scholarly journals The Landscape of the Contemporary University

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James L Turk
Keyword(s):  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Research Funding ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Collective Agreement ◽  
Job Market ◽  
The Public ◽  
Research Collaborations ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
Internal Pressures ◽  
Collegial Governance

ABSTRACT  Universities are being fundamentally transformed—facing formidable external and internal pressures to focus research on what is deemed practical and economically beneficial and to narrow education to preparing students for the job market. The university’s traditional mission is being compromised by underfunding, by policies of Canada’s research funding agencies, by inappropriate university research collaborations, and by growing reliance on exploited contingent academic staff. Diminished academic freedom and ineffective collegial governance both contribute to and are the results of these changes. Academic staff can work to reverse this. A start is to reclaim their voice in governance through creative use of collective bargaining, to reinvigorate academic freedom through exercising their collective agreement rights, and to engage the public in what is happening within universities.RÉSUMÉ  Les universités sont en train de subir une transformation fondamentale—elles font face à de formidables pressions internes et externes pour axer leur recherche sur des projets supposément pratiques et rentables et pour offrir une éducation qui se limiterait à préparer les étudiants pour le marché du travail. La mission traditionnelle de l’université se voit compromise par le sous-financement, les politiques formulées par les organismes subventionnant la recherche au Canada, des partenariats de recherche universitaire inappropriés et une dépendance croissante envers un personnel académique contingent et exploité. Ces changements sont à la fois le résultat et la cause d’une liberté académique en décroissance et d’une gouvernance collégiale inefficace. Les membres du personnel académique pourraient cependant renverser ces tendances. Pour commencer, ils pourraient reprendre leur influence sur la gouvernance en ayant recours de manière créative à la négociation collective, ils pourraient renforcer leur liberté académique en assumant leurs droits tels qu’établis dans leur convention collective, et ils pourraient davantage aviser le public de ce qui se passe au sein des universités.

Policies to Promote Research and Innovation in Developing Countries’ Universities: The Case of Thailand

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 718-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarintip Tantanee ◽  
Phisut Apichayakul ◽  
Panu Buranajarukorn ◽  
Liwa Pardthaisong ◽  
Chanida Suwanprasit ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Research Funding ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Research Grants ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Job Opportunities ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
International Collaborations ◽  
New Knowledge

Research and Innovation (R&I) has played an important role in constructing new knowledge in higher education institutions (HEIs) worldwide. There are both enabler and barrier factors on R&I capabilities in HEIs; therefore, this paper aims to investigate the importance, current contexts and gaps in R&I capacity building of Thai HEIs and the possibilities for improvement. Thirteen policymakers from HEI’s Authorities and Research Funding Agencies were interviewed in-depth. In addition, an online survey has been conducted with 172 university academic staff, who have been involved in R&I. The results show that the majority of respondents agree that R&I is very important; however, these activities have not been clearly supported by national policies. From the suggestions for improvement, the whole R&I supporting system, from the national to the HEIs levels, should be developed and improved through policy, skill acquisition and job opportunities, research grants and enhancing national and international collaborations.

Research funding opportunities and challenges

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ebikabowei Emmanuel Baro ◽  
Gabriel Ejiobi Bosah ◽  
Ifeyinwa Calista Obi
Keyword(s):  
Research Funding ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Research Grants ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tertiary Institutions ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
Support Research

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which academic staff members in tertiary institutions in Nigeria access research grants, and to bring to light the factors that hinder their effort to accessing research grants. Design/methodology/approach An online questionnaire was designed using the SurveyMonkey software to collect the qualitative data from academic staff in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Findings The study revealed that only a few number of academic staff members in the tertiary institutions in Nigeria have received research grants. The study also revealed that a large number of research works carried out by academic staff are funded by themselves from the meager salary they receive. It also emerged that Tertiary Education Trust Fund is the highest funding body that academic staff have received research grants from. Different research funding agencies/organizations both local and international that support studies in Nigeria were also mentioned to create awareness for others to utilize. Politics in the selection of research proposals, inadequate publicity/advertisement for research grants applications and lack of knowledge about funding agencies/organizations were identified as the most mentioned hindrances to accessing research grants in Nigeria. Research limitations/implications A limitation of this study is the low response rate obtained, considering the number of tertiary institutions in Nigeria which does not permit generalization. The low response rate suggests that responding to an online questionnaire is not high on the agenda of academic staff members in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, and this is a major challenge for researchers undertaking evidence-based research considering the number of institutions. Practical/implications The findings will provide academic staff with important data and insight into the various local and international research funding agencies/organizations that support research in Nigeria. Social/implications Academic staff members receiving research grants will enable them find a solution to societal problems through evidence-based research. The findings of this study will inform other academic staff of the various research funding agencies/organizations that support research in Nigeria. This will create awareness for them to access such grants. Originality/value The work is an original research work conducted by the researchers. The findings will add to the body of knowledge on the area of research funding in Nigeria.

