Commercial Incentives in Academia

This paper investigates the effects of monetary rewards from commercialisation on the pattern of research. We build a simple repeated model of a researcher capable to obtain innovative ideas. We analyse how academic and market incentives affect the allocation of the researcher’s time between research and development. We argue, however, that technology transfer objectives also affect the choice of research projects. Although commercialisation incentives reduce the time spent in research, they might also induce researchers to conduct research that is more basic in nature, contrary to what the “skewing problem” would presage. Monetary rewards induce a more intensive search for (ex-post) path-breaking innovations, which are more likely to be generated through (ex-ante) basic research programs. These results are shown to hold even if development delays publication

Reclaiming Academia from Post-academia

Post-academic science, driven as it is by commercialisation and market forces, is fundamentally at odds with core academic principles. Publicly-funded academics have an obligation to carry out science for the public good, a responsibility which is incompatible with the entrepreneurial ethos increasingly expected of university research by funding agencies

Supervision and Early Career Work Experiences of Estonian Humanities Researchers under the Conditions of Project-based Funding

We analyze a series of interviews with Estonian humanities researchers to explore topics related to the beginning of academic careers and the relationships with supervisors and mentors. We show how researchers strive to have meaningful relationships and produce what they consider quality research in the conditions of a system that is very strongly oriented towards internationalization and project-based funding, where their efforts are compromised by a lack of policies helping them establish a stable position in academia. Leaving researchers to face these obstacles alone places a great burden on them and may lead to a loss of talent in academia. Identifying and addressing these issues is thus important for both the well-being of early career researchers and the future of academia

‘Real business’? : gendered identities in accounting and management academia

This paper explores the gendered identities of women academics in accounting and management academia. Drawing upon autoethnographical detail, we reflect upon the complexities of identities as they are constructed, developed, experienced and understood both by ourselves and others. By presenting several short autobiographical vignettes, we examine perceptions of the gendered identity of women in academia as caring, ‘motherly’ and nurturing, and we demonstrate attempts to exploit so-called ‘natural’ feminine, mothering traits as a means of fulfilling the pastoral and administrative components of universities. In considering such stereotypes, we address examples of their selffulfilment, whilst considering how academic structures and practices also impose such distinctions. We consider negative implications for the career success of women academics in the ‘real business’ of academia, typified by research, publications and academic networking, arguing that until these stereotypes are challenged, women academics will continue to be disadvantaged within academic institutions

Academia, policy and politics.

In October 2003, I started a secondment from the London School of Economics (LSE), where I hold the Richard Titmuss Chair of Social Policy, to No 10 Downing Street, where I worked as a senior policy adviser to the Prime Minister, Tony Blair. I began working initially on a specific project: developing policies on extending user choice in public services, with particular reference to health care and education. Then I was asked to be the Prime Minister’s health policy adviser, a role I agreed to take on up to the general election that took place in May 2005. In the event I stayed on a few weeks after the election until August of that year, when I returned to LSE. So I worked for nearly two years in Downing Street. Mine was an unusual appointment. Most of my Downing Street colleagues were much younger than me; unlike me, all had had experience of working as political or policy advisers in government, despite their relative youth; and none were academics. Although interchange between government and academia is not uncommon in the United States, it is rare in the UK and other countries. So the editors of this journal felt that readers might be interested in my reflections on the experience, especially the differences between being an academic in a university and an academic in government: the squarish peg of academia in the round hole of politics and policy. Of course, the most obvious difference was in working style. As a senior academic at a good university, your time is broadly your own to allocate as you will – apart from the occasional lecture or seminar series, and even those you can usually re-arrange if necessary. But in government, as Harold Macmillan so famously noted, you are at the mercy of events. So often I would wake up in the morning, switch on the radio, hear about the latest outbreak of MRSA in a National Health Service (NHS) hospital or the mile-long queue of people waiting to register for a new NHS dentist, and know that the reflective paper the Prime Minister wanted on the pros and cons of more patient choice was going to have to be put off yet again. Rarely did days work out as planned; indeed, rarely did minutes work out as planned.

