Thinking ahead

264 Pages·2015·4.91 MB·English

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Digitalt läsexemplar av RJ:s årsbok 2015–2016: Tänka vidare
© text och bild: enligt tryckortssida (titelsidans baksida)
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Kontakt: Makadam förlag, [email protected]
Digital reading copy of the RJ Yearbook 2015–2016: Thinking Ahead
© text and illustrations: see copyright page (after the title page)
Printed book is available through book stores
For further information, please contact Makadam Publishers, [email protected]
K 93333-1_T_v1_RJ; TA: 1L
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T H I N K I N G
A H E A D
Research, Funding and the Future
rj yearbook 2015/2016
Edited by Jenny Björkman & Björn Fjæstad
Illustrated by Ulf Lundkvist
Translated and revised by Clare James
makadam
Digitalt läsexemplar av RJ:s årsbok 2015–2016: Tänka vidare
© text och bild: enligt tryckortssida (titelsidans baksida)
Pappersbok finns till försäljning i bokhandeln
Kontakt: Makadam förlag, [email protected]
Digital reading copy of the RJ Yearbook 2015–2016: Thinking Ahead
© text and illustrations: see copyright page (after the title page)
Printed book is available through book stores
For further information, please contact Makadam Publishers, [email protected]
93333-1_T_v1_RJ_1_Trimboxes_ipp Page 4 31-Mar-15
makadam publishers
gothenburg · stockholm
sweden
www.makadambok.se
For copying or other reproduction,
the publisher’s special permission is required.
Thinking Ahead
Research, Funding and the Future
RJ Yearbook 2015/2016
Copyright © the authors,
Riksbankens Jubileumsfond
and Makadam Publishers 2015
Available in Swedish:
Tänka vidare. Forskning, finansiering, framtid
For copyright reasons, the English version
of Dr. Wang’s article in the Swedish volume,
Humaniora i Kina (‘Humanities in China’),
will be published on rj.se in 2016.
Illustrations copyright © Ulf Lundkvist
Design: Johan Laserna
Graphics: Team Media
Translation and revision: Clare James
isbn 978-91-7061-670-9
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Contents
Foreword 9
göran blomqvist
Deep thinking good,
but thinking ahead better 11
björn fjæstad & jenny björkman
Money has no odour 15
ylva hasselberg
Applying for research funds:
an emotional chapter 27
orvar löfgren
Funding and research quality 39
ulf sandström & ulf heyman
Featurescommon
to excellent research 61
göran djupsund
Centresofexcellence:
reward for gender or top-level research? 69
ulf sandström & agnes wold
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Research ties:
sine qua nonof higher education? 91
lars geschwind
A European research space
in the making 107
linda wedlin
What is a university?
Answers to a very German question 123
johan östling
Intrinsic tensions and future
challenges of peer review 137
liv langfeldt & svein kyvik
Littleformany
or much for few? 153
mikael härlin
Open access:
expansion from articles to books? 159
katarina bernhardsson
Mobility and differences 171
bente rosenbeck
Mobility, networks and excellence 175
peter hedström
Integrative platforms
for the humanities 183
poulholm
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Memories, ideas and moods 193
eva österberg
Say yes, work hard, have fun! 201
björn fjæstad
Workplace research
and research ethics 215
gunn johansson
Social sciences and humanities
for a global world 225
helga nowotny
Science advice:
challenges pave way for judgement and values 235
sverker sörlin
Shaping one’s future 249
göran blomqvist
Contributing authors 267
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göran blomqvist
Foreword
Fifty years on, how should a tercentenary foundation com-
memorate its own inception? For Riksbankens Jubileumsfond
(RJ),thereisnoself-evidentanswer.Ontheonehand,thecelebra-
tion should not be too showy; on the other, its profile should be con-
spicuous enough to be ‘foundational’ and in tune with tradition.
Bytradition,ananniversaryiscommemoratedwithabook.Thepub-
lications presented on RJ’s 25th and 40th anniversaries were primarily
retrospective but, after 50 years, looking forward and outward comes
more naturally. Like a person in the prime of life, and revelling in the
sense of being there, a foundation too may well need to ponder the
potential of the years ahead.
The editors of this Jubilee book have, like talent scouts, found and
recruited writers from diverse areas of the world and scholarship. For
theircommitmentandwealthofideas,thewritersandeditorshavemy
gratitude.
DuringmyyearsaschiefexecutiveofRJ,Ihaveoftenreflectedonthe
imagery used to characterise the Foundation. An open letterbox for
researchers’ideas,asparkplug,aprimemover—theseareafewofthe
many recurrent metaphorical descriptions. In my own contribution to
this book, I launch the idea of the Foundation as a catalyst.
Nevertheless,metaphorsofabotanicalnaturepredominate.RJplants
idea seeds, tends fragile shoots and periodically cuts back rampant
vegetation. It helps to construct new hothousesofresearch.
Now, with the presentation of this Jubilee book, such figurative ex-
pressions seem fitting. What the readers are receiving is no diligently
designed ground plan for future scholarly cultivation: on the contrary.
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Here, we present a bouquet of exotic, distinctive flowers, some wilder
than they are pretty and others both colourful and fragrant.
In many ways, this feels right. Research in humanities and social
sciences favours, and is favoured by, multiplicity and untrammelled
growth. Such studies and those who fund them should leave room for
what is unconventional and unforeseen, exciting and encouraging,
disconcerting and disturbing: thorns in the roses, thistles among the
peonies, dandelions and daisies on the golfing green.
Myhopeisthatthisbookwillbereadandfoundinspiring.Othersmay
judge whether Riksbanken Jubileumsfond, now half a century old, is
flourishing.Asapredecessorofminemodestlyexpressedit,ontheother
hand,RJis‘aFoundationfairlyfitforthefuture’.Anditisonethatwill
keep helping to bring about new interpretations of the past, shed light
on the present, and prepare us to meet a future that is universally
unknown.
Göran Blomqvist
CE
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björn fjæstad & jenny björkman
Deep thinking good,
but thinking ahead better
Themanygravechallengestosociety facing us call forwiseuseof
humanandeconomicresourcesinresearchandhighereducation.
However,thereisnoclearroadmaptothatdestination.Wecan
findourwayonlyifthereiswide-ranging,committed
participationbyvariousactors in society.
The riksbankens jubileumsfond foundation (RJ) is a
researchfunder.Assuch,itreceivesresearchers’applicationsfor
projectfunding,assessestheseapplicationsandapprovesasmall
proportion — one that unfortunately, owing to very heavy application
pressure, has steadily shrunk over the years.
ButRJisagreatdealmore.Intwodistinctways,thefoundationisa
strong stakeholder in the research community. First, it exerts intradisci-
plinaryinfluencebyprioritisingareaswhereresearchisconsideredvital.
Second,intermsofresearchpolicyRJ’sactionsaffectotheractors’views
anddecisions.ExamplesaretheRiksdag(SwedishParliament)andGov-
ernment,otherresearchfundersandSweden’sresearchandhighereduca-
tioninstitutions.Inmanycases,RJhasbeenapioneer,leadingdevelop-
ment.ThisisakeyroleforafoundationlikeRJ,whichcanmaintainan
independentstanceinrelationtobothstateandnon-statestakeholders,
andshouldgoitsownwaywhenthisisdeemedwise.SinceRJ,unlikethe
SwedishResearchCouncilandsimilarorganisations,isnotagovernment
agencyitenjoysagreatdealmorefreedomtochooseitsownorientation
andwayofworking.Overtheyears,thishasenabledRJtoimplementa
series of innovations, from sector committees to two-step applications
and from research positions in the business sector through the Flexit
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