The transformative turn in research and innovation (R&I) policy calls for new approaches to monitoring and evaluation, yet most evaluands are still rooted in previous policy paradigms. For evaluators tasked with conducting ex-post evaluations, this situation creates multiple challenges that have received little attention to date. In this…

Government policies increasingly focus on transformative innovation policy (TIP), as programmes are being reoriented towards addressing societal challenges and contributing to sustainability transitions. Evaluation practices need modification to keep up with this change. While a small number of frameworks for TIP evaluation have been proposed,…

The monitoring and evaluation of R&I policies relies on quantitative and qualitative methods with important methodological shortcomings. Quantitative assessments rely on standardized indicators that do not capture context-specific challenges, while qualitative approaches lack comparability. Both approaches are complementary but not always…

This article explores underlying mechanisms triggering a change in conceptualization of innovation in the European Union (EU), the impact of this change on institutional demands upon European universities and implications for evaluation procedures. We mobilize the theoretical concept of critical junctures to explore significant periods that have…

This article presents the insights from an evaluation of a transformative policy experiment, in the food domain, conducted at the Swedish Agency of Innovation (Vinnova). To be consistent with the principles and objectives of these policies, it was necessary to implement a formative evaluation approach developed in the Transformative Innovation…

Transformative Innovation Policies (TIPs) assert that addressing the key challenges currently facing our societies requires profound changes in current socio-technical systems. To leverage such 'socio-technical transitions' calls for a different, broad mix of research and innovation policies, with particular attention being paid to policy…

For decades, cluster initiatives and funding programmes have been used as instruments of industrial and innovation policy--addressing system failures by strengthening linkages among actors, fostering innovation, and developing more effective innovation systems. More recently, a growing segment of these initiatives are also focused on driving…

The technological innovation of wind power is crucial to energy security and energy structure transformation. The Chinese government has been committed to improving the innovation of the wind power industry for decades. Although academic researchers and wind power policymakers have been widely concerned about the absolute score of innovation…

This study explores the evaluation of research pathways of self-management health innovations from discovery to implementation in the context of practice-based research. The aim is to understand how a new process model for evaluating practice-based research provides insights into the implementation success of innovations. Data were collected from…

This study examines the relationship between sustainability performance and knowledge, as well as between innovation transfer and co-production. It moves away from evaluating processes to exploring impact by investigating how explicit and tacit knowledge archetypes are associated with sustainability performance in the agri-food sector. Applying…

Talent policy is conducive to attracting, motivating, and retaining vital, innovative talents to provide continuous motivation and innovation for green development. However, there is a dearth of literature on the impact of talent policy on enterprises' green technology innovation (GTI). To bridge this gap, we take China's A-share listed…

Recent times have seen the growth in the number and scope of interacting professional reform movements in science, centered on themes such as open research, research integrity, responsible research assessment, and responsible metrics. The responsible metrics movement identifies the growing influence of quantitative performance indicators as a…

In response to the escalating reliance on bibliometrics for research evaluation within Chinese universities, this study delves into the far-reaching impact of this trend. Through comprehensive interviews with 15 academics from research-intensive universities encompassing diverse demographics, including gender, age, academic rank, and knowledge…

This study approaches the identification and prediction of transformative research topics by using the concepts of catastrophe theory. Based on the evaluation model of catastrophe theory, 11 indicators were selected for four different aspects: growth rate, economic and social influence, network characteristics and the degree of uncertainty in…

The science-society relations of social sciences and humanities have been increasingly discussed under the concept of productive interactions, which refers to the mutual learning processes between researchers and stakeholders for the benefit of societal development. While most studies have analysed the societal impact from the research performers'…