Notions of research quality are contextual in many respects: they vary between fields of
research, between review contexts and between policy contexts. Yet, the role of these co …

Over the past decades, science funding shows a shift from recurrent block funding towards
project funding mechanisms. However, our knowledge of how project funding arrangements …

In the past two decades, centres of excellence (CoE) and other 'research excellence
initiatives' likely to increase the cumulative advantages and stratification of science, have …

This article reports on a Small-N study of Centre of Excellence (CoE) schemes that cover a
wide variety of such schemes. The purpose is to map the ways in which strategic aims of …

This paper reflects on the challenges facing European higher education by investigating
current dynamics across three national systems: Norway, Sweden and Finland. We identify …

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are under increasing pressure to show their societal
relevance (Perry, 2012; Temple, 2011). This is partly a function of the impetus brought about …

This paper contributes to two recently identified gaps in policy design literature. First, an
approach to measuring understudied specific on-the-ground measures, namely policy …

The past two decades have seen an increase in the use of funding schemes such as
'centres of excellence'. This paper examines how centre of excellence schemes have been …

In most European countries, the Nordic region included, higher education (HE) has
undergone a profound transformation in the last couple of decades. This process is partly a …

The paper sets forth and examines the assumptions underlying two global ideas–world
class and best practices–and their application to (higher) education and health …