How firms collaborate with public research organizations : The evolution of proximity dimensions in successful innovation projects

Author's accepted version (postprint)

The interplay of cognitive and relational social capital dimensions in university-industry collaboration : Overcoming the experience barrier

publishedVersionPaid Open Acces

Inferring surface time of Minke whales from inter-surfacing interval data using a hidden Markov model

Surfacing rate data of Minke whales is an important factor used in the abundance estimates of Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) stocks, both in aerial and vessel based surveys. Today, most abundance estimates of Minke whales rely on VHF-transmitters data rather than visual data. Visual data collected from land has the advantage of being relatively cheap to collect, which allows data to be collected from a larger number of individuals while causing no effect on the surfacing rates of the animals being studied, hence limiting biases. In this study, individual follows of Minke whales were conducted from a land-based station in Faxaflói bay, Iceland, and data on inter-breath intervals (IBI) were collected. Two distinct dive types were present within the surfacing data, which we defined as regular dives and deep dives. Those emerged from two different biological processes: whales spending time at the surface and whales engaging in foraging activities. A hidden Markov model was used to identify and define the density distribution of IBI as the observation state of these two hidden diving processes. Regular dives had a mean surfacing interval of 43 seconds (SD=44.8) and deep dives had a mean surfacing interval of 155 seconds (SD=115.1). The transition probabilities between the two dive types were estimated, from which the relative proportion spent in each dive type could be inferred. Minke whales perform regular dives during 62% and deep dives during 38% of their time. The relative proportions spent in each dive type can be used as estimates of how much time a whale will be typically at the surface available to be detected during cue counting surveys and to estimate the odds that a whale is in a long dive and therefore unlikely to be detected. Data was also collected from commercial whalewatching boats in the same bay, and were analysed together with the land based data to measure the effect of whalewatching boat interaction on Minke whale surface intervals. The proportion of time spent in deep dives decreased from 38% to 14% during interactions with whalewatching boats, while regular dives increased from 62% to 86%. The inter-surfacing interval used in abundance estimates of Minke whales in the North Atlantic today is derived from VHF-transmitter data and is about 77 seconds. Our mean values of surface intervals lies below and above this mean, which raises the question if a single mean value of surfacing interval can be used to make reliable abundance estimates of Minke whales, as both the dive type and the presence of vessels is likely to affect this value

Development of a Pedagogical Design Matrix for ICT-based Boundary Crossing in Dual VET

Research on networked learning is concerned with finding new and productive ways of connecting people and their practice across boundaries in different contexts. Particularly in dual Vocational Education and Training (VET), there is a need to focus continuously on learning in and between boundaries of domains, practices and the school-workplace contexts. Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) have been proposed as artefacts that enable mediation and bridge the gap between different boundaries. In this paper, we present findings from a research project aimed at understanding Danish VET teachers’ use of ICT as boundary objects in relation to boundary crossing activities. In the first phase of the research project, interviewed VET teachers pointed to the need for new materials directed at the planning stage in their work with design for boundary crossing. As part of the research project a pedagogical design framework, including design principles and a design matrix that focuses on boundary crossing mediated by ICT-based boundary objects, was developed and tested. While the research project has been designed as a multiple case study, the development and testing of the design matrix has been inspired by Educational Design Research (McKenny & Reeves, 2013). Theoretically, the research project is founded on a sociocultural perspective with research on boundary work, boundary crossing and boundary objects (Akkerman & Bakker, 2012, 2011a, 2011b) and research on mediating artifacts (Henningsen & Mogensen, 2013) as the backdrop. By way of combining four dialogical boundary crossing activities (identification, coordination, reflection and transformation) with four main affordances (documentation, simulation, construction and interaction) of the ICT-based boundary objects, the pedagogical design matrix was developed and tested in three iterations. Selected findings show that the participating Danish VET teachers do not fully realize the potentials of using ICT-based boundary objects in their boundary work. Our data show that the VET teachers designed ICT-mediated activities aimed at boundary crossing through identification, coordination and reflection, whereas data point to no activities directed towards transformation. In terms of ICT-based boundary objects, the VET teachers were mainly focused on ICTs that afford documentation with sparse focus on construction and interaction, and no explicit focus on simulation as boundary activity. In the final discussion we point to possible explanations as to why the VET teachers’ use of ICT in boundary work is relatively limited and we suggest further research

How R&D subsidies alter firm activities and behaviour

publishedVersio

How firms use coordination activities in university–industry collaboration : adjusting to or steering a research center?

publishedVersio