Academic Freedom and the Politics of Truth

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Lynch
Keyword(s):  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Democratic Deliberation ◽  
Public Mind ◽  
Epistemic Practice ◽  
The Public ◽  
The One ◽  
Rational Inquiry ◽  
The Ideal

This chapter argues that academic freedom is justified because it is an inherently epistemic practice that serves the ideals of democracy. With Dewey, it is argued that “The one thing that is inherent and essential [to the idea of a university] is the ideal of truth.” But far from being apolitical, the value of pursuing truth and knowledge—the value that justifies academic freedom, both within and without the public mind—is a fundamental democratic value, and for three reasons: the practices of academic inquiry exemplify rational inquiry of the kind needed for democratic deliberation; those practices serve to train students to pursue that kind of inquiry; and those practices are important engines of democratic dissent.

UK research funding agencies

Physics Today ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 59 (7) ◽  
pp. 24-24
Author(s):  
Toni Feder
Keyword(s):  
Research Funding ◽  
Funding Agencies

FISCAL EQUIVALENCE: PRINCIPLE AND PREDATION IN THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 244-265
Author(s):  
Emily C. Skarbek
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Equivalence Principle ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Local Police ◽  
Administration Of Justice ◽  
Internal Pressures ◽  
And Control

AbstractFiscal equivalence in the public administration of justice requires local police and courts to be financed exclusively by the populations that benefit from their services. Within a polycentric framework, broad based taxation to achieve fiscal equivalence is a desirable principle of public finance because it conceptually allows for the provision of justice to be determined by constituent’s preferences, and increases the political accountability of service providers to constituents. However, the overproduction of justice services can readily occur when the benefits of the justice system are not enjoyed equally. Paradoxically, the same properties that make fiscal equivalence desirable by imposing restraint and control between constituents and local government also create internal pressures for agents of the state to engage in predatory, revenue-generating behavior.

Artificially making Lifeform

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1290-1295
Author(s):  
Souvik Das
Keyword(s):  
Medical Community ◽  
Programming Algorithm ◽  
The Public ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Not For Profit ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
Proper Definition ◽  
Inanimate Matter ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract: The word ‘life’ is a mysterious word with a chart of attributes that have neither been completed nor has been agreed upon by the race of humans. Probably the proper definition of life is impossible to identify for humans (the proof for this claim is given later) but the handbook to the secret shall be updated till the end, thanks to the inquisitive attitude of humans. For this piece, we shall adopt the description from the professional medical community of today. Though this topic falls midway between science and philosophy, this project is strictly technical. To quote dictionary.com, Life is the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction and the power of adaptation to environment- through changes originating internally; cambridge.com teaches Life is the period between birth and death, or the experience or state of being alive; medicaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com states Life is the property or quality that distinguishes living organisms from dead organisms and inanimate matter, manifested in functions such as metabolism, growth, reproduction and response to stimuli or adaptation to the environment originating from within the organisms. There are several other definitions but to summarize, we can safely state that though the concept is somewhat vague, we could indeed point out some common principles. We shall, in this project, try to replicate the characteristics so as to attain life in medical terms. (The order does not base upon importance of the listed character since the characters, all of them are absolute essentials and cannot possibly be categorized as more or less important). 1) Metabolism 2) Growth 3) Adaptability 4) Birth 5) Death 6) Self-stimulated response to environment 7) Reproduction 8) Can sustain self without foreign intervention Keywords: artificial, life, intelligence, computer, programming, algorithm This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Pivot-RP

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-29
Author(s):  
Ellie Dworak ◽  
née Laura Suzanne Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Research Funding ◽  
Research Development ◽  
Research Collaborations ◽  
Development Professionals ◽  
Funding Opportunities ◽  
Insight Into

Pivot-RP is a source of research funding opportunities, facilitating research collaborations, and offering insight into the funding landscape as well as internal benchmarks. Pivot-RP addresses the needs of researchers and research development professionals alike.

scholarly journals Research output and the public health burden of cancer: is there any relationship?

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 75 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.M. Patafio ◽  
S.C. Brooks ◽  
X. Wei ◽  
Y. Peng ◽  
J. Biagi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Cancer Mortality ◽  
Research Funding ◽  
Research Output ◽  
Cancer Site ◽  
Relative Distribution ◽  
Public Health Burden ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Burden

Purpose The relative distribution of research output across cancer sites is not well described. Here, we evaluate whether the volume of published research is proportional to the public health burden of individual cancers. We also explore whether research output is proportional to research funding.Methods Statistics from the Canadian and American cancer societies were used to identify the top ten causes of cancer death in 2013. All journal articles and clinical trials published in 2013 by Canadian or U.S. authors for those cancers were identified. Total research funding in Canada by cancer site was obtained from the Canadian Cancer Research Alliance. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients were used to describe the relationship between research output, cancer mortality, and research funding.Results We identified 19,361 publications and 2661 clinical trials. The proportion of publications and clinical trials was substantially lower than the proportion of deaths for lung (41% deaths, 15% publications, 16% clinical trials), colorectal (14%, 7%, 6%), pancreatic (10%, 7%, 5%), and gastroesophageal (7%, 5%, 3%) cancers. Conversely, research output was substantially greater than the proportion of deaths for breast cancer (10% deaths, 29% publications, 30% clinical trials) and prostate cancer (8%, 15%, 17%). We observed a stronger correlation between research output and funding (publications r = 0.894, p < 0.001; clinical trials r = 0.923, p < 0.001) than between research output and cancer mortality (r = 0.363, p = 0.303; r = 0.340, p = 0.337).Conclusions Research output is not well correlated with the public health burden of individual cancers, but is correlated with the relative level of research funding.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document