Even if in most countries non-university higher education institutions did not have originally a research mandate, it is well known that in most cases these institutions have progressively developed research activities and, at least in some countries, the State now has recognized the research role of these institutions and provided support and funding. Moreover, in many countries the role of research in polytechnics, fachhochschulen, hogescholen, university colleges, etc is on the political agenda. Despite the importance of the issue, there are very few in-depth studies of research in the...

There has been a flare-up in interest in science policy and a key factor in this is the increased interest in analysing the role that research can play in informing policy making.

A pioneering venture in this field was Government and Research: The Rothschild Experiment in a Government Department (1983) Heinemann. No other work had penetrated the deepest recesses of government to observe at first hand the attempts of a major department to determine its research agenda through collaboration with leading scientists in a wide range of fields, to observe how research was commissioned,...

This book provides the first academically rigorous description and critical analysis of the Higher Education system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and of the vision, strategies and policy imperatives for the future development of Saudi universities. The government of Saudi Arabia has recognized in both policy and practice the necessity of developing its university system to world-class standard. Significantly increasing access and participation in Higher Education across a range of traditional and non-traditional disciplines is directly relevant to the future social and economic growth of...

During the last decades ranking has become one of the most controversial issues in higher education and research. It is widely recognized now that, although some of the current rankings can be severely criticized, they seem to be here to stay. In addition, rankings appear to have a great impact on decision-makers at all levels of higher education and research systems worldwide, including in universities. Rankings reflect a growing international competition among universities for talent and resources; at the same time they reinforce competition by their very results. Yet major concerns...

This book unravels the origins, continuities, and discontinuities of Finnish higher education as part of European higher education from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. It describes the emergence of universities in the Middle Ages and the Finnish student, and  moves on to the Reformation and the end of Swedish rule. It then discusses the founding of the Royal Academy of Turku, its professors and governing bodies, its role as a community, student numbers, the research and controversies. Travelling through the age of autonomy, the first decades of independence and the Second World...

This multidisciplinary book brings together scholars from Norway and the UK to discuss the notion of trust within the structures and forms of higher education located in two distinctive localities. The meaning of trust is multi-variant and nuanced, but is omnipresent in the literature on higher education ranging from student engagement to policy exhortations. A key feature of this book is the effort to integrate the term ‘trust’ conceptually, functionally and phenomenological more generally as well as within the context of higher education. Practice from within Norway and the UK is...