Dispositives of newness and change: academic organisations’ discursive practice at the intersection of excellence and gender

On the basis of a genealogical discourse analysis, Weber distinguishes four dispositives of creation. The ‘new’ is created and organised within systematic rationalities of creation. It emerges in (a) an organic cyclical transcendence, (b) a top-down pattern, (c) an entrepreneurial mode that designates man as creator and (d) a collective cyclical dynamic. The dispositives of man as creator and creation as an act are becoming particularly dominant in today’s academic organisations and these dispositives systematically produce institutional programmatics and organisational strategies. In this paper, we analyse how the new emerges in two academic organisations. The starting points of our analyses are two institutional innovations that emerged in Germany in the 2000s: the Excellence Initiative and the gender equality programme. Although they derive from different fields of discourse, both innovations share common features. The Excellence Initiative required universities to relate discourses of excellence and gender equality to each other, and this article investigates how the new emerges in academic organisations to understand whether these innovations produce equality or perpetuate traditional inequalities. Based on Foucault’s dispositive methodology, we use website analyses and interviews with gender equality officers and heads of early-career researchers’ departments. We highlight the discursive connections between gender and excellence for early-career researchers and outline various discursive organisational strategies.

Does government support of a few leading universities have a broader impact on the higher education system? Evaluation of the Russian University Excellence Initiative.

Many governments attempt to improve the national higher education through competitive support of universities. This approach raises questions about the impact of targeted support for a small number of universities on the entire system − both in educational and research aspects. Using data from Russian University Excellence Initiative (RUEI) that gives as an example, we estimate spillover effects of such focused support and demonstrate that broader impact may indeed exist. In particular, we examine the performance of higher education institutions that were not part of the RUEI in the last five years and were not directly supported by it. We compare the universities’ performance in regions both with and without universities from the RUEI. In doing so, we estimate the indirect impact of the RUEI on the higher education sector at the regional level. We show a positive effect on the level of publication activity that has recently become apparent. However, there has been no effect on the share of young faculty, international collaboration in publications, quality of enrollment.

Project Financing of German Universities as an Instrument for Improving their Competitiveness among the World's Leading Scientific and Educational Centers

Higher education institutions present key social institutions ensuring the creation and transfer of knowledge, intellectual capital, and innovations. This fact determines the significance of universities in state regulation and allocating financial resources to the best of them is becoming a crucial objective in many countries. Goals of the article is to study of the German Excellence Initiative project. The study identifies the characteristics of the Excellence Initiative project. A set of indicators of the project effectiveness is presented and the positive effects and problems of the project are indicated. Directions for the development of the European Universities’ project financing system are proposed. Project financing allowed changing the organizational structure of the German science system. However, it is necessary to continue the search for various cooperation formats and the ways for the development of gifted researchers in the scientific sphere, strengthen the universities’ prestige and infrastructure, and further improve the project financing models. Institutional strategies are aimed at strengthening the positions of a university overall allowing it to successfully compete with the leading participants in the international scientific arena. An institutional strategy requires a university to develop a long-term policy of consistent expansion and improvement of the quality of its research and promotion of young scientists and researchers allowing to identify the existing strengths and set priorities.

La fórmula de tratamiento con señor, ¿posible germanismo?

The treatment with señor, a possible Germanism? The aim of the present study is to show the origin of the almost pan-romanic honorific treatment developed from SENIORE ‘older’ (Spanish señor). Its use, closely linked to the imposition of a new social model of Germanic origin, the feudalism, and the data extracted from a wide range of Medieval Latin texts and those that provide the first documentation on Iberian soil provide radiable evidence that it may be treated as a Germanism. * This research was funded by the Priority Research Area Heritage under the program Excellence Initiative – Research University at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Los resultados previos de la presente investigación fueron expuestos en el VI Foro de Lingüística Hispánica, celebrado en Cracovia entre los días 9 y 11 de mayo de 2019. Agradecemos a los informantes anónimos sus acertados comentarios y sugerencias, que permitieron mejorar considerablemente la versión definitiva. No obstante, debido a la extensión espacial a la que debemos ajustarnos, no hemos podido desarrollar más algunos puntos teóricos.

