Universities of Technology Driving Regional, National and Global Knowledge Networks: Patterns - Dynamics - Effects

• Antragstellerin: Professorin Dr. Martina Fromhold-Eisebith
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Humangeographie
• Förderung: Förderung von 2010 bis 2013
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 174077606

Academic researchers have been substantially contributing to the technological and economic development of modern industrialized societies. Therefore, we put individual academic researchers and their networks centre-stage by investigating the following related issues: First, we examine how human and social capital of academic researchers affect and are affected by the use, creation and dissemination of knowledge and innovation. Second, we look into their knowledge networks at regional, national and global scales. Third, we focus specifically on regional networking patterns of university-industry interaction. Fourth, we use our findings to classify the research activities of academic scholars beyond basic and applied research. In particular, we investigate how the characteristics of technical disciplines drive research goals and activities, thereby influencing the direction and accumulation of knowledge and networks of academic researchers. We use a comparative approach by parallely analysing the situation at the RWTH Aachen University (Germany) and Technische Universiteit Delft (The Netherlands). Moreover, we join the perspectives of our disciplines, i.e. Economic Geography and Economics of Innovation, as well as combine quantitative and qualitative research methods. This will enable us to derive new insights relating to patterns, dynamics and effects of knowledge-intensive networking of academic researchers. Our results will reach far beyond that of an individual university case study or a one-discipline or one-method approach. They will be useful for academic researchers, university management as well as for policy makers.

• DFG-Verfahren: Sachbeihilfen
• Internationaler Bezug: Niederlande
• Beteiligte Person: Dr. Claudia Werker