Abstract
According to some, universities and academic research are under threat. As we move towards a more knowledge-intensive economy, academics face pressures to link their work more closely to economic needs, with potentially adverse long-term consequences. This has been characterised as a fundamental change in the ‘social contract’ between universities and the state, with the latter now having more specific expectations regarding the outputs sought from the former. Others have described this as a transition from ‘Mode 1’ to ‘Mode 2’ knowledge production, or in terms of the emergence of a ‘Triple Helix’ relationship between universities, government and industry. This talk critically examines these claims, setting them in historical context. We analyse the history of the university and its evolving functions as it responded to changing external demands. Adopting an evolutionary model, we describe how different university ‘species’ emerged and co-evolved, each with different emphases on the functions of teaching, research and contributing to the economy and society. Turning to the current environment facing universities, we identify the main drivers for change and assess their likely impact, before arriving at conclusions about the future of the university and university research. What we are witnessing today appears to be not so much the appearance of a new (and hence worrying) phenomenon, but more a shift back towards a social contract for the university closer to the one in effect before the second half of the 20th Century – one which, as it did then, may bring about the emergence of new university species.
About the speaker
Ben Martin is Professor of Science and Technology Policy Studies at SPRU (Science and Technology Policy Research, University of Sussex), where he served as Director from 1997 to 2004. He is also an Associate Fellow at the Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP), and a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Business Research, Judge Business School, both at the University of Cambridge. He has carried out research for over 30 years in the field of science policy. He has carried out research on the benefits from government funding of basic research, the changing nature and role of the university, the impact of the Research Assessment Exercise, and the evolution of the field of science policy and innovation studies. In 2004-05, he was Deputy Chair of the EU High-Level Expert Group that put forward the rationale for establishing a European Research Council in order to pursue ‘frontier research’. In recent years, he served as Chair of an ESF panel reviewing the possibilities for creating a research output database for the social sciences and humanities, was a member of the Royal Society ‘Fruits of Curiosity’ Group on the economic and social value of science, and served as Specialist Adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology. He has published seven books, eight monographs and official government reports, and over 50 journal articles. He is Editor of Research Policy, and the 1997 winner of the de Solla Price Medal for Science Studies.
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