Changing Struggles for Relevance in Eight Fields of Natural Science

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 347-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurens K. Hessels ◽  
Harro van Lente ◽  
John Grin ◽  
Ruud E.H.M. Smits
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Institutional Changes ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
Practical Utility ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Dynamics Of Science ◽  
Scientific Fields

This paper investigates the consequences of institutional changes on academic research practices in eight fields of natural science in the Netherlands. The authors analyse the similarities and differences among the dynamics of these different fields and reflect on possible explanations for the changes observed. The study shows that the increasing pressure for productivity, as measured in bibliometric terms, can counteract the pressure for practical utility. Moreover, the work indicates that the dynamics of science varies much more across scientific fields than most of the literature suggests is the case.

scholarly journals BBusiness Models of eHealth Interventions to Support Informal Caregivers of People with Dementia in the Netherlands: Case Study Analysis (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Liane Christie ◽  
Lizzy Mitzy Maria Boots ◽  
Ivo Hermans ◽  
Mark Govers ◽  
Huibert Johannes Tange ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Informal Caregivers ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Study Analysis ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
People With Dementia

BACKGROUND In academic research contexts, eHealth interventions for caregivers of people with dementia have shown ample evidence of effectiveness. However, they are rarely implemented into practice and much can be learned from their counterparts (from commercial, governmental, or other origins) that are already being used in practice. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to (1.) examine a sample of case studies of eHealth interventions to support informal caregivers of people with dementia, that are currently used in the Netherlands; (2.) investigate what strategies are used to ensure the desirability, feasibility, viability, and sustainability of the interventions, and (3.) apply the lessons learned from this practical, commercial implementation perspective to academically developed eHealth interventions for caregivers of people with dementia. METHODS In step one, experts (N=483) in the fields of dementia and eHealth were contacted and asked to recommend interventions that met the following criteria: (1.) delivered via the internet, (2.) suitable for informal caregivers of people with dementia, (3.) accessible in the Netherlands, either in Dutch or in English, and (4.) used in practice. The contacted experts were academics working on dementia and/or psychosocial innovations, industry professionals from eHealth software companies, clinicians, patient organisations, and people with dementia and their caregivers. In step two, contact persons from the suggested eHealth interventions participated in a semi-structured telephone interview. The results were analysed using multiple-case study methodology. RESULTS Twenty-one eHealth interventions for caregivers of people with dementia were suggested by experts. Nine of these 21 interventions met all four criteria and were included in the sample for case study analysis. Four cases were found to have developed sustainable business models. Five cases were implemented in a more exploratory manner and relied on research grants to varying extents, though some had also developed preliminary business models. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that the desirability, feasibility, and viability of eHealth interventions for caregivers of people with dementia are linked to their integration into larger structures, their ownership and support of content internally, their development of information and communication technology (ICT) services externally, and offering fixed, low-level pricing. The origin of the case studies was also important, as eHealth interventions that had originated in an academic research context less reliably found their way to sustainable implementation. In addition, careful selection of digital transformation strategies, more intersectoral cooperation, and more funding for implementation and business modelling research are recommended to help future developers bring eHealth interventions for caregivers of people with dementia into practice.

scholarly journals BSc curricula in Architecture A comparison of The Netherlands: TU-Delft, TU-Eindhoven; Switzerland: ETH- Zürich; Belgium: KU-Leuven; Germany: TU-Berlin; Denmark: Aalborg-University; Italy: Roma 3; Spain: ETSAM Madrid, Portugal: University of Coimbra.

