on the quadruple and quintuple helix models has emerged in the more specialised literature. An analysis of co-citations also identified four clusters of research such as, innovation and knowledge policies; entrepreneurial universities; business innovation strategy; and triple helix stakeholders in innovation, knowledge and regional development.

Originality/value

Some policies are needed. Polices that undergo the mapping of the universities’ specialisations, the industry/society necessities and financial measures could foster the relations between all the stakeholders.

The Evaluation of Universities’ Third Mission and Intellectual Capital: Theoretical Analysis and Application to Italy

From being entities for knowledge creation and dissemination, universities are now asked to play an increasingly entrepreneurial role, involving networking and collaboration, as well as sustainability and social engagement. This consideration is in line with the fourth-stage intellectual capital perspective, which focuses on knowledge creation with an ecosystem focus. But which are the main approaches to manage and evaluate this new role? Can intellectual capital contribute to this evaluation process? The paper aims to answer these research questions by systematizing the theoretical contributions on this topic; it is based on the following steps: First, a brief historical overview of the evolution of the role of universities; secondly, a literature review on university’s third mission and its relationship with intellectual capital; finally, an analysis of the different approaches for evaluating this mission. Despite the academic and institutional efforts, there is little agreement on a set of indicators to evaluate quality in university’s third mission activities. In Italy, an “intellectual capital maturity model” (ICMM) has been built, but it needs further applications and evaluations.

Supply Chain Innovation in Scientific Research Collaboration

Innovations in supply chains and logistics, which help businesses reduce their costs and meet customer needs, have become increasingly vital. In this study, we first conducted a content analysis followed by a social network analysis to systematically review 104 research papers on supply chain innovation (SCI) that were published between 1987 and 2018. The results suggest that SCI research was originally concentrated in the United States and did not receive much attention in Europe and Asia, until more recently. An analysis of collaboration networks indicates that an SCI research community has just started to form, with the United Kingdom at the center of the international collaborative network. Implications of the study and directions for future research are summarized in detail, based on the systematic literature review.

Embedding funding consultation in library services

Purpose

Although interdisciplinary research is an increasing trend in scientific funding projects, they are suffering from a lower probability of being funded. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the current situation on successful case of funding application and provides suggestions on how libraries can expand services to help scientific funding application.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper utilizes the co-occurrences of disciplinary application codes to construct an interdisciplinary knowledge flow network. Based on 193517 sponsored projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the authors study the interdisciplinary flow of knowledge and investigate the evolution of network structure using social network analysis.

Findings

Results show that the interdisciplinary knowledge flow network is not only a small-world network but also a scale-free network. Two main knowledge flow paths across scientific departments exist, showing the heterogeneity of knowledge distributions across scientific disciplines. The authors also find that if two disciplines in the same scientific department both have a wide influence to other disciplines, they are more prone to link together and create a knowledge chain.

Originality/value

Funding consultation currently has not occupied an advisory role either in library services or in the research team. This paper conducts a co-occurrences network analysis of interdisciplinary knowledge flow in scientific funding projects. Considering the complexity of funding application and the advantage of traditional library services on information collection, integration, and utilization, the authors conclude the possibility and necessity of embedding funding consultation in traditional library services.

Rationalizing Science: A Comparative Study of Public, Industry, and Nonprofit Research Funders

In the context of more and more project-based research funding, commercialization and economic growth have increasingly become rationalized concepts that are used to demonstrate the centrality of science for societal development and prosperity. Following the world society tradition of organizational institutionalism, this paper probes the potential limits of the spread of such rationalized concepts among different types of research funders. Our comparative approach is particularly designed to study the role and position of nonprofit research funders (NPF), a comparison that is relevant as NPF could potentially be shielded from such rationalized pressures given their lack of profit gaining motives. By making a qualitative interview-based investigation we are able to describe how research funders rationalize their contributions to society at large, as well as their obligations to the researchers they fund. Four types of research funders are compared-independently wealthy philanthropists, fundraising dependent nonprofits, public agencies, and industry. We find that NPF, and especially philanthropists, are the least commercially geared type of funder, but that philanthropists also express least obligations to researchers funded. This is in sharp contrast to public research funders who, even more than industry, employ commercially geared rationalizations. We also find that both public and corporate funders express obligations to the researchers they fund. Our results indicate that there are limits to the spread of commercially tinted rationalizations among NPF, but that this does not necessarily mean an increased sense of obligations to the researchers funded, and by extension to the integrity of scientific pursuit.