Gaming industry, social responsibility and academia

This article briefly looks at some of the ways that academics – and more specifically the International Gaming Research Unit (IGRU) – have been helping the gaming industry and related stakeholders in terms of social responsibility. The IGRU is a team of experienced gaming researchers from across the UK, that work together to undertake high quality research and consultancy aimed at developing effective responsible gaming strategies. Rather than outline every single initiative that we have been involved in, this article briefly overviews one project in a number of different areas including prevention, evaluation, education, research, and sharing best practice. These examples are also chosen to indicate the types of social responsibility activities that gaming companies can engage themselves in

Platelets promote macrophage polarization toward pro-inflammatory phenotype and increase survival of septic mice

We investigated the contribution of human platelets to macrophage effector properties in the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), as well as the beneficial effects and time frame for platelet transfusion in septic animals. Our results show that platelets sequester both pro-(TNF-α/IL-6) and anti-(IL-10) inflammatory cytokines released by monocytes. Low LPS concentrations (0.01 ng/mL) induced M2 macrophage polarization by decreasing CD64 and augmenting CD206 and CD163 expression; yet, the presence of platelets skewed monocytes toward type 1 macrophage (M1) phenotype in a cell-contact-dependent manner by the glycoprotein Ib (GPIb)-CD11b axis. Accordingly, platelet-licensed macrophages showed increased TNF-α levels, bacterial phagocytic activity, and a reduced healing capability. Platelet transfusion increased inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)+ macrophages, improving bacterial clearance and survival rates in septic mice up to 6 h post-infection, an effect that was abolished by CD11b and GPIb blockade. Our results demonstrate that platelets orchestrate macrophage effector responses, improving the clinical outcome of sepsis in a narrow but relevant time frame.Fil: Carestia, Agostina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; Argentina. University of Calgary; CanadáFil: Mena, Hebe Agustina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Olexen, Cinthia Mariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Ortiz Wilczyñski, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Negrotto, Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Errasti, Andrea Emilse. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Farmacologia; ArgentinaFil: Gomez, Ricardo Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Jenne, Craig N.. University of Calgary; CanadáFil: Carrera Silva, Eugenio Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Schattner, Mirta Ana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; Argentin

Ph.D. graduates in the humanities and social sciences: what do they do?

In recent years, more and more doctorate holders in Belgium and other OECD countries are employed in jobs outside academia. Particularly little is known about careers of graduates in the social sciences and the humanities (SSH). Therefore, this paper addresses several aspects of their careers. Based on the Belgian CDH data 2010, 919 doctorate holders were surveyed. We found that academia is the largest sector of employment for doctorate holders in humanities and social sciences but there is variation among cohorts and various subdisciplines within SSH. Only for a minority of the doctorate holders working outside higher education, a doctoral degree is required. Compared to other fields of study, doctorate holders in SSH experienced a difficult transition from academia to other sectors of employment. Despite these findings, Ph.D. holders in SSH feel their research experience is an asset for their current job. Future research needs to explore how the training of Ph.D. students can facilitate the transition to the non-academic labour market

Challenges and solutions for autism in academic geosciences

Researcher diversity promotes research excellence. But academia is widely perceived as inaccessible to those who work in non-stereotypical ways, and disabled researchers are consequently chronically under-represented within higher education. The barriers that academia presents to the inclusion and success of disabled individuals must therefore be understood and removed in order to enhance researcher diversity and improve the quality and quantity of research. Autism is a disability that is particularly under-represented within higher education, despite many autistic individuals having attributes that are conducive to research excellence. With a focus on geosciences, we use the experiences of an autistic PhD student to evaluate why academia can be inaccessible, and propose simple strategies that can reduce and remove barriers to academic success. We suggest that minor changes to communication, the academic environment and better disability awareness can make significant differences to the inclusion of disabled researchers, particularly those with autism. These changes would also benefit the wider scientific community and promote research and teaching excellence

The Shakespeare authorship question – A suitable subject for academia

This paper considers whether the Shakespeare Authorship Question is a legitimate subject for study in academia