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willemijn Wilms Floet
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Design Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
Academic Education ◽  
Bachelor Of Science ◽  
Study Programme ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Labor Specialization

At the moment the Faculty of Architecture in Delft counts over 3000 students. Yearly 600 first year fresh students were admitted until September 2011. A numerus clausus has already reduced this number to 450 and seems to work as a preventative measure. The current Delft agenda for the revision of the BSc curriculum is a triple one. The actualization of the ‘building assignment’ in the contemporary perspective of the profession is the first reason for reviewing the programme.  Sustainability and the shifted economic situation are changing the upcoming practice in scale, strategy and programme.  Virtual techniques and division of labor (specialization) are developing topics. The second reason for reflection is about shaking up ‘design education methodology’, which could be considered as periodical maintenance. The third and in fact leading reason for change comes from the political pressure to improve the ‘study success ‘ of our students.  In the Netherlands only 20 % of the university  grade students in technology succeeds to obtain the diploma for the three years BSc in four years’ time. The situation at our faculty is even worse: 17%. The aim is to improve this percentage up to 70%. The BSc curriculum will be restructured thoroughly from September 2013.   A national fund to promote and improve academic education in technology (WO Sprint) gave us the opportunity to carry out a comparative study on the curricula of schools of architecture as a mirror for our programme. Since 30 % of our MSc programme is composed of international students an European perspective is obvious.  Moreover, the final attainment level of the curricula is becoming a European matter. For the comparison we decided to select schools of architecture which are comparable to ours: education into a Bachelor of Science  (not a Bachelor in Arts), number of students and culture.   The questions we hope to answer are: What are the generalities and particularities, the similarities and differences of curricula  in Architecture? Which is the main content of the curricula? What is the main structure of the study programme? Which are the main (didactical) principles structuring the programme? Special attention is given to the content,  structure and organisation of design education.   Curricula are complex matters.  Most course programmes are a result of ‘faculty tradition’ and the backgrounds are not always explicit: for this comparison the principles were mainly interpreted from practice. Data were collected from a questionnaire,  course-descriptions, visitation reports and interviews with visiting teachers and international students studying in Delft. The curricula are mapped in diagrams, providing a very clear visual overview . The similarities and differences between schools of architecture are presented by a series of polarities as a range, structured in three categories: profile, programme structure, didactical principles.

scholarly journals Why UGC- CARE List of Journals & Good Academic Research Practices (GARP) Both are Archaic?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Vasantha Raju ◽  
Harinarayan N.S.
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
Scholarly Publications

This paper discusses Good Academic Research Practices (GARP) and UGC-CARE List and their limitations in engaging with emerging open publishing platforms specifically preprints. This paper through some light on preprints and its role in accelerating science communication during COVID-19 pandemic. The UGC’s opaqueness towards emerging open publishing platforms in its GARP document and propagating traditional scholarly publications through UGC-CARE List has also been deliberated.

Analyst Information Processing, Financial Regulation, and Academic Research

2009 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 1073-1083 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark T. Bradshaw
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Financial Regulation ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Earnings Forecasts ◽  
Stock Recommendations ◽  
Market Participants ◽  
Regulatory Changes ◽  
Similarities And Differences

ABSTRACT: Changes in regulations governing capital markets always provide a rich setting for archival researchers to examine how such changes affect the behavior of market participants. Barniv et al. (2009; hereafter, BHMT) and Chen and Chen (2009; hereafter CC) examine the impacts of recently enacted regulations aimed at curbing perceived abused by sell-side analysts. There were no less than six significant regulations issued between 2000 and 2003 that affected the activities of analysts. BHMT and CC emphasize different regulations, but both predict that analysts' recommendation will be less biased as a result of the collective regulatory changes. The evidence in both studies is strong and convincing that the association between analysts' earnings forecasts and stock recommendations has changed, consistent with analysts' personal conflicts of interest having less impact on their analyses. However, the attribution of what regulation, if any, effected this change is less clear. Collectively, the similarities and differences in the studies provide a nice setting to understand how different authors approach the same research question.

