Higher Education and Social Change

Funded projects

Four Collaborative Research Projects are being funded in the framework of the EuroHESC programme.

RHESI

Re-Structuring Higher Education and Scientific Innovation (RHESI): The consequences of changes in authority relations for the direction and organisation of research
The aim of this project is to find out how the changing governance of public science systems and higher education systems are altering key features of scientific innovation, particularly the selection of research goals and the evaluation and integration of results.

Project Leader
Prof. Uwe Schimank, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Bremen

Principal Investigators
Dr. Martin Benninghoff (Co-PI), OSPS, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lausanne
Prof. Dietmar Braun, IEPI, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lausanne
Prof. Jürgen Enders, Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS), University of Twente
Prof. Lars Engwall, Department of Business Studies, University of Uppsala
Dr. Jochen Gläser (Co-PI), Centre for Technology and Society, Technical University of Berlin

Associated Partners
Dr. Maria Nedeva, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester
Prof. Richard Whitley, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester

EUROAC

The Academic Profession in Europe: Responses to Societal Challenges (EUROAC)
The aim of this CRP is to establish how the academic profession perceives, interprets and “digests” recent changes in its societal environment and the organisational fabric of higher education systems. As regards the former, attention will be paid notably to the growing relevance of knowledge, diversification and internationalisation. For the latter, groups of Individual Projects will explore the impact of changes in government, management and evaluation, changing academic career settings, and professionalization, both within academic roles and through modes of interaction and division of labour between new higher education professionals and the academic profession.

Project Leader
Prof. Ulrich Teichler, International Centre for Higher Education Research (INCHER), University of Kassel

Principle Investigators
Dr. Marie Clarke, School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University College Dublin
Dr. Jonathan Drennan (Co-PI), School of Nursing Midwifery & Health Systems, University College Dublin
Dr. Gaele Goastellec, OSPS, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lausanne                                                                                                                                
Prof. Jasminka Ledic, Department of Education, University of Rijeka
Dr. Benedetto Lepori (Co-PI), Centre for Organisational Research, Faculty of Economics, University of Lugano
Prof. Luminita Moraru, Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Dunarea de Jos, Galati
Prof. Hans Pechar,  Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies (IFF), University of Klagenfurt

Associated Partner
Dr. Timo Aarrevaara, Network for Higher Education and Innovation Studies, University of Helsinki (see webpages)
Prof. Marek Kwiek, Center for Public Policy Studies, Poznan University

CINHEKS

Change in Networks, Higher Education and Knowledge Societies (CINHEKS)
This project will analyse how higher education institutions (HEIs) are networked within distinct knowledge societies in Europe, the USA and Japan. The study will illuminate the nature of linkages between academics, HEIs and crucial actors within the dynamics of knowledge production in these regions. The objectives of CINHEKS are based on the juxtaposition of historically distinct societies, global policy debates and conceptually defined empirical data, chosen to reveal their key similarities or differences. These objectives are:

• The historical analysis of key features shaping and explaining contextual differences underlying present patterns of knowledge production.
• The analysis of policy discourse explaining how nation states and regions have understood and promoted the development of knowledge transfer and use.
• Empirical studies based on institutional case studies and surveys explaining the way in which basic units, HEIs and academics are networked in distinct knowledge societies.

See the project website for further information on CINHEKS.

Project Leader
Prof. Jussi Välimaa, Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä

Principle Investigators
Prof. John Brennan, Centre for Higher Education Research and Information (CHERI), Open University UK
Dr. Hugo Horta, School of Engineering, Technical University of Lisbon
Ms. Brenda Little (Co-PI), Centre for Higher Education Research and Information (CHERI), Open University UK 
Prof. Gary Rhoades, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona
Prof. Mala Singh (Co-PI), Centre for Higher Education Research and Information (CHERI), Open University UK 
Prof. Ulrich Teichler, International Centre for Higher Education Research Kassel (INCHER), University of Kassel

Associated Partners
Prof. Jun Oba, Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima University

TRUE

Transforming Universities in Europe (TRUE)
The aim of TRUE is to clarify how steering and governance have affected organisational characteristics of higher education institutions (HEIs) and how this has affected the differentiation of the European higher education landscape. The transformation will be analysed by means of three perspectives: 1) universalism assumes that universities are specific organisations; 2) instrumentalism assumes that universities are just like any kind of organisation; and 3) institutionalism assumes that the crucial question is the fit between the norms and values of universities and reformers. The CRP focuses on three interrelated themes: governance and steering, organisational change and the higher education landscape.

Project Leader
Prof. Ivar Bleiklie, Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen

Principle Investigators
Dr. Martin Benninghoff (Co-PI), OSPS, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lausanne
Prof. Jürgen Enders, Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS), University of Twente
Dr. Nicoline Frølich, Norwegian Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education,(NIFUSTEP), Oslo
Prof. Barbara Kehm, International Centre for Higher Education Research Kassel (INCHER), University of Kassel
Dr. Benedetto Lepori, Centre for Organisational Research, Faculty of Economics, University of Lugano
Prof. António Magahães, Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies, (CIPES), University of Porto

Associated Partners
Prof. Jeroen Huisman, International Centre for Higher Education Management (ICHEM), School of Management, University of Bath
Dr. Christine Musselin, Centre de Sociologie des Organisations (CSO) Paris, CNRS
Dr. Emanuela Reale, Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth (CERIS-CNR)