In the face of reduced public funding of science and increased demands for 'value for money', academic researchers find themselves hard pressed to produce relevant research and demonstrate their utility to society. These pressures are particularly prominent in the humanities and social sciences (HSS) where practical value is frequently questioned.…

In the context of the Bologna reform, the Environmental Sciences programme at ETH Zurich was transformed from a Diploma to a Master's degree programme. In a comparative secondary analysis of graduate surveys of the last homogeneous cohort of Diploma graduates (N = 85) and two Master's cohorts after the reform (N = 108), this study investigated the…

Purpose of this paper: This paper examines the past and present of the university spin-off (USO) phenomenon by identifying research findings and synthesizing different spin-off practices from around the globe. The evolution and future of this phenomenon are then discussed, alongside potential new lines of research. Design/methodology/approach:…

Previous research has suggested that bachelor's and master's students seem to experience challenges with thesis writing, and the need for support might be greater when studying at a distance. To further develop supportive practices for thesis writing, this study points to a need to acknowledge materialities and spaces as active and necessary…

Mentors in academia may act as teachers, sponsors and/or collaborators. However, so far there was no evidence on which role mentors should enact to best promote their mentees' careers. This paper focuses on mentors in academia who are not the academic advisor. We provide first evidence on the relationship between the perceived role of mentors as…

Interdisciplinary collaborations between different academic disciplines can create knowledge and solutions to challenges that are beyond the scope of what a single discipline can achieve. However, little is known about how interdisciplinary teams of faculty and graduate students function as a whole and the processes that guide them as they work on…

Realizing the growing importance of universities in Knowledge Transfer and innovation-centric entrepreneurship, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) actively encourages government-funded universities in Hong Kong to work with the market and industry, as well as wider society to stimulate innovation and…

This paper is a reflective study of a collaborative research experience involving four colleagues. We discuss our experiences to consider how to develop a supportive collegial relationship at a time when working in higher education is often framed as competitive and focused upon defined 'outputs'. To make the analysis we explore the role of…

This paper focuses on an emerging group in Chinese higher education -- students in transnational higher education (TNHE). Recent research has documented much about students' motivations for attending TNHE institutions. However, the impact of such institutions on student outputs remains under-researched. This study conducted interviews with 78…

One of the most important components of effective teamwork is cohesiveness. However, few empirical studies on the antecedents and consequences of group cohesiveness exist. In response to this gap, the current study draws on the Input-Process-Output model of team effectiveness to investigate the impact of individual and task factors on team…

This study analyzes and discusses how competition-based funding has been institutionalized in the three North East Asian countries of Japan, Korea, and Taiwan since the neoliberal reforms in the 1990s. We found that states set aside additional, 'competition-based' funding for distribution among higher education institutions. In addition, private…

The internationalization of higher education has increased opportunities for collaborative programs, including transnational dual degree programs between universities in China and abroad. Previous studies have focused on students in regular study abroad programs or in-country dual degree modes. However, research on the motivations of international…

In the past years Centers of Excellence (CoE) has risen to prominence as a funding instrument in science. The idea is that by focusing resources, people and attention within a center environment, and over a substantial time span, excellence in science can be promoted. Similarly, interdisciplinarity is often seen as an enabling condition or even…

Erasmus+ is one of the European Union's flagship programs which supports short-term international student mobility within Europe as one of its primary purposes. Erasmus students are uniquely well placed to compare educational processes of their home and host institutions, the learning environments and student life conditions. They are so far…

Coauthorship has intensified as a mode of production across the twentieth century and into the twenty-first in a large number of fields. Yet sole authorship remains a publishing mode in some fields. Publishing is not only an individual behavior but is also nestled in organizations. To that end, incentives to sole -- or co-author work may vary…