Excellence in the knowledge-based economy: from scientific to research excellence
Mads P. SørensenDepartment of Political Science and Government, Danish Centre for Studies in Research and Research Policy (CFA), Aarhus University, Aarhus, DenmarkCorrespondence[email protected]
,
Carter BlochDepartment of Political Science and Government, Danish Centre for Studies in Research and Research Policy (CFA), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
&
Mitchell YoungInstitute for International Studies, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Pages 217-236
|
Received 29 Sep 2014, Accepted 31 Jan 2015, Published online: 16 Mar 2015
In 2013, the European Union (EU) unveiled its new ‘Composite Indicator for Scientific and Technological Research Excellence’. This is not an isolated occurrence; policy-based interest in excellence is growing all over the world. The heightened focus on excellence and, in particular, attempts to define it through quantitative indicators can have important implications for research policy and for the conduct of research itself. This paper examines how the EU's understanding of excellence has evolved in recent years, from the presentation of the Lisbon strategy in 2000 to the current Europe 2020 strategy. We find a distinct shift in the understanding of excellence and how success in the knowledge-based economy should be achieved: in the early period, excellence is a fuzzy concept, intrinsically embedded in research and researchers and revealed by peer review. In the later period, excellence is more sharply defined and connected with a particular sort of knowledge that which produces breakthroughs; the result is that policy-makers have turned their focus towards directly steering and controlling what is increasingly considered to be the key element for success in the knowledge-based economy. This change is evidenced by the ‘Composite Indicator for Scientific and Technological Research Excellence’, its rationale and its components.
Financial support from Aarhus University's Senior Management Strategic Funds for the project ‘Contextualizing and Measuring Research Performance’ (CoRe) is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would also like to thank Emil Bargmann Madsen for practical help with and and different coding tasks and two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Mads P. Sørensen is senior researcher at the Danish Centre for Studies in Research and Research Policy, Department of Political Science at Aarhus University in Denmark. He holds a Ph.D. degree in history of ideas from Aarhus University and combines a history of ideas and a sociological perspective in his work. His research focuses on key ideas in research policy, impacts of funding, transformations in higher education and research policies, high performing research groups, non-knowledge, risk society and second modernity. From 2012–2016 he is also part of a research centre on the Democratic Public Sphere at Aarhus University.
Carter Bloch is research director at the Danish Centre for Studies in Research and Research Policy, Department of Political Science at Aarhus University in Denmark. His research focuses on impacts of funding on research careers and performance, innovation measurement, knowledge spillovers and the relationship between R&D, innovation and economic performance. He has lead a number of international and national projects concerning research evaluation, development of innovation indicators, the measurement of innovation in public sector organizations and micro-based data analysis. He holds a Ph.D. degree in economics from the Aarhus University.
Mitchell Young is a doctoral candidate in the Department of West European Studies of the Institute of International Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University in Prague. His research focus is on the policy instruments of research evaluation and funding, the governance and implementation of knowledge policies and the European Research Area.
European Commission. 2000b. Research and Education Networks in Europe: Why Data Networks Are Important for European Research. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. 2004a. Building Our Common Future. Policy Challenges and Budgetary Means of the Enlarged Union 2007–2013. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. 2004c. Science and Technology, the Key to Europe's Future – Guidelines for Future European Union Policy to Support Research. Brussels: European Commission.
European Council. 2000a. Comparing Performance: A Proposal to Launch a Benchmarking Exercise on National R&D Policies in Europe. Lisbon: European Council.
European Commission. 2010b. Communication from the Commission, EUROPE 2020: A Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth. COM(2010) 2020 final. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. 2010c. A Rationale for Action, Accompanying Document to the Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative, Innovation Union. SEC(2010) 1161 final. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. 2011a. Commission Staff Working Paper, Impact Assessment Accompanying the Communication from the Commission' Horizon 2020 - The Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. SEC(2011) 1427. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. 2011b. Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of The Council Establishing Horizon 2020 - The Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014–2020). COM(2011) 809. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. 2011d. Supporting Growth and Jobs -- an Agenda for the Moderisation of Europe's Higher Education System. COM(2011) 567 final. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. 2011e. Green Paper, From Challenges to Opportunities: Towards a Common Strategic Framework for EU Research and Innovation Funding. COM(201a) 48. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. 2011e. Green Paper, From Challenges to Opportunities: Towards a Common Strategic Framework for EU Research and Innovation Funding. COM(201a) 48. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission 2012a. A Reinforced European Research Area Partnership for Excellence and Growth, Impact Assessment. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. 2012b. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, The Council, The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, A Reinforced European Research Area Partnership for Excellence and Growth. COM(2012) 392 final. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. 2013b. Research and Innovation Performance in EU Member States and Associated Countries: Innovation Union Progress at Country Level. Brussels: European Commission.