Organisational Transformation and Scientific Change

The Impact of Institutional Restructuring on Universities and Intellectual Innovation

Recent changes to the funding and governance of higher education and scientific research systems are affecting both the organisation of the sciences and the nature of universities as strategic actors in many countries. Transforming the organisational contexts in which research is carried out has altered the dynamics of scientific change through shifts in the authority relations that influence the development and implementation of organisational strategies. The first part of this book deals with the transformation of universities as strategic organisational actors - in some cases creating them as such - while the second shows how governance and authority shifts are affecting the kinds of research goals being pursued by academics in different public science systems. By bringing together the analysis of organisational change in universities with that of how institutional changes are affecting intellectual innovation in different fields, this volume integrates work in the sociology of organisations, science policy, higher education studies, innovation research and the sociology of science. It is therefore of interest to a wide academic and policy development audience in many countries.