The 'Matters' of Science Diplomacy:Transversal Analysis of the S4D4C Case Studies

What matters in science diplomacy? That is the question that the publication of the S4D4C project (see www.s4d4c.eu) “The 'Matters' of Science Diplomacy: Transversal Analysis of the S4D4C Case Studies” aims to answer. To do so, the transversal analysis critically analyses the content of the project's nine case studies and identifies insights to foster and advance the understanding and the practice of science diplomacy. Each matter addresses a piece from the larger picture; together they form a mosaic depicting the complex and wide-ranging concept of science diplomacy. The 10 “matters” are the result of the collaborative work between 11 S4D4C team members, coordinated by Mitchell Young, S4D4C lead for empirical work

Genomic landscape of rat strain and substrain variation

Background: Since the completion of the rat reference genome in 2003, whole-genome sequencing data from more than 40 rat strains have become available. These data represent the broad range of strains that are used in rat research including commonly used substrains. Currently, this wealth of information cannot be used to its full extent, because the variety of different variant calling algorithms employed by different groups impairs comparison between strains. In addition, all rat whole genome sequencing studies to date used an outdated reference genome for analysis (RGSC3.4 released in 2004). Results: Here we present a comprehensive, multi-sample and uniformly called set of genetic variants in 40 rat strains, including 19 substrains. We reanalyzed all primary data using a recent version of the rat reference assembly (RGSC5.0 released in 2012) and identified over 12 million genomic variants (SNVs, indels and structural variants) among the 40 strains. 28,318 SNVs are specific to individual substrains, which may be explained by introgression from other unsequenced strains and ongoing evolution by genetic drift. Substrain SNVs may have a larger predicted functional impact compared to older shared SNVs. Conclusions: In summary we present a comprehensive catalog of uniformly analyzed genetic variants among 40 widely used rat inbred strains based on the RGSC5.0 assembly. This represents a valuable resource, which will facilitate rat functional genomic research. In line with previous observations, our genome-wide analyses do not show evidence for contribution of multiple ancestral founder rat subspecies to the currently used rat inbred strains, as is the case for mouse. In addition, we find that the degree of substrain variation is highly variable between strains, which is of importance for the correct interpretation of experimental data from different labs

Aktuelle Herausforderungen der Wissenschafts- und Hochschulforschung

In den letzten Jahren ist im deutschen Sprachraum, abweichend von der internationalen Nomenklatur, vermehrt von »Wissenschafts- und Hochschulforschung« die Rede. Angezeigt ist damit die Suche nach einem Überbegriff für die diversen sozialwissenschaftlichen Perspektiven auf Wissenschaft und Universität. Vor diesem Hintergrund versteht sich der vorliegende Beitrag als kollektive Standortbestimmung. Anhand von sieben Forschungsagenden zeigen die Autor/innen das Potenzial einer stärkeren Verbindung von Wissenschafts- und Hochschulforschung. Die sieben Agenden bilden zum einen Fragen und Probleme ab, die der aktuelle Forschungsstand aufwirft, zum anderen zeigen sie Relevanz der soziologischen Perspektive für die theoretische und methodische Integration der beiden Forschungsfelder. In recent years, social science perspectives that are concerned with academic research and higher education have increasingly been subsumed under the umbrella term »science and higher education studies« – a peculiar German category that is uncommon in the international context, where »science and technology studies« and »higher education studies« are developing rather independently from each other. Against this background, the current paper documents a discussion of several scholars from both science and higher education studies. Sketching seven research agendas, the contribution identifies fields of study for which a closer interaction between the two fields would be beneficial. On the one hand, these agendas highlight open questions of the current state of research. On the other hand, the agendas illustrate how a sociological perspective can contribute to integrating science and higher education studies both theoretically and methodologically

Die Entstehung des Europäischen Forschungsrates: Marktimperative - Geostrategie - Frontier Research

Flink T. Die Entstehung des Europäischen Forschungsrates: Marktimperative - Geostrategie - Frontier Research. Weiserswist: Velbrück Wissenschaft; 2016

Correction: Romancing science for global solutions: on narratives and interpretative schemas of science diplomacy

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper

Romancing science for global solutions: on narratives and interpretative schemas of science diplomacy

Abstract In recent years, the concept of science diplomacy has gained remarkable ground in public policy. Calling for closer cooperation between actors from science and foreign policy, it is often being promulgated as a hitherto neglected catalyst for international understanding and global change. On what grounds science diplomacy entertains these high hopes, however, has remained unclear, and—as a blind spot—unaddressed in a discourse mostly shaped by policy practitioners. Recognizing that the discourse on science diplomacy is still unspecific about how its means and ends should fit together and be comprehended, we reconstruct the concept and its discourse as a materialization of actors’ interpretative schemas and shared assumptions about the social world they constantly need to make sense of. Science diplomacy is presented as a panacea against looming threats and grand challenges in a world facing deterioration. The prerequisite for such a solutionistic narrative is a simplified portrait of diplomacy in need of help from science that—romanticized in this discourse—bears but positive properties and exerts rationalizing, collaborative and even pacifying effects on a generic international community in its collective efforts to tackle global challenges. We conclude that these interpretative schemas that idealize and mythify science as overall collaborative, rationalizing and complexity-reducing are problematic. First, because the discourse misconceives ideals and norms for real and will therefore disappoint social expectations, and second, because science is likely to be instrumentalised for political purposes

Angleichung statt Vielfalt: deutsche Universitäten auf der Suche nach Profil

Geldnot und politische Vorgaben bringen deutsche Universitäten zur Schärfung ihres Profils. Hemmend wirken die Fixierung auf die Forschung und die begrenzte Macht der Universitätsleitungen. Profilschärfendes Potenzial läge in Feldern wie Internationalisierung, Wissenstransfer und natürlich der Lehre

Auf Profilsuche. Grenzen einer ausdifferenzierten Hochschullandschaft

Im Beitrag sollen zur Beantwortung der Frage, welchen Einfluss die Profilbildung der Universitäten auf ihre Strukturen hat, zunächst die organisationalen Voraussetzungen und Grenzen der Profilbildung (1.) sowie die Auslöser der Profilbildung diskutiert (2.) werden. Im Anschluss an die Darstellung der empirisch vorzufindenden strukturellen Ausgestaltungen der Profilbildung werden an diesen die grundlegenden neo-institutionalistischen Thesen der Entkopplung (3.) und der Isomorphie (4.) geprüft. Zuletzt werden einige abschließende Bemerkungen zur Nachhaltigkeit der aktuellen Profilbildungsprozesse gemacht (5). (HoF/Text übernommen