AB0021 VARIABILITY OF THE RS333 IN LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS PATIENTS FROM THE POLISH POPULATION

Background:There are several subtypes ofLupus Erythematosus(LE), which may be limited to the skin (eg.Discoid Lupus Erythematosus, DLE) or involve multiple organ dysfunctions (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, SLE). LE is an autoimmune disease that is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Despite some genetic changes between DLE and SLE were previously shown, the complete genetic background of DLE is still unresolved [1]. Functional C-C chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) receptor can be associated with the inflammation in LE patients. Importantly, the 32 base pairs (bp) deletion inCCR5gene (rs333) leads to a nonfunctional receptor. Previous studies have shown that this mutation may have a protective effect on the development and progression of SLE [2, 3]. Thus it was important to investigate whether 32 bp deletion in rs333 is also associated with DLE development.Objectives:The aim of this study was to investigate the variability of theCCR5gene, within a polymorphiclocusrs333 in SLE and DLE patients from the Polish population.Methods:120 LE patients (77 SLE patients and 43 DLE patients) and 100 healthy persons were recruited to the study from the Polish population. DNA was isolated from blood or buccal swabs. rs333 was genotyped by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Statistical significance of the differences between patient and control groups in both allele and genotype frequencies were calculated using Chi-Squared test with Yates correction or two tailed Fisher’s exact test.Results:Deletion allele of the rs333 was significantly less frequent among DLE patients than healthy persons (p = 0.0171). Also the heterozygotes occur significantly less frequent within DLE patients group than in healthy individuals (p = 0.0375). Moreover, homozygotes without deletion in rs333 were found significantly more frequent in persons diagnosed with DLE than in healthy volunteers (p = 0.0214). In contrast, the differences in allele or genotype frequencies between SLE patients and healthy controls were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Moreover, the rs333 variability was not associated with clinical symptoms of LE patients (p > 0.05).Conclusion:Summarizing, the results obtained in this study suggest that the 32 bp deletion within rs333 could be a protective factor, that reduce the risk for DLE but not SLE development in the Polish population. However, due to the low statistical power of the obtained results, further studies on larger groups of patients and controls are needed to acquire more reliable data.References:[1]Skonieczna K, Czajkowski R, Kaszewski S, Gawrych M, Jakubowska A, Grzybowski T. (2017) Genetic similarities and differences between discoid and systemic lupus erythematosus patients within the Polish population. Postepy Dermatol Alergol. 34: 228-232.[2]Schauren JS, Marasca JA, Velt TD, Monticielo OA, Xavier RM, Brenol JCT et al (2013) CCR5 delta32 in systemic lupus erythematosus: implications for disease susceptibility and outcome in a Brazilian population. Lupus 22:802–809.[3]Martens, H.A., Kallenberg, C.G. & Bijl, M. (2009) Role of CCR5 Delta32 bp deletion in RA and SLE. Autoimmunity, 42, 260.Acknowledgments:KS was supported by the “Excellence Initiative - Research University” programme as a member of the team “Bioinformatics in medical & population genomics”.Disclosure of Interests:Katarzyna Skonieczna Grant/research support from: KS was supported by the “Excellence Initiative - Research University” programme as a member of the team “Bioinformatics in medical & population genomics”., Dominika Mlicka: None declared, Anna Woźniacka: None declared, Rafał Czajkowski: None declared, Ewa Robak: None declared, Mariusz Gawrych: None declared, Anna Duleba: None declared, Tomasz Grzybowski: None declared

Students’ engagement in the medical school in Nepal based on ASPIRE criteria

Background and Objectives: Students’ engagement in active learning and scholarly activities are essential for effective medical education. This is one of the dimensions of ASPIRE-to-Excellence-Initiative. Objective of this study was to know from students about their engagement in Universal College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) Bhairahawa, Nepal as per ASPIRE criteria for excellence. Material and methods: This is questionnaire-based survey done in UCMS, in October 2019. The Criteria regarding students’ engagement developed by International Association for Medical Education (AMEE)for ASPIRE-to-Excellence-Initiative was utilized in the questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised of four ASPIRE criteria and 21 sub-criteria. The response on each sub-criteria (statements) were three yes/to some- extent/no. They had to select one response as deemed appropriate. 3rd-year MBBS students participated in the survey. The data was entered into SPSS 21; frequency, and percentage were computed. Results: Out of 100 students; 80 participated in the survey. The response rate was 80%. Around 2/3 of the students reported that they didn’t engaged with management of the school, including matters of policy and mission and vision of the school. Overall students’ engagement is poor on criteria-1. More than 2/3 of the students mentioned that they have been engaged in the school’s education program (delivery of teaching and assessment). Overall students’ engagement is fair on criteria-2. More than 50% of students reported that they have been engaged in the academic community (school’s research program and participation in meetings). Overall students’ engagement is satisfactory on criteria-3. More than 70% of students mentioned that they have been engaged in the local community and service delivery. Overall students’ engagement is good oncriteria-4. Conclusion: Students’ engaged on 4 criteria varies from poor to good; poor on criteria 1 while good on criteria 4. More research is required involving all batches of students and other medical colleges in Nepal to know the details of students’ engagement in medical schools based on ASPIRE criteria.