Lessons from St. Petersburg: Commerce and Civil Law

2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-117
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Legal History ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
Legal Reform ◽  
Collaborative Effort ◽  
Legal Certainty ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
Reform Processes ◽  
Similarities And Differences

AbstractThrough the prism of legal history, the author links the circulation of ideas in the eighteenth century between Russia and The Netherlands with Russian-Dutch collaboration at the end of the twentieth century: codification as a tool to provide legal certainly. The concern that the transition in the new Russia of the 1990s to new social and economic models would quickly give rise to legal uncertainty was one of the critical factors pushing for the rebirth of Russian civil law.The collaboration between Russian and Dutch legal scholars and practitioners was grounded in legal reform processes—similar at one level and quite different at another. The author (for the last decade and one-half, a member of this collaborative effort) discusses the similarities and differences in the results flowing from these processes: fundamental principles and formalities being two examples. He also considers the balance between legal certainty and flexibility.The reader is reminded, however, that this has been a two-way street; the case of recent reforms governing the judiciary in Russia is cited by the author as a part of the legal fabric from which The Netherlands might have more to learn from Russian than vice versa.

Audit Research after Sarbanes-Oxley

2005 ◽  
Vol 24 (s-1) ◽  
pp. 5-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark L. DeFond ◽  
Jere R. Francis
Keyword(s):  
Audit Quality ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Institutional Changes ◽  
Compelling Evidence ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Accounting Scandals

The scrutiny auditing received following Enron's failure and the accounting scandals at Worldcom and other companies provides compelling evidence that auditing matters and is important. What is unclear, however, is whether auditing was sufficiently “broken” in the first place to warrant the radical reforms and changes effected by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). While there have been some high profile corporate failures and accounting scandals, the number of demonstrated audit failures as evidenced by successful litigation or U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sanctions is quite small and approaches an annual failure rate of close to zero. In addition, our interpretation of the academic research suggests that many of the “solutions” embodied in SOX are not only unlikely to solve the profession's alleged problems; they may well have serious unintended negative consequences. So the disconnect is large between the scientific evidence on audit quality and institutional changes premised on the assumption that auditing is broken. This paper attempts to stimulate research into some of the important questions implicitly raised by SOX regarding the audit profession's potential failings. An outline of our primary observations and suggestions are presented in the paper's Introduction.

scholarly journals SCALE IN REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING: THE RECONSTRUCTION OF NORTH-BRABANT, THE NETHERLANDS

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (01) ◽  
pp. 1250004 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDRE KOOIMAN ◽  
SUKHAD SUBODH KESHKAMAT
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Environmental Planning ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Geographic Information ◽  
Boundary Object ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Selection Of

Selection of scale in science and planning is often guided by ad-hoc decisions and arguments of accuracy and availability of existing data and resources. A more analytical approach to selection of scale and a bridge between theoretical insight and practical application is required. This paper reviews recent developments in thinking on theoretical concepts on scale from the perspective of geo-information science and compares these with a real life case. The concept of scale is framed as a three dimensional boundary object that explains scale choice as resultant of rationalities in reality-, model- and data scales. It is applied to a case-study of how issues of scale were handled in the Reconstruction program of the Province of North Brabant in The Netherlands. The Reconstruction is an ongoing regional spatial planning exercise that started in the year 2000 in response to major veterinary, environmental, social and economic problems in areas with concentrations of intensive livestock keeping. It combines legislation and policies at international, national, regional and municipal levels. Geographic information was produced to support and present the results of the plan process and related SEA. Scale of various intermediate and final geo-information products varied from 1:5000–1:400,000 and was dependent on the plan stage, plan status and target audience, plan instrument, level of participation, data characteristics, costs and technology. By comparing theory with the case study we bring out the criteria and conditions of selection of appropriate scale whereby the usefulness of academic research in geographic information science for planning and decision making could be improved.

scholarly journals Opportunities to Improve Academic Research Through Open Research Practices

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devin R. Berg
Keyword(s):  
Academic Research ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
Open Research

An abstract submitted to accompany a presentation at the 2018 Polytechnic Summit, June 4--6, in Lima, Peru.

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