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Invisible forces: The contribution of universities’ proffessional staff to knowledge production within the academic ecosystem

Project description

Shedding light on the role of academic professional staff in knowledge production

Professional staff make up between 20 % and 50 % of university employees. Even though they do not teach or conduct research, professional staff organise and coordinate these activities. The EU-funded InviFo project will study their growing role and contribution to knowledge production. It will focus on the relationship between university governance and academic practice. The study will include a literature review, network analysis and ethnographic studies of professional staff in six universities. The findings will be used to develop a conceptual model that can explain the function of professional staff in academic knowledge production. Results will be disseminated online and offline via seminars and conferences.

Objective

Using an innovative ecological perspective, the objective of this project is to conceptualize and optimize the contribution of professional staff of universities to knowledge production within in the academic ecosystem. It compares case studies in the US, the Netherlands and Spain. Professional staff does not teach or do research, but is involved in organizing these tasks. Despite this body of staff now making up 20- 50% of university employees, this study is the first to consider its contribution to knowledge production. Insights into this major but still poorly understood component of universities contributes to more efficient and effective use of these public resources. The relevance and urgency of this project are that the European Commission will allocate approximately €40 billion to universities in Horizon Europe. The project investigates the expertise of professional staff, the way it concentrates and uses its expertise, the power that it exercises through it and the effects of its power on academic knowledge production. The study consists of 1) a literature review 2) network analysis 3) ethnographic studies of professional staff in six universities and 4) the construction of a conceptual model to explain the function of professional staff in academic knowledge production. The fellow will receive training at The University of Chicago and Leiden University and through a secondment at INGENIO (CSIC/UPV). It includes an ethnography course, network analysis training and teaching and supervision tasks. This facilitates the fellow’s transition into a mature researcher, well-prepared to establish a group studying the relationship between university governance and academic practice. Results will be shared with 1) academic (seminars, conference presentations and journal publications) 2) professionals (blogs, a conference presentation and journal publication for professional staff and 3) the wider audience (presentations at science events and a videoblog.)

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019

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Coordinator

TILBURG UNIVERSITY- UNIVERSITEIT VAN TILBURG
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 253 052,16
Address
WARANDELAAN 2
5037 AB Tilburg
Netherlands

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Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 253 052,16

Partners (1)

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