Changes in organising and managing research in universities: Reconstruction or rediscovery

Abstract

The ways in which research production is organised in contemporary universities are different both from the often commonly expressed view of the individual researcher discovering new knowledge working alone, and from the traditional professor‐assistants organisation as the basic research production unit. This article presents ‐ on the basis of an empirical study of social science research organising in four different universities ‐ a number of characteristics of how basic research organisation takes place. The most are described common features of such organisation models described. The factors constructing new more dynamic and integrated models in practice are analysed. And the demands for efficient university governance structures, to ensure the development of basic organisations which can produce short‐ and long‐term high quality and successful research, are discussed.