Dynamic capabilities and their impact on research organizations’ R&D and innovation performance

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reveal and justify influential factors of dynamic capabilities on research organizations’ R&D and innovation performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Adoption of seminal D. Teece’s (1997) concept of dynamic capabilities and operationalized matrix of key performance indicators in the area of R&D and innovation allowed the construction of the strategic management model for research organizations, consequently tested by methods of statistical analysis.

Findings

The empirical findings reveal that there exists positive influence of the dynamic capabilities on research organizations’ R&D and innovation performance. Explicitly, sensing, seizing and re-configuring dimensions of dynamic capabilities have positive impact on R&D and innovation results; consequently, the peculiarities of their inter-dependencies are identified.

Research limitations/implications

Delivered research is based on the investigation of Lithuanian research organizations’ dynamic capabilities and their impact on their R&D and innovation performance. Therefore, further research could be extended to foreign countries.

Practical implications

The model on management of research organization’s dynamic capabilities with the aim for better R&D and innovation performance is conceptualized and specified hereinafter. In the course of the research, constructed toolkit to eventually measure research organization’s R&D and innovation performance or use it as the set of key performance indicators in the benchmarking exercise is suggested.

Originality/value

The paper is one of the first to suggest novel application of dynamic capabilities’ view within the domain of research organizations.

The Need for Research Infrastructures: A Narrative Review of Large-Scale Research Infrastructures in Biobanking

BACKGROUND

Distributed Research Infrastructures are gaining political traction in Europe to facilitate scientific research. This development has gained particular momentum in the area of biobanking where cross-national attempts have been made toward harmonizing the biobanking standards across the European Union through the establishment of the organization BBMRI (BioBanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure). BBMRI exists as separate national nodes across several European countries, although Sweden took on a pioneering role in its early stages. Thus, the Swedish node, BBMRI.se, was set up in 2009.

PURPOSE

To document publications addressing the current debate on large-scale distributed medical and/or biobank Research Infrastructures and identify the most pressing issues discussed by these articles through a narrative review.

METHODS

The Web of Science (WOS) and PubMed databases were searched to find prior studies of large-scale medical Research Infrastructures, with no limits set with regard to study design and/or time period. All identified articles published up until March 2016 were included in the initial review.

RESULTS

A total of 145 articles were retrieved from WOS and PubMed, though merely 17 ultimately made it past the final exclusion criteria. About two-thirds of the articles listed a first author affiliated to a European country. The articles most commonly discussed the need for developing and expanding the use of "infrastructures."

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

The future of scientific research will call for a deeper and more widespread multidisciplinary collaboration. This will emphasize the need of research seeking to optimize the preconditions of securing sustainable scientific collaboration. Future investigators will thus need to understand the components and mechanisms of Research Infrastructures in addition to acquiring knowledge of how to build, manage, brand, and promote them as well.

A New Approach for the Cooperation between Academia and Industry: An Empirical Analysis of the Triple Helix in East China

The triple helix of university–industry–government relations has been accepted as a significant determiner of innovation. For the economic progress of the industrialised nations, the cooperation between academia and industry is terribly crucial. For the purpose of profit maximisation by means of such cooperation, achieving a healthy and productive cooperation is of vital importance. Science and technology (S&T) cooperation platform is an original cooperative mode in East China, which is similar to the technology transfer office. This article researches the cooperation relation and makes a thorough inquiry of the influence of cooperation on high-tech firms. Based on an investigation of 552 high-tech firms and 56 universities, we found that the high-tech firms can improve economic situation via the cooperation with universities on the platform. Moreover, principal discoveries demonstrate that the economic performance of high-tech firms is positively related with the co-operation projects. Furthermore, with a view to making policies and raising probable improvements to cooperative efficiency between academia and industry, this study also finds that high-tech firms selecting distinct cooperation models on the platform will bring different effects on the economic performance of firms.

Can a good tree bring forth evil fruit? The funding of medical research by industry

BACKGROUND

Systematic reviews analysing the influence of funding on the conduct of research have shown how Conflicts of Interest (COIs) create bias in the production and dissemination of data.

SOURCES OF DATA

The following is a critical analysis of current opinions in respect to COIs created by industry funding of medical research in academic institutions.

AREAS OF AGREEMENT

Effective mechanisms are necessary to manage COIs in medical research, and to prohibit COIs that clearly affect validity of research conduct and outcomes.

AREAS OF CONTROVERSY

While most hold that industry investment in university research is not a barrier to good science, there are questions about how securing funding opportunities might be prioritized over the risks of potential COIs. It is argued that COIs are inherent risks to research integrity, requiring the strengthening of current governance frameworks.

GROWING POINTS

The focus on COIs, created by the ostensibly categorical actions of industry, challenges the evolving research priorities within academic institutions.

AREAS TIMELY FOR DEVELOPING RESEARCH

Less well-defined COIs are equally culpable to financial ones, in terms of the systemic damage they do to science. So, are they appropriately managed as risks within university research settings?

The EIT ICT Labs — Towards a Leading European Innovation Initiative

In this introductory article to the EIT ICT Labs we outline its innovation ecosystem and recap the underlying motives for its foundation from the perspectives of industry, academia and society. The EIT ICT Labs are one of the initial Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) that was founded in 2008. It bundles and facilitates the competences and resources of its 65 high profile partners from academia and industry to tackle the grand societal challenges such as ever increasing importance of ICT for various industries, the digitalizing energy environment and advanced mobility systems and the increasingly urbanized society.

Developing Entrepreneurial Universities in Taiwan

This article investigates the evolving University–Industry–Government (UIG) linkages pattern in Taiwan, a latecomer catch-up country in terms of its late technology development and pursuing a targeted strategy of catch-up. The focus is on the funding sources available to universities and on their significance in defining the essentials of operating entrepreneurial universities. The results demonstrate that both public and private funding sources are important for assisting the build of entrepreneurial universities to reinforce such linkages, but their effects are divergent. The essential role of private research funding is not determined by the amount of funding, but is rather one of a guide to fill in the gaps in technological development between universities and industries. In comparison, public funding is a pre-requisite to and catalyst in attracting private research funding to bridge the gaps between university and industry research and to correct the misalignment of its impacts. The results also suggest that the UIG linkages available to an entrepreneurial university are closely associated with patterns of regional innovation and industrial development.

Supervisor-student relations: examining the spectrum of conflicts of interest in bioscience laboratories

Much attention has been given to financial conflicts of interest (COIs) in bioscience research. Yet to date, surprisingly little attention has focused on other COIs that arise in supervisor-student relations. We examine a spectrum of related situations, ranging from standard graduate supervision through to dual relationships sometimes found in research with commercial potential. We illustrate some of the less-obvious factors that can bias supervisory judgment, and situate financial COI along a spectrum of forces that are deserving of recognition. We conclude by providing two sets of recommendations: one for individual supervisors, and the other for institutions and policy-makers.

A review of conflict of interest, competing interest, and bias for toxicologists

One of the issues often associated with scientific misconduct is conflict of interest. Although there is a lack of uniformity in the definition of conflict of interest, many express concerns that competing interests may bias research methods and the interpretation of data and conclusions. In extreme cases, conflict of interest activity could contribute to scientific misconduct, hinder the training of scientists, delay the dissemination of research results, lead to the harming of human health and the environment, and misdirect society's decisions that rely on science. This article is not a commentary or editorial but an attempt to supply an overview of what has been said, researched, and accomplished in the area of conflict of interest for toxicologists. Discussion of the financial, professional, and philosophical concerns associated with conflict of interest will be followed by brief discussion of general management approaches and the roles of scientists and organizations from all sectors (i.e., academia, industry, non-profit organizations, and government).

Multi-Party, Multi-Sector Knowledge Creation: Maximising Outcomes Through Stakeholder Collaboration

This paper illustrates an example of successful collaboration amongst a number of organisations within the "Triple Helix" of government-industry-university relations whose mandate is to create, share and disseminate knowledge. A stakeholder perspective is used to identify a number of conditions that are suggested as being necessary for such complex collaborations to achieve their desired outcomes.

Government, University and Industry Relations

The triple helix is considered an important concept because it not only advocates partnerships among government, industry and university/public research institutions, but it also claims (explicitly or implicitly) to provide strategy for innovation. The present study was undertaken in 2001 to understand the relevance of triple helix in the context of biotechnology in the National Capital Region of Delhi in India. The empirical research conducted through questionnaire and interviews was restricted to scientists from public sector research and academia. The analysis based on fieldwork data was also supported by secondary sources of information. The empirical findings reveal that bilateral linkages and partnerships—mostly between government and public sector research institutions, including universities—seem to be more relevant and meaningful than tripartite relationships. Even though scientists now do seem to be positively oriented to commercialisation of knowledge and accord high importance to it, they continue to assign equally high importance to publications compared to patenting. Our study reveals that scientists in universities and national research institutions lack adequate and effective institutional and organisational framework and mechanisms that foster commercialisation of knowledge. In conclusion, the study attempts to underscore some policy measures that will catalyse triple helix-based partnerships in context of biotechnology